Defending champion Guangzhou Evergrande is on the brink of a group-stage exit in the Asian Champions League after a 1-0 loss to Urawa Reds Tuesday left the big-spending Chinese club winless in four games in the continental competition. Yuki Muto's header in the 52nd-minute secured Urawa's win at home and moved the J-League club into second spot in Group H with seven points, two behind Sydney FC. Guangzhou, with two points, needs to win its last two games to have any chance of progressing. Earlier in Sydney, a Milos Ninkovic goal gave Sydney FC a crucial 1-0 win over South Korea's Pohang Steelers to maintain its lead in Group H. The Serbian midfielder scored the winner in the 51st minute for Sydney's third straight win and completed a double over the three-time ACL champions in the group. Last month Sydney FC upset Pohang 1-0 in South Korea and its follow-up home win has put the Steelers in big trouble to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. After a drab opening half, Ninkovic brought the game to life when he scored at the second attempt after two Pohang defenders failed to clear the ball. Defender Matt Jurman almost doubled the advantage when his piledriver was brilliantly saved by Kim Jin-Young in the 73rd minute. "It was a very difficult game for us after our loss to Adelaide last weekend but it was a big victory for us and we are in a good position to advance now," Ninkovic said. So effective was the Sydney defense that its goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic did not make a save during the match. Sydney FC continues to enjoy a winning run in the ACL despite a miserable A-League campaign where it is out of the running to the make the top-six playoffs this season. The Sydneysiders next face Japanese giant Urawa Red Diamonds at home on April 20 in a match where a draw could be enough to get it through to the last 16. In other matches South Korean FC Seoul played a goalless draw with Shandong Luneng of China, Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC of Japan blanked Buriram United of Thailand 2-0; Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan drew with Al-Jaish of Qatar 0-0; and Zob Ahan of Iran thrashed FC Bunyodkor of Ukbekistan 5-2. FIFA warns Greece World football body FIFA Tuesday warned Greece that the canceled Greek Cup competition must resume by April 15 or the country will be suspended from further European or international competition. The ultimatum letter was sent to the Greek federation and Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis and follows an unsuccessful meeting between FIFA and European governing body counterparts UEFA with Greek officials last week. At last week's meeting Kontonis refused to rescind an earlier decision to cancel remaining Greek Cup matches because of the fear of violence. FIFA and UEFA are in favor of the competition, which had reached the semifinal stage, continuing with foreign referees and in empty stadiums.
