AFC - The awe-inspiring arena that is a packed Azadi Stadium will hold no fear for Buriram United when the high-flying Thai side make their AFC Champions League quarter-finals debut against Iranian giants Esteghlal insists head coach Scott Cooper and captain Suchao Nutnam.

While the cliché goes that there are never any easy games in the last eight of any major tournament Buriram – who are only the second Thai team to reach the ACL quarter-finals after inaugural runners-up BEC Tero Sasana in 2003 – must have secretly been hoping last Thursday’s Knockout Stage draw would have been kinder.

Not necessarily suggests skipper Suchao.

“My first reaction to the draw was that I was looking forward to the game,” the 30-year-old Thailand international told www.the-afc.com.

“Esteghlal is a team with many fans when they play at home. They are a strong team but we do no fear them.

“We play very organised football. We were very competitive in the Group Stage and after beating Bunyodkor in the Round of 16 our confidence is very high.
Esteghlal is a strong team that get good results when they play at home but they are beatable.”

The Iran champions are indeed beatable at home even when they are being backed to the hilt by masses of supporters who are renowned as being amongst the continent’s most passionate.

This was proved by Al Hilal in the Group Stage of this year’s ACL, with the Saudi giants winning 1-0 in front of a 2013 tournament high 80,300 fans when the two continental giants met at the Azadi back in April.

This coupled with the fact that the two-time Thailand Premier League champions have been making the continent sit up and take notice with a number of impressive displays throughout this year’s ACL will no doubt boost Buriram ahead of their August 21 meeting with Esteghlal.

“I think we have surprised a lot of teams in Asia,” said head coach Cooper, the former Buriram assistant manager who took over from Atthaphol Puspakom back in May.

“We showed our mental strength in the Round of 16 against Bunyodkor and our team has been growing in confidence.

“Esteghlal is a well supported team in a big stadium and they have no obvious weaknesses. We do not fear them but we know we have to respect them home and away.

“I have never faced any Iranian teams. It will be a new experience for me and for many of the players. But in football it is always good to gain new experiences.”

And if the Englishman needs any inside knowledge about Esteghlal then the man to talk to would be Goran Jerkovic, Buriram United’s French forward who is
currently on loan at Thailand Premier League rivals Bangkok Glass.

Jerkovic spent the 2011/12 season at Esteghlal, making seven appearances and scoring three times in last year’s AFC Champions League and the 26-year-old could help Cooper and company plot the downfall of the Tehran titans in their own backyard in the first leg of their 2013 ACL quarter-final clash.