Brazilian striker Sergio Ricardo scored a hat trick, including a last-minute equalizer and an extra-time golden goal, as Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal beat defending champion Jubilo Iwata 3-2 in the Asian Club Championship final Saturday.
Iwata, the 1999 J. League champion, was only a minute away from keeping the title when Ricardo headed home a right-wing cross from Ahmed Al Dukhi and then sewed up a dramatic victory with a sudden-death winner 12 minutes into extra time.
Iwata looked to seize control after Japan strikers Masashi Nakayama and Naohiro Takahara found the net in the space of just one minute midway through the first half to cancel out Al-Hilal's third-minute opening goal through a Ricardo free-kick.
But the Saudi Arabian champions, cheered on by a home crowd of 30,000 at the King Fahd International Stadium, pressed forward for an equalizer as the match wore on and their sustained pressure paid off.
"The only thing I can say now is we were unlucky," Iwata's Macedonian manager Gjokica Hadzievski said. "We played good football and had a chance to score more and win such an away game."
Earlier in the day, Pirouzi of Iran edged South Korea's Suwon Samsung 1-0 in the match for third place.