Kim Tae-su opened the scoring with a 19th-minute header
in the Group E match and Zoran Rendulic made it 2-0 for the powerful South
Korean club three minutes later when goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya's attempted
clearance hit the Serbian defender and deflected into goal. Veteran Ghana
forward Derek Asamoah put the result beyond doubt for Pohang in the 79th minute.
Pohang, Asian club champions in 1997, '98 and 2009, had
to come through a qualifying playoff win over Chonburi of Thailand to reach the
group stage, while Gamba qualified automatically by placing third in the
J-League.
"We played so badly tonight that I want to apologize
to the fans," said Jose Carlos Serrao, the Brazilian who has replaced
Akira Nishino as Gamba coach. "We had two chances before our opponents
took the lead but could not take them. We have a lot to work on if we want to
advance past the group stage." In Group F, FC Tokyo won 2-0 away at
Brisbane and Ulsan held off Beijing Guoan 2-1 at home.
It was a disappointing debut for reigning A-League
champion Brisbane Roar, which fell behind Japanese Emperors Cup holder FC Tokyo
seconds before halftime when Tatsuya Yazawa scored from Yuhei Tokunaga perfect
cross from the right.
Ariajasuru Hasegawa made it 2-0 in the 55th when he
knocked in the rebound after Brisbane goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos parried a
shot from Nahya Naotake in wet and slippery conditions at Suncorp Stadium.
At Ulsan, Kim Shin-wook and Ko Seul-ki gave the Korean
club a 2-0 halftime lead with goals in the 25th and 35th minutes. Cheng Piao
pulled one back for Beijing in the 51st but the Chinese club was unable to find
an equalizer in the last 40 minutes.
The opening night of the tournament featured eight
matches across groups A, B, E and F. Action in groups C, D, G and H will start
Wednesday.
The top two teams in each of the eight groups advance to
a knockout round of 16 on May 29 and 30.