The match officials for the AFC Cup 2009 Final were from Iran.
Match Commissioner: Muzammil Mohammad (Singapore)
Referee Assessor: Salem Saeed Rashed (UAE)
Referee: Masoud Moradi Hasanli (Iran)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (Iran)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Sokhandan (Iran)
Fourth Official: Akbar Bakshi Zadeh (Iran)
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's South China are still getting over their disappointment in losing to Kuwait SC and over the weekend suffered a 2-1 league defeat to local rivals Kitchee.
References:
Kuwait SC Are AFC Cup Champions
AFC Cup final match officials
Classy Kitchee capitalise on Caroliners' AFC Cup hangover
Classy Kitchee capitalise on Caroliners' AFC Cup hangover
SOCCER
Chan Kin-wa
Nov 01, 2009
South China proved they have still not recovered from their AFC Cup heartache after losing 2-1 to Kitchee in the BMA First Division at Hong Kong Stadium yesterday.
The Caroliners' impressive form left them on the verge of reaching the AFC Cup final two weeks ago in front of a patriotic 38,000 home crowd, only to lose 3-1 on aggregate to Kuwait champions, Kuwait Sports Club, in their semi-final clash.
And their misery continued when they lost for the first time in four domestic games as arch-rivals Kitchee, who also beat them in the pre-season Community Shield, outclassed them.
Chan Man-fai opened the scoring for Kitchee in the eighth minute, tapping home Lo Kwan-yi's cross from close range before, 14 minutes into the second half, Chan Wai-ho's own-goal from a scuffed clearance made it 2-0.
Leandro Silva converted a penalty for South China to close the gap in the 73rd minute, but then - when it would have been easier to score - missed a simple, close-range chance with only Sergio Aure, Kitchee's Spanish goalkeeper, to beat.
Kitchee's win took them back to the top of the league on 11 points from six matches - two ahead of South China, who have two games in hand.
Steven Lo Kit-sing, South China's team convenor, was unhappy with the performance of his players.
As was Kim Pan-gon, the team's coach, who admitted the team were mentally tired after the AFC Cup tournament.
"It is very disappointing. We were hoping that they could have recovered quickly after the disappointment of losing in the AFC Cup, but they simply failed to do so," the South Korean said.
"They lacked the motivation to attack and failed to live up to the standards they set in the fine run they had reaching the AFC Cup semi-final."
Kim said the team's attack needed to improve if they were to challenge for a fourth successive league title.
Ken Ng Kin, Kitchee's president, added: "We played some good football with some excellent movement by the players.
"Our passing game is a style of play not seen in domestic football for a long time.
"Before kick-off I said we were not too concerned with the result, as long as we played the game the way we know we can; we certainly did that."
He was disappointed that only 5,442 people watched the game. "We were expecting more for such a big game. Hopefully, we'll attract more against South China next time."
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