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AFCCL – Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic has said
that victory in Wednesday’s AFC Asian Champions League quarter-final first
leg tie against Kawasaki Frontale is his team’s main objective of their
embryonic season.
Both sides are making their debuts in the knock-out stage of the competition
but Sepahan go into the match at Foolad Shahr Stadium as the form team.
While the Japanese side have only one win in their last six J.League
matches, ‘The Yellows’ of Esfahan have enjoyed an unbeaten start to their
Iran Pro League season, winning four out of five matches to lie second in
the table on goal difference behind Tehran giants Persepolis.
But Bonacic says that the five domestic league matches have all been about
preparation for Wednesday’s AFC Champions League clash.
“My main objective so far this season has been to beat Kawasaki and for this
reason in all the matches I’ve tried out different styles,” said the Croat.
“In (our last match against) Fajr Sepasi I spoke with the players and gave
them tasks which they will have to perform against Kawasaki.
“I think they’ve carried out their responsibilities very well and if
everything goes to plan, we will beat Kawasaki.”
Despite a flying start to the season and a formidable home record which saw
them winning 12 out of 15 league matches at Foolad Shahr last season,
Sepahan still go into the match with question marks hanging over their
squad.
Three influential players – Armenian goalkeeper and cult hero Armenak
Petrosyan, midfielder Mohammed Nori and forward Hamid Shafiei – left the
club during the off-season while right-back Saeid Bayat is serving the
second of a two-match suspension after being sent off in their penultimate
group stage game against Al Ittihad of Syria.
But perhaps the biggest worry for Bonacic is that their top scorer in the
competition is out of both quarter-final games with a knee injury. Seyed
Mohamad Salehi, who was short-listed last week for the Asian Player of the
Year award, scored four goals as Esfahan become only the second Iranian club
to reach the last eight of the tournament.
The reigning Hazfi Cup holders finished above inaugural AFC Champions League
winners Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi outfit Al Shabab and
Syria’s Al Ittihad in Group D, winning four out of six matches, which
included a memorable 5-0 thrashing of Al Ittihad in Syria.
In the absence of Salehi, Bonacic will be looking to Mahmoud Karimi to
continue the blistering form which has seen him plunder five goals in as
many matches.
Behind him, playmaker Moharram Navidkia, who seems to have rediscovered the
form which earned him a move to German Bundesliga club Bochum in 2004, is
charged with supplying the ammunition for the attack.
Bonacic has warned his defenders to be wary of Kawasaki’s pace up front but
the 52-year-old is clearly focussed on building a lead to take back to
Japan.
“We know a lot about Kawasaki and we know how to attack them. We can do this
effectively through our fast and technical forwards,” he added.
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