The Kashima Antlers and Al-Karama both advanced and all but completed the quarterfinal field of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday, leaving only one berth in the final eight remaining. Kashima won 4-0 at Vietnam's Nam Dinh to clinch the Group F title while Al-Karama settled for a 0-0 draw at home against Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli, enough to finish atop Group C. That left only Group E to be decided between Adelaide United and China's Changchun Yatai. The two originally were to meet Wednesday, along with the rest of the final group stages matches, but postponed a day due to the Chinese mourning period for last week's earthquake victims. Changchun will host the game Thursday, trailing the Australians by two points in Group E and needing a victory to claim the final spot. The seven group winners will enter into Saturday's draw along with the defending champion Urawa Red Diamonds, who received a bye into the final eight. Kashima went into the final match day of the group round level on points with China's Beijing Guoan. But the showdown turned into an anticlimax as Beijing Guoan quickly fell behind 4-0 at already-eliminated Krung Thai Bank of Thailand and ended up losing 5-3. Yuzo Tashiro gave Kashima the lead in the 28th against winless Nam Dimh in the 28th, and Shinzo Koroki, Masashi Motoyama and Brazilian forward Danilo added second-half goals to complete the victory. With a crowd of 20,000 at the Al-Baladi Stadium in Homs province in central Syria, Al-Karama started its game with a lot of momentum, but wasted several chances. The Syrians dominated the second half, again failing for finish numerous opportunities. Syrian Mohammad Al-Hamwi shot wide in the 55th minute and teammate Mouhanad Ibrahim hit the crossbar in the 86th minute. Al-Karama finished atop Group C with 11 points, two ahead of second-placed Al-Wahda of the United Arab Emirates, which wasted its chance to overtake the Syrian side when it drew 0-0 at Qatar's Al-Sadd in their final group match. Kashima will join fellow J-League clubs Gamba Osaka and Urawa in the last eight, with Karama, Kuwait's Al-Qadsia, Uzbekistan's Kuruvchi and Iran's Saipa completing the quarterfinal field. In Group G, Gamba Osaka had already secured top place in the group, and went through the motions in a 1-1 draw against South Korea's Chunnam Dragons. In the other game in the group, Australia's Melbourne Victory had a 3-1 home win over Thailand's Chonburi. In Group A, it was: Sepahan 1, Kuruvchi 1; and Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad defeated its Syrian namesake 3-0. Elsewhere, in Group B, it was: Al-Wasl 1, Saipa 1; and Al-Kuwait (Kuwait) 1, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2. In Group D, it was: Pakhatakor 2, Al Gharafa 0; and Arbil 4, Al Qadsia 2. The Pohang Steelers drew 0-0 with Binh Duong of Vietnam, which earned its first point in six matches in Group E. The final day of group matches came as teams digested news of a proposed restructure of the Champions League for the next two seasons. The changes, dependent upon ratification by the Asian Football Confederation executive committee, and nations reaching certain promised benchmarks, will see Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Iran and China each get four teams in the 32-team group stage. Australia will get two berths, with one each for Jordan, Indonesia, Kuwait and the emerging India. Two places will be reserved for playoffs involving the finalists of this year's second-tier AFC Cup, and teams from Syria, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
