THAILAND enhanced their reputation as a rising force in Asian football by putting a second club into the semi-finals of this season's Asian Football Confederation club competitions. After the reigning Asian club champions, Thai Farmers Bank, had qualified for the semi-finals of the Asian Club Championship last week, the Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) followed suit in the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Leading 2-1 from the first leg of their quarter-final tie against Kuala Lumpur in Bangkok, TOT went through 5-3 on aggregate after winning the second leg away 3-2 in extra-time. TOT now meet Japan's Yokohama Flugels in the semi-finals, which will be held at one venue in January and will also involve two teams from the West Asia region. In Kuala Lumpur, TOT took the lead in the 20th minute through Amporn Ampunsuwun but the home side equalised two minutes later when Michael Roki ran on to a through pass from midfield and chipped home. Kuala Lumpur levelled the aggregate score in the 66th minute when Suresh headed home in spectacular style but there were no further goals in normal time. The Thais were the stronger team in extra-time, making it 2-2 on the night with a goal in the 93rd minute from captain Pongtorn Thiubthong and sealing victory a minute from the final whistle with a third goal, scored on the break by Anan Panthong. Flugels will fly the J. League flag against TOT in the semi-finals after beating Hong Kong's Instant-Dict 4-3 on aggregate in the quarter-finals. The West Asia regional quarter-finals of the Asian Club Championship kicked off in Doha, Qatar, over the weekend, with Al Wasl (UAE) beating host club Al Arabia 2-1 and Al Ansar (Lebanon) drawing 2-2 with Neftchi (Uzbekistan). After a round-robin competition, the top two teams will join East Asia qualifiers Ilhwa Chonma (South Korea) and Thai Farmers Bank (Thailand) in the semi-finals, to be played at one venue in January. The first leg of the J. League championship was held in front of 42,316 fans at the Big Arch Stadium in Hiroshima, where visitors Verdy Kawasaki beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0 with a goal by Tsuyoshi Kitazawa. In the new-look semi-professional Philippine Football League, Quezon City and Makati lead the standings on four points after two rounds of matches. Quezon and Makati both won their opening fixtures the previous weekend and battled to a 0-0 draw at the Iloilo City Sports Complex.
