SAITAMA, Japan (AFP) - Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds triumphed 5-3 in a penalty shootout to beat South Korean counterparts Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma on Wednesday to reach the AFC Champions League final.

There they will face Sepahan after the Iranian side's 0-0 draw with Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi.

Sepahan were defending a 3-1 win in the first leg in Esfahan and their disciplined display saw them become the first Iranian side to make it to the AFC final.

Al Wahda required at least two goals to keep their AFC dream alive and they went close to halving the deficit in the opening seconds as a low shot from 25 metres by Tawfeeq Abdul Razzaq skipped off the ground awkwardly in front of the Sepahan goal and bounced off the shoulder of goalkeeper Abbas Mohammadi.

Despite dominating the first half Al Wahdi were unable to break down the visitors' defence and despite a series of chances Sepahan held firm to book their date with Urawa.

Goalkeeper keeper Ryota Tsuzuki was the hero of the Japanse side's penalty win over Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma after the game finished 2-2 leaving the sides locked 4-4 on aggregate.

Tsuzuki stopped second kicker Choi Sung-Kuk's shot, while teammates netted all five spot kicks.

"I'm really happy about the victory," said Tsuzuki, which sees Urawa become the first Japanese side to reach the AFC Champions League Final.

Urawa's Washington opened the scoring in the 21st minute when he received a long cross at the corner of the penalty area from fellow Brazilian Ponte and shot home from 12-metres.

Washington, playing with a face mask to guard a broken nose from last Saturday, got the home side off to a good start, unleashing a shot at goal only 50 seconds into the match which keeper Kim Young-Dae saved.

Seven-time K-League champions Seongnam, who missed Brazilian striker Mota due to a knee injury, battled hard with midfielder Kim Sang-Sik, receiving a yellow card by pulling down Tatsuya Tanaka after less than two minutes.

The visitors hit a couple of long shots through Son Dae-Ho and Kim Do-Heon in the ninth and 10th minutes but the ball went wide.

Seongnam threatened the Urawa goal several times after going one down, with forward Choi Sung-Kuk missing two chances.

In the 39th minute, defender Park Jin-Sub registered Seongnam's second booking by bringing down Tanaka, the scorer of three goals in the previous three games in the Champions League.

But the Korean side equalised after the break when Choi Sung-Kuk netted from Brazilian Itamar's short cross in the 56th minute after a counter-attack.

Choi then silenced a full crowd at the Saitama Stadium by netting a second for the visitors in the 69th minute from a rebound off the goalkeeper soon after saving Itamar's shot.

Seongnam strengthened their defence by replacing forward Nam Ki-Il with defender Cho Yong-Hyung in the 72nd minute, but the change didn't pay off.

Soon afterwards, midfielder Makoto Hasebe struck home an equaliser on a Yuki Abe cross before a scoreless extra time.

"It was a speedy and dramatic game. Both teams played their 100 percent, and I'm really happy that we were the winners," said Urawa's German coach Holger Osieck.

"We took an early 1-0 lead and my players did very well, but the Koreans also played well in the second half, while we also had several chances. Either side could have won the match," he added.

The AFC Champions League final will be played on November 7 and 14.