Japan's Reds book World Club place

(CNN) -- FIFA's still experimental Club World Cup -- the intercontinental tournament now in its third year that brings together the champions of each of world football's confederations in Japan each December -- received a major boost Wednesday when Urawa Reds became the first ever Japanese side to win the Asian Champions League and qualify for the eight-team competition.

The reigning J-League champions, one of Japan's oldest and most fanatically supported clubs, beat Iranian side Sepahan 2-0 in the second leg of the final in front of 59,000 jubilant fans at Saitama Stadium to secure a 3-1 aggregate win following a 1-1 draw in Sepahan's home town of Fooladshahr last week.

The home side dominated the match and, with the advantage of an away goal, their victory never looked in doubt after Yuichiro Nagai fired them ahead midway through the first half.

Midfielder Yuki Abe made the game safe with a second half header but it was the play of Reds' Brazilian pair, playmaker Robson Ponte and forward Washington, that caught the eye, with Washington almost stealing the show when he clipped the top of the crossbar with a lobbed effort from inside his own half.

Victory in the Asian Champions League -- which brings together clubs from as far afield as the Middle East and Australia -- owes as much to stamina, logistics and willpower as superiority on the field.

That makes Reds' unbeaten journey to the title -- which included away trips to Australia, Indonesia, China and South Korea twice as well as Iran -- all the more impressive.

Combining Brazilian talent with Japanese industry (literally -- Reds began life as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' company team) under the guidance of veteran German coach, Holger Osieck, Urawa are currently the dominant force in Japanese football.

With three rounds of matches to play, Reds hold a five-point advantage as they chase a third successive J-League crown. The club could also yet win a third straight league and cup double, having lifted the Emperor's Cup for the past two seasons.

All of that however would be eclipsed if Urawa were to pull off a major surprise by advancing to the final of the Club World Cup in Yokohama on December 16.

That would take an unlikely victory over European champions AC Milan in the semifinals -- assuming Reds come through a quarterfinal clash with the winner of a playoff between Sepahan and Oceania champions Waitakere United of New Zealand -- but such an upset may not be beyond the realms of possibility.

Urawa would have the comforts and conveniences of home advantage and the confidence of a team in its best form, while teams from Europe have traditionally traveled reluctantly to a tournament eight time zones away which, in its current format and previously as the Intercontinental Cup, has always been a distraction rather than a priority.

Milan in particular, currently struggling in Serie A, are likely to adopt a pragmatic approach to a match that few in Italy or Europe are likely to remember when league titles and Champions League honors are dished out at the end of the season -- which could play to Reds' advantage.

That is all still to look forward to for Reds' players and fans, but for now Osieck appears content to let them enjoy the club's Champions League triumph -- at least until Sunday's J-League clash with fourth-placed Shimuzu S-Pulse.

"I think it's really a day to celebrate because this is really something special," he said after Wednesday's match.

"We have achieved something really great, something that has never been done before in Japan. Today is the time to celebrate and tomorrow we will focus on our game on Sunday against S-Pulse." E-mail to a friend