AFC Women's Champions League 2024/25

Extra-time ends on a 1-1 draw. Now, whatever team wins the trophy, it will be through the penalty shootout.

I am quite neutral about it, so I will enjoy this last show.

 

After Song Duan had failed the 4th PK for Wuhan Jiangda, Melbourne City were at one shot from lifting the trophy, but then they had a pair very poor shots at the 5th at 6th penalty with captain Rebekah Stott (a veteran New Zealand's fixture) and with young Bryleeh Henry and the destiny was reversed. Wang Shuang, instead, after converting her PK in the regular time, also took the last one and had the nerves to convert it in style again.

Actually the Aussies took at least half of their PKs quite badly (even the very first one, by Shelby McMahon, barely went in after being stopped by the Chinese GK), while, apart from the only missed one, Chinese players had powerful and accurate shots, almost all at mid-height and basically unsavable.

The history of Chen Chen, the Chinese GK who saved two shots (actually by simply standing still, since they were central and weak) thus giving the final win to her team, is quite incredible, since she didn't even start the match and was only subbed-in at HT (I missed most of the 1st Half, so I am not sure if it was an injury for the starting GK of today or a technical choice ).

So Wuhan (the city previously mostly famous for the Covid-19 virus ) win the inaugural AFC Women's Champions' League (by the way, it's a shame that the competition didn't exist in previous years when Japanese teams would have won it hands down and actually won some of the experimental incarnation of it, since the Mobcast Cup around 2012-2013; but Urawa Red Diamonds were very poor this year, in the quarter finals vs Wuhan Jiangda, and deserved going out).

Japan at least had the top-scorer of the competition (Yuzuho Shiokoshi of Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies).

 

Not a great record for a champion, but they had a tough run to the title. They played what were probably the two hardest "non-big 4" teams (Abu Dhabi and Hô Chi Minh City) and the three others big teams of the tournament, including the favorite as early as the QF.

The two biggest surprise to me were Al-Nassr failing to go out of the preliminary stage and Urawa failing to lift the title, though considering their domestic season, the latter might not be so surprising in retrospect.

Anyway, that was a good inaugural AWCL in my opinion. Not many blow-out (besides the obvious 17-0 between Urawa and Odisha), some tight games (Urawa - Wuhan, Incheon - Melbourne CIty or the finale) and even some upsets. Special mention to this wild quarter-final between Hô Chi Minh City and Abu Dhabi.

 

Highlights of the game (actually missing some key-moments)


It looks like GK's substitution at HT was a technical choice: Chen Chen had already worked in the penalty shootout vs Urawa in the quarter-finals and the coach tried that move again, but this time he did it way earlier: maybe, he was already anticipating a final draw, after watching how the 1st Half had turned out, and wanted the PK-stopper GK to get some more playing time, to be even more ready for the eventual shootout?

Anyway, zooming on Chen Chen's face with her wide-open eyes before the final PK was a nice choice by the camera crew, that created a quite iconic picture of this match

 

You want to tell us that the goalkeeper was substituted 75 minutes before a possible penalty shoot-out would happen because the coach expected the penalty shooot-out?

 

Why not? If his final plan was a 0-0, and all was going according to plan...

 

You might look at 22nd minute of match.

 

She looked ok, though, after she resumed: she made a crucial save just 4 minutes after that on Holly McNamara and she anyway played on for all of the rest of the 1st Half. But, in the end it's very possibile that it was that injury that took her out at HT. Probably, though, the coach would anyway have been hesitant to change his 1st GK if he hadn't thought that the 2nd one was at least equally good (possibily better in the case of a shootout ).