Qilu and Quancheng reached the final four of the AFC Champions League at the same time, but fortunately their opponents in the semi-finals were not each other.

The other two teams that advanced to the semi-finals are Jeonbuk Hyundai from South Korea and Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan!

The four places in the final four of the AFC Champions League are all occupied by East Asian teams, which is enough to show that the development of East Asian football far exceeds that of West Asia, especially the football of Japan, South Korea and Huaxia, which is developing quite rapidly.

Among them, the semi-final opponent of the Qilu team is Jeonbuk Hyundai, while the Quancheng team will compete with Puhe Ruby for another place to advance to the finals.

Kamagawa Ruby is an interesting team that until the 90s they could only linger in the first and second divisions of the Japanese league, but after the 90s, the team that had always been considered an underdog began to rise rapidly, and it was not until 97 that they won the Japanese J-League championship for the first time.

They then played in the AFC Champions League and achieved good results in the AFC Champions League.

And this year, the AFC Champions League in '99 is just the second time they have participated in the AFC Champions League. But it was only the second time they participated, and they actually managed to break into the final four!

The successful rise of Kamagawa Ruby has preserved the reputation of Japanese football, as defending champions of Japan's J-League Gamba Osaka were unexpectedly eliminated in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, while the other two participating teams were also eliminated in the quarter-finals and quarter-finals.

And Kamagawa Ruby is the team that was least favored by the Japanese domestic media before the game. It successfully entered the top four.

Such a result is enough to surprise the fans in Japan. In the past, Japanese fans did not have much hope for Urawa Red Diamonds, but now it is different, and they hope that their team can win the final championship, just like the fans in South Korea and Huaxia!

Urawa Red Diamonds can be described as a big dark horse in this AFC Champions League, but they are not the blackest, the blackest dark horse is the Quancheng team!

The Quancheng team is even more terrifying than Zhipu and Red Diamonds, although the Quancheng team has participated in the AFC Champions League many times before, but the Quancheng team has not made achievements in the AFC Champions League and the Chinese League.

Their best result was only the title of last year's Chinese Super Cup, and such a cup title is obviously not comparable to the league title.

In this way, the history of the Izumi City team is not as good as that of Urawa Red Diamonds. Their quality has never been favored by the fans. However. The Quancheng team passed five levels and six generals in this season's AFC Champions League, and finally successfully advanced to the top four of the AFC Champions League like the Qilu team!

If Urawa Red Diamonds' ability to reach the semi-finals was just a surprise to the fans, then the promotion of the Izumi City team is completely incredible!

Yes. It's incredible! Before the start of the AFC Champions League. No fan would have thought that Springs would be able to reach the final four of the AFC Champions League.

And as for Urawa Red Diamonds. At least there is a little bit of hope in them, and at least some fans believe that Puhe Red Diamonds have what it takes to win the AFC Champions League this season.

However, the Spring City team has never received such treatment at all, and they have played every game in the AFC Champions League. Whether it is the group stage or the knockout stage, it is extremely difficult. The media has long been accustomed to singing about the Quancheng team before the game, and the Quancheng team just slapped their faces all the way to the final four.

Their ability to reach the final four is something that the fans never expected, and any fan, even the fans of the Spring City team, always thought that the Spring City team did not have the strength to make it to the final four.

However, the facts are in front of us, the Spring City team advanced to the semi-finals, they not only advanced to the semi-finals, but they also launched an attack on the final championship.

Therefore, the Spring City team is the biggest dark horse in the AFC Champions League this season! And their opponent in the semi-finals is another dark horse - Kamagawa Ruby from Japan's J-League!

The media called this game a battle between dark horses!

In the eyes of media reporters, it is still too early to call the Spring City team the biggest dark horse in this AFC Champions League, although they have surprised the fans more than Urawa Red Diamonds, but if the Spring City team is eliminated in the semi-finals, then the Urawa Red Diamonds who have advanced to the final will become the biggest dark horse worthy of the name.

The media also called this semi-final the biggest dark horse battle!

Between Izumi City and Urawa Red Diamonds, whichever team can successfully step onto the final stage will be crowned the biggest dark horse.

However, for such a title, neither the Izumi City team nor the Urawa Red Diamonds team were very interested.

What is a dark horse? A dark horse means a team that is generally considered to be weaker and has achieved results that do not match their strength.

Neither the Izumi City team nor the Urawa Red Diamonds team feel that their strength is not worthy of the status of the top four, in the hearts of their respective players, their own team is the strongest!

It's a kind of confidence, but it's also a kind of belief.

It is this belief that has brought these two underdogs to the final four.

So they are not uncommon at all with the title of "biggest dark horse", and it can even be said that they are full of disgust for this title, they don't want to be dark horses, but to be a veritable strong team in the AFC Champions League!

If they could, both teams would be keen to cede the title of "biggest dark horse" to each other. However, the AFC Champions League has reached this level, and they can't give in, because giving in means being eliminated in the semi-finals, because giving in means not being able to step into the final field!

This is something that neither team can allow, so even if they are called the "biggest dark horse", they admit it, because they both have a reason why they have to win the game.

The final is the stage that all Asian clubs aspire to!

While the media was discussing this match, they were also discussing the semi-finals between Qilu and Jeonbuk Hyundai. Journalists also gave the match a code name - the early final!

The media believes that the match between Qilu and Jeonbuk Hyundai is an early final, and the two teams are generally favored before the AFC Champions League begins.

Although Jeonbuk Hyundai did not win last year's K-League, they did much better than last year's defending K-League champions, FC Seoul.

South Korean fans also expect more from Jeonbuk Hyundai than Seoul FC.

Jeonbuk Hyundai did not disappoint the fans who supported them, they successfully advanced to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, and met the Qilu team from China in the semi-finals!

In the eyes of Jeonbuk Hyundai fans, in the eyes of South Korean fans, the Qilu team is the biggest competitor of Jeonbuk Hyundai Team to win the AFC Champions League!

They believe that as long as they can beat the Qilu team in the semi-finals, then Jeonbuk Hyundai will definitely win the AFC Champions League this season! Even if the Quancheng team once eliminated Seoul FC in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, it can only mean that Seoul FC is not successful, and it does not prove that the Quancheng team has the strength to win the AFC Champions League.

Fans of the Qilu team actually have this idea, they feel that the Quancheng team and the Puhe Ruby team, no matter who advances to the final final, it will be difficult to threaten the Qilu team in the final.

As long as the Qilu team can defeat their semi-final opponent Jeonbuk Hyundai, then they have the guarantee of winning the championship in the end!

Spring City and Urawa Red Diamonds, as the two dark horses in this season's AFC Champions League, it is quite difficult to advance to the semi-finals, and the possibility of them winning the final championship is very small.

It is precisely because of this idea that the media called the match between Qilu and Jeonbuk Hyundai "the final that came ahead of schedule"! (To be continued......)