Bonacic delights in Sepahan professionalism

AFCCL – Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic was pleased with the professional performance of his side on Wednesday as they played out a goalless draw with Al Wahda at Al Nahyan Stadium to advance to the final of the AFC Champions League.

The Hazfi Cup holders were able to defend the 3-1 advantage that they built up in the first leg in Esfahan as they became the first Iranian club to reach the final of Asia’s premier club competition.

“I think that we did a good job tonight,” said the Croatian. “We did not come here with the intention of just defending all the time but we played well in defence and on the counter-attack and used our brains to preserve our advantage from the first leg.

“I feel that we were the better side over the two legs. We managed to score three goals while Al Wahda scored only one, so we will go through to the final.

“I am very satisfied that we have reached the final and it is more important for Iranian football that after so many years, a team from the country has got there.

“It is a great success for our club, our city [Esfahan] and for all of Iranian football.”

Bonacic admitted that he never expected his club to get so far at the start of the tournament in March.

“Honestly I did not expect that we could make it to the final. We have a good club but we don’t have the budget to buy special players like other richer clubs.

“Other coaches may say it is not important but it is important because the rich clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United are good because they can afford to buy good players.”

The Sepahan coach admitted that he made a mistake in allowing striker Seyed Salehi, the team’s top scorer during the group stage, to play for the final half-hour although he has still yet to fully recover from a knee operation.

“It was my mistake to bring Seyed Salehi in. He is a good player and he was our top scorer last season but he had to have surgery on his knee two months ago and has not played recently.

“I decided to bring him on but he was not ready and did not show good form. It was my mistake because he shouldn’t have played.”

Attention in the Sepahan camp will now turn to their meeting with J.League champions Urawa Reds in the final.

“At the moment, I am not really thinking of the final because I am very happy and I just want to celebrate with my players,” said Bonacic.

“But I know that Urawa Reds are a good team and I have much respect for the way that they play. I saw their game on TV before we came to the stadium and I thought that they played a good match and showed good teamwork.

“Can we win? They say in my country that if you go to Rome, you can see the Pope. Anything is possible, so why not?

“But I should say that I don’t like playing against Japanese clubs because Japanese players are a bit faster than players in the Middle East so it is very hard for us to play against them.

“I say that because we had a tough time in our quarter-final against Kawasaki Frontale. They gave us many problems with their speed and we played like a Peykan [Iranian-made vehicle] racing against a Kawasaki.”