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.”
