A 1-1 tie at home was sufficient for Guangzhou Evergrande to clinch the Asian Champions League title, the first Chinese club to win the tournament in more than two decades.

It was difficult to spot a shirt that wasn't red in Guangzhou's Tianhe Stadium on Saturday night, as the team faced 2012 K-League winners FC Seoul in the second leg of the final. The two tied 2-2 in the first leg in Seoul last month, giving Evergrande a two-goal away advantage. Evergrande won 3-3 on aggregate goals.

After a goalless first half that saw Evergrande's South American strikers dominate, the home side finally opened the scoring in the 57th minute with a goal from Brazilian Elkeson following a through-ball from countryman Muriqui. But the goal also galvanized FC Seoul, whose star striker, Montenegrin Dejan Damjanovic, scored just minutes later.

The small but persistent group of FC Seoul fans in the stadium was easily drowned out by booing and singing in the 48,000-capacity venue. Evergrande fans waved banners that read 'We are Canton' as well as Chinese flags, chanting with an enthusiasm that could match any top-flight match in Europe.

Though based in Guangdong province, Evergrande drew fans for the match from all over China -- China Real Time met some from the faraway northern region of Ningxia -- by virtue of its swift rise to the top of Asian soccer. Beating a Korean team is particularly significant, as teams from the country have won three of the last four tournaments. FC Seoul reached the quarterfinal of the tournament in 2009 and 2011.

Evergrande's ascent to becoming Asia's top club took just three years. Real estate billionaire Xu Jiayin, owner of Evergrande Real Estate Group, bought the club in 2010, after it was relegated following a match-fixing scandal. It's the first Chinese club to win the continent's top club tournament since Liaoning in 1990. Evergrande has also won China's Super League for the last three years in a row.

Evergrande's championship could give a much-needed boost to Chinese soccer. China's national team has qualified for the World Cup only once, in 2002, though it failed to score a single goal once there. It also lost 5-1 in June to a junior Thailand team.

To top things off for Evergrande, Muriqui was crowned both the top scorer and most valuableplayer of the tournament by the Asian Football Confederation.

Saturday's win makes Evergrande coach Marcello Lippi -- who led Italy to its 2006 World Cup victory -- the first coach to win the top club tournaments in both Asia and Europe.

'I feel extremely lucky...to do a job that I like and coach teams that can win all around the world,' said Mr. Lippi.

'Winning this cup is very important for Chinese football. We grew a lot this year and reached a level where we can compete with international teams,' he said.