Guangzhou Evergrande edged out of AFC Champions league

 Guangzhou Evergrande edged out of AFC Champions league

GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- With a late away goal, Saudi giants Al Ittihad narrowly escaped from Guangzhou with 5-4 on aggregate¹ to semifinals in AFC Champions league here on Tuesday night.

"I am happy that we won over the best team in China. In the first half we didn't play well and the second half we also didn't show some beautiful football, but we controlled the ball well and got the winner finally," Ittihad's Spanish coach Raul Caneda said at the press conference after the match.

With 4-2 down on aggregate and sharp striker Muriqui out for injury, chance was seemed to be slim for Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande before the second leg kick off. But Lucas Barrios' strike and Dario Conca's penalty² in the first half looked to have been enough for Guangzhou Evergrande to march on in the AFC Champions league, who would be through on away goals.

And they had more than one chance to clinch³ their result, as Barrios and Conca both missed a third goal by hitting the ball on the cross bar and post.

"We have 9 or 10 chances to score, we hit the bar and the post several times, football sometimes is cruel, even unfair," Guangzhou's coach Marcello Lippi said at the press conference after the match.

The second half saw more opportunities slip though the toes of Guangzhou. Conca missed the open net in the 60th minute, only to see himself miss another by hitting the post with a long shot.

They were finally pushed by squandering⁴ chances. Fahad Al Muwallad's deflected⁵ strike on 78 minutes made it 2-1 in the match and 5-4 on aggregate to the two-time champions.

With 15 minutes left, Guangzhou need one goal to retaken their lead on aggregate. But luck was not on their side for the whole match. Gao Lin missed open net, only to see Conca's strike wide. Referee⁶ refused to give a penalty at the final minute despite Gao Lin was pulled down by the Ittihad's defender⁷ in the box.

"This was Ittihad' s only chance, and they grabbed⁸ it, I have more than 80 matches in charge of my team at the champions league in Europe in my career, and I have lucky days and unlucky ones, I have to admit today is not my day," Lippi said.

"I am sure we are the best team in China, but we need to be more patient to reach the top of the Asia and the top of the world. Our players worked hard in the whole year and they get improved quickly. We need to play more collectively⁹ and more aggressively if we want to be top of the world," the 64-year old Italian added.

1 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

2 penalty   

n.处罚，刑罚，罚款

参考例句：

• If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球，你将受到处罚。
• One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

3 clinch   

v.敲弯，钉牢；确定；扭住对方 [参]clench

参考例句：

• Clinch the boards together.用钉子把木板钉牢在一起。
• We don't accept us dollars,please Swiss francs to clinch a deal business.我方不收美元，请最好用瑞士法郎来成交生意。

4 squandering   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• You're faced with ending it all, of squandering what was given. 把到手的东西就这样随随便便弄掉。 来自辞典例句
• I see all this potential And I see squandering. 你们的潜力都被浪费了。 来自互联网

5 deflected   

偏离的

参考例句：

• The ball deflected off Reid's body into the goal. 球打在里德身上反弹进球门。
• Most of its particles are deflected. 此物质的料子大多是偏斜的。

6 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

7 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

8 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

9 collectively   

adv.全体地，共同地

参考例句：

• All members of the Cabinet are collectively responsible for decisions taken. 所有内阁成员对所作决定集体负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They collectively abstained (from voting) in the elections for local councilors. 他们在地方议会议员选举中集体弃权。 来自《简明英汉词典》