Iraq's Irbil football team advanced to the Asian Football Confederation Cup (AFC) Cup final for the second time in three years after defeating Hong Kong's Kitchee counterpart 2-1 in the second leg semifinal match on Tuesday.
Early goals by Ali Faez at the 3rd minute of the match and Amjed Radhi six minute later proved decisive as the Iraqi team advanced to the final.
In front of a lively capacity crowd at Hong Kong's Mongkok Stadium, substitute player Gao Wen pulled a goal back for Kitchee midway through the second half but their hopes of becoming the first Hong Kong club to contest the AFC Cup final fell short as Irbil won the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
Irbil Coach Ayoub Odisho said "the result was hard luck for Kitchee. They must certainly be a very good team to have reached the semifinals, and they were very close to getting to the final.
"The reason we won this game is that Irbil has good, strong players who believe in themselves.
"Everything I had planned for the game, they did. They have experience too, and so it's no surprise we are in the final," Odisho added.
The Iraqi team will Kuwait's Qadsia, who has managed to book its ticket to the final for the third time in five years, after crushing Indonesia's Persipura Jayapura 6-0 in the second leg of the semifinal at Mandala Stadium in Indonesia's Jayapura earlier today.
Qadsia had also defeated Persipura Jayapura in the first leg of the semifinal, held in Kuwait, 4-2.
The final match will take place October 18th, however the AFC is yet to determine the location for the match.
Source: KUNA