Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande broke China's 23-year Asian title drought Saturday when they clinched the AFC Champions League on away goals with a 1-1 draw against FC Seoul. Elkeson's brilliant opener on 58 minutes was quickly cancelled out by FC Seoul's Dejan Damjanovic, but a draw was enough for Lippi's team after their 2-2 result two weeks ago in Seoul.
The World Cup-winning coach celebrated wildly with his players as the tournament's form side were crowned worthy winners in front of a jubilant crowd of 42,000 in Guangzhou. No Chinese team has become kings of Asia since Liaoning in 1990, and for Evergrande, the feat comes just three years after they were relegated as punishment for a match-fixing scandal.