Substitute Jo Kanazawa scored a golden goal 13 minutes into extra time Thursday as J. League side Jubilo Iwata beat Irtysh Pavlodar of Kazakstan 1-0 to reach the Asian Club Championship final for the third successive year.
Kanazawa broke the deadlock when he was released on the left by a Takashi Fukunishi pass and then delivered a cross-cum-shot from a difficult angle that landed inside the Pavlodar goal at Suwon Stadium in the first semifinal.
The reward for Iwata is Saturday's clash with local favorite Suwon Samsung, which came from a goal down to eliminate Iran's Pirouzi 2-1.
In the first semifinal match, the sudden-death winner came after the Iwata defense almost paid the price for some sloppy defending in stoppage time and a lack of creativity in midfield and up front throughout the match against the ultra-defensive Kazak champion.
"We really struggled and it was hard to find a way to score a goal. Time was running so fast that I almost panicked," Iwata manager Masakazu Suzuki said.
Iwata was playing without former Venezia midfielder Hiroshi Nanami, the player of the tournament at last year's Asian Cup, whose knee injury has forced him out of the lineup.