Brisbane Roar's season is officially over following a 2-1
defeat to Japanese powerhouse Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday night.
Days after they were turfed out of the A-League finals
series, the loss at the Gold Coast's Cbus Super Stadium also brings down the
curtain on their AFC Champions League campaign.
Stand-in Urawa captain Shinzo Korogi put the visitors one up
in the first half before substitute Yuki Moto drove a dagger through the Roar's
round of 16 hopes with a second goal close to the hour mark.
Off-contract striker Andrija Kaluderovic pulled one back for
Brisbane in the 70th minute - and while his effort sparked the hosts back into
action, their fate was already sealed.
Beijing Guoan and Suwon Samsung Bluewings fought out a 1-1
draw in the other Group G game which was played at the same time, consigning
the Roar to a third-placed finish.
It is the third time Brisbane has failed to make the
knockout stages of the tournament in as many attempts.
The loss ends Frans Thijssen's tenure as interim coach with
the Roar expected to unveil new boss Ramon Tribulietx in the coming days.
The Barcelona-born Tribulietx, who coached Auckland City to
a fifth consecutive Oceania Champions League title last month, arrived in
Brisbane on Monday to complete contract negotiations.
Thijssen's involvement with the Roar could also now be over
as the club is yet to decide if it will retain him as technical director,
despite an earlier promise to do so.
Despite it being a dead rubber for an Urawa side that was
already out of round of 16 contention, several hundred Japanese fans made the
trip and added colour and noise to the crowd of 5,941.
Brisbane gave their own fans little reason to cheer, as they
lacked any real penetration against the undefeated J.League leaders.
Although they left several key players back in Japan, the
Reds still looked a class above.
They took the lead in the 24th minute through Korogi, who
was played in by a defence-splitting pass from Keita Suzuki and matched it with
an equally classy far-post finish.
Moto made it 2-0 with his very first touch after coming off
the bench to replace Korogi - his strike a near-fatal blow for a Brisbane
outfit that needed Suwon to win and to make up a goal difference deficit of
four in order to progress.
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