African champions, Egyptians Al-Ahly beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-1 tonight to knock the Japanese team out and move on in the tournament. Sanfrecce will be regretting the missing of a hatful of chances, with Sato, uncharacteristically, being the main culprit tonight. Sato acknowledged as much in his post-match interview, but the fans won’t blame him for an off day after helping bring the Championship to the club for the first time in their history!

The season is not quite over for Sanfrecce – who are already out of the Emperor’s Cup, which resumes with Round 4 on December 15th – they will take on AFC Champions league winners, Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai at Toyota Stadium next Wednesday as a consolation game, and bragging rights between Japan and Korea!