Hilal made it into the 16 of the AFC Champions League 2010 even before its goalless match in Group D against its guest Al-Sadd of Qatar at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh Tuesday. Unfortunately Saudi Arabia's another representative in the League, Shabab, suffered a 0-1 defeat to Iranian host Sepahan in Group C. Hilal's qualification came when Al-Ahli of the UAE (four points) defeated its guest Mes Kerman of Iran (six points). Hilal is still on top of Group D with 11 points followed by Sadd which has seven points. Hilal will meet Mes Kerman on April 27 in a match where Eric Gerets is expected to make new players ready for round 16 after having secured qualification. On the other hand, Al-Shabab missed three important points that would have placed the team on top of Group C. Shabab lost its round-five encounter against its ten-man host Sepahan at Foolad Shahr Stadium. Striker Ahmad Jamshidian put Sepahan in the lead ten minutes after the kickoff before teammate Sayed Aghily was shown a red card five minutes before the break. However, Shabab is now third with seven points behind Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan (nine points) and Sepahan which has eight points. On Wednesday, Group A leader, Esteghlal (eight points) will host Al-Ahli at Azadi Stadium. Ahli is third with six points; a single point behind Al-Gharrafa of Qatar. Similarly, Ittihad needs not only to take revenge of its guest Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan but also collect three important points to secure qualification. Ittihad, runner-up of the previous championship, stands second with seven points behind group leader Zobahan of Iran (10). However, the team is one point ahead of Bunyodkor. Meanwhile, defending champions Pohang Steelers, 2008 runner-up Adelaide United and former champion Gamba Osaka secured places in the knockout round . Steelers of South Korea fought it out to a goalless draw with Australia's Adelaide for a total of 10 points each. Japan's Gamba scored a decider in injury time for a 2-1 win over Suwon Bluewings of South Korea, who booked their place in the last 16 two weeks ago. Osaka now have 11 points and Suwon 10 in Group G. They join South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa and Jeonbuk Motors, and J-League champions Kashima Antlers in the round of 16. Both Osaka and Suwon were quick on the counter-attack, with the Korean side coming close in the first half through Chinese defender Li Weifeng and Brazilian striker Jose Mota. The Koreans opened the scoring in the 58th minute when Jose Mota nodded home from a corner. But only two minutes later Osaka drew level as up-and-coming midfielder Takashi Usami played in Takahiro Futagawa to score, with Usami netting the winner in stoppage time. In the other early games, Lee Tadanari scored a brace to give Hiroshima a 3-2 win over Shandong, while Erwan Gunawan's strike gave Singapore Armed Forces their first win as they beat Henan Jianye of China 2-1 in Group G. In Group C, bottom-placed Al-Ain of the UAE saw its hopes of reaching the next stage disappear as a hat-trick by midfielder Odil Ahmedov gave Uzbek side Pakhtakor a 3-2 victory. Spain to play KSA Spain has agreed to play friendlies against Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Poland ahead of the World Cup, the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) said Tuesday. The European champion takes on Saudi Arabia (May 29) and South Koreans (June 3) in Innsbruck, Austria, before meeting Poland in the Spanish city of Murcia on June 8. Spain's first match in World Cup Group H is against Switzerland on June 16 in Durban. It also play Honduras five days later in Johannesburg and Chile on June 25 in Tshwane/Pretoria. ‘City wrong to fire Hughes' Carlos Tevez says that Manchester City was wrong to fire manager Mark Hughes this season, and that replacement Roberto Mancini pushes players too hard in training. Tevez is City's leading scorer with 22 Premier League goals in his debut season with the club but said that Hughes should have been given more time to overcome an uncertain start to the season. Hughes was fired in December after the team won two of 11 games. But City had drawn eight of those matches and had lost fewer games overall than any other Premier League club. Qatar draws with Wasl Qatar of Qatar and Al-Wasl of UAE drew 2-2 in the first leg final of the Gulf Clubs Championship at Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium in Qatar Tuesday. __
