Persik earns draw with Urawa

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 05/10/2007 7:31 AM

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta, Central Java

Indonesia's Persik Kediri earned a 3-3 draw with guests Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan on Wednesday, but its chances of reaching the second round of the AFC Champions League remain slim.

Persik now has seven points in Group E, while Urawa tops group with nine points.

Persik coach Daniel Roekito, however, is confident his team still has a chance, if it can earn all three points during its match against Shanghai Shenhua of China on May 23.

""We still have a chance and time to improve our performance against Shanghai,"" he said after the match at Manahan Stadium in Surakarta, Central Java, on Wednesday.

Persik has substitute Budi Darsono and his late goal to thank for the draw.

Urawa jumped to a quick lead in the match with a ninth minute goal on a penalty kick from midfielder Shinji Ono that got by goalie Kurnia Sandy.

Persik striker Christian Gonzalez of Uruguay leveled the score with a penalty kick of his own in the 23rd minute. He scored another goal eight minutes later with a half-volley off a pass from the right side.

Urawa midfielder Robson Ponte received a long pass before driving it into the back of Kurnia's net in the 50th minute, and midfielder Yuki Abe put Urawa ahead 3-2 in the 62nd minute after heading in for a goal.

But Budi drew Persik even seven minutes before the final whistle by referee Thayeb Hassan Shamsuzzaman of Bangladesh.

Urawa beat Persik 3-0 in Saitama, Japan, in March.

Urawa coach Holger Osieck praised Budi's late goal.

""It was a nice goal. Although the match ended in a draw, I am pleased with my team's performance,"" he said.

In Tokyo, Kengo Nakamura scored two goals to power Kawasaki Frontale past Arema Malang of Indonesia 3-0 on Wednesday as the Japanese side became the first team to advance to the quarterfinals, AP reported.

Nakamura scored in the fourth and 70th minutes before Taku Harada sealed the victory with a goal 10 minutes from time at Todoroki Stadium.

With the win, Frontale took an unassailable six-point lead in Group F ahead of the final round of round-robin matches. Frontale has 13 points after five games, ahead of South Korea's Chunnam on seven, Arema Malang on four and Bangkok University on three.

Frontale is the first Japanese team ever to advance to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.

Frontale joins Chonbuk Motors in the quarterfinals. The South Korean team qualified for the final eight automatically as defending champion.

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