Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds and Sepahan of Iran advanced to the final of the AFC Champions League, with the two sides set to cross swords in November.

As things stand only Sepahan are assured of a place at Japan 2007, with Urawa needing to win either their domestic title (they are currently six points ahead at the top) or take the continental laurels to book a place at the global club showdown.

Urawa defeated Seongnam Ilhwwa Chunma 5-3 in a penalty shootout on Wednesday. The J-League leaders held their K-League counterparts to a 2-2 draw at Seongnam three weeks ago, and it was exactly the same story in the return leg after 90 minutes at Saitama Stadium. The home side opened the scoring, then the visitors responded with two goals before the hosts drew level again.

In the shootout Ryota Tsuzuki saved Seongnam's second spot kick from Choi Sung-Kuk before Tadaaki Hirakawa converted the decisive penalty.
Over in Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, Sepahan held on to their two-goal advantage over Al Wahda to reach the final of Asia's premier club competition for the first time. Having won the first leg 3-1, the Iranian Hazfi Cup winners kept the United Arab Emirates side at bay with a goalless draw to seal the victory.

Showdown in Saitama
Despite suffering a broken nose on Saturday and wearing a facemask, Washington still looked dangerous as the Reds made their intentions clear from the outset. The Brazilian forward threatened Kim Yong-Dae's goal as early as the first minute, then put the hosts ahead after 21 minutes. After collecting a deep cross from Robson Ponte in the right side of the area, the towering striker loosed a fierce drive inside the far post to make it 3-2 on aggregate.

It was a mountain to climb for the visitors, who were without their tournament top-scorer Mota through a knee injury. His substitute Nam Ki-Il twice missed a chance to pull level with only the goalkeeper to beat, while Itamar failed to guide his shot into an empty net in the 34th minute.

But the Brazilian made amends for the mistake with a sparkling performance in the second half. Itamar broke into the left side of the Reds' box to set up Choi Sung-Kuk's equaliser four minutes before the hour mark. He then fired in a powerful shot toward Tsuzuki in the 69th minute that the Reds keeper could only parry the ball into the path of Kim Dong-Hun, who headed the rebound into the bottom left corner of the net.

Despite the blow, it took only four minutes for the home side to restore parity. Ponte's free kick was met by Yuki Abe, who nodded the ball across the six-yard box for Makoto Hasebe to flick in his second goal of the competition.

Stalemate in Abu Dhabi
Al Wahda needed two goals to advance and the home side dominated the first half, with midfielder Tawfeeq Abdul Razzaq twice coming close to scoring in the opening minutes. Star forward and UAE international Ismail Matar tested Abbas Mohammadi with a low free kick in the 30th minute but the keeper did well to gather the ball on the line.

The visitors fought back with Mahmoud Karimi leading up front, but the diminutive striker missed a glorious opportunity to put his side ahead just before the half. Sepahan could have broke the deadlock three minutes after the interval, when Hadi Jafari's mid-range effort went just over the bar. Al Wahda replied through Matar, Mahmoud Khamis, and Saeed Al Kathiri but none of them managed to beat Mohammadi between the pipes.

It was Sepahan who looked more likely to grab a late winner, as both substitute Mohsen Hamidi and Abdul Wahab Abu Al Hail were denied by Nadir Lamyaghri in the closing minutes.