RIYADH: The youngest of the Australian A-League clubs became the first to win the AFC Champions League title, with Western Sydney Wanderers holding Saudi powerhouse Al Hilal to a 0-0 draw in Saturday’s second leg of the final for a 1-0 aggregate victory.

The fledgling Wanderers, only founded in 2012, spent most of the game defending as Al Hilal poured forward in waves off attack in front of a frenetic home crowd at the King Fahd International Stadium, but goalkeeper Ante Covic made a string of saves to keep the two-time champions scoreless for a second straight game.

The Australians had shown fight and spirit in knocking out defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande, last year’s runners up FC Seoul and J-League holders Sanfrecce Hirosh­ima all during their off-season to make the final and they again dug deep to upset their more illustrious opponents.

“It is still a little surreal for me. I am sure it will hit home in the next few days when we reflect,” said Wanderers coach Tony Popovic.

“For me, I am just proud for these players and our club. The first time in the competition, to win it, I think in the future we will really understand how special this run has been and how it was to win this title.

“We don’t have the resources or the funds that some of these other teams have, but we have something that money can’t buy, the desire to win.”

Wanderers were playing in the continental competition for the first time and will now represent Asia at the FIFA Club World Cup next month in Morocco.

“We are extremely honoured to be able to do that and we will certainly do our confederation proud,” Popovic said. “We will go there to give it our very best, we will enjoy the experience, and it is a fantastic achievement for our club in such a short space of time.”

The Saudi team were frustrated against a defence intent on not conceding, the Wanderers relying on Tomi Juric’s goal in the 1-0 home win last weekend and the generosity of Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura, who waved away two strong Al Hilal penalty appeals.

Al Hilal’s fury at the officiating boiled over after the final whistle and led to a brawl between some of their players and officials.

The 65,000 Al Hilal fans had filled the stadium to capacity hours before kick-off after Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had made it free entry but they departed in a hurry after the final whistle as the Sydney players collected their medals in a near empty venue.

“We had bad luck and we had many chances. We were the best team over the two games,” Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf told reporters.

“If you lose one game when you play bad, you can congratulate the other team. But when you play how we played and they play how they played, we feel very bad.”

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2014