Pirouzi look to put pressure on Pakhtakor

The 55-year-old German claims that a patient performance from the Iranian champions will improve their chances in a match that could eventually decide which team progresses into the semi-finals of the US$3 million competition.

"Everything is against us from the beginning, but the pressure is on Pakhtakor because if they lose we have a very good chance of going into the next round," he said.

"They have to attack because their spectators will want the first goal. They know we're not a bad team, but their spectators will still want them to push forward. We will wait, close down the spaces and then counter-attack quickly. We have to create more pressure on them."

To do that, Schmidt seems likely to demand a cautious approach from his players.

"If we get to 0-0 at half time, we have a good chance to get one counter-attack," he explained. "You need only one goal to win sometimes, not three, five or seven. You have 90 minutes to wait for this moment. We can't become nervous and go directly on the attack. That would be stupid."

While the players who weren't involved in Sunday's opening match - a fortunate 1-0 win over Iraq's Al Talaba - trained on Monday morning, the rest of the squad only got together for a light session in the evening consisting of gentle sprints, gymnastic exercises, small-sided games and football tennis.

Schmidt said the priority was to give his players 'active rest' before what will be a demanding match against Pakhtakor.

"They're an experienced team that play in a style typical of Eastern Europe. They're very strong, their wingers are very fast and they have good attackers, but I think against good movement and speed their defenders will have problems. Our players have to work their defensive line and we have to attack them," he said.

Surprisingly, Schmidt was not overly concerned with countering Leonid Koshelev, who was Pakhtakor's match-winner in the 3-0 victory over Nisa from the left side of midfield.

"Koshelev might be easier to contain because we know what he'll do. He has a good shot, makes good crosses and takes good free-kicks, but he has no right foot. We have to close down his space with a fast player," he said, hinting that he might look at replacing Behrouz Rahbarifard on the right side of the Pirouzi defence.

"Server Djeparov joins the attack with strong long runs from central midfield. We have to watch him. Anvarjon Soliev is the same. He attacks like Steve McManaman at Real Madrid - he comes from a long way out.

"We have to realise that we have achieved nothing yet. We took three points and we are happy but now we have a very difficult match.