Hiroshima: Coach Hajime Moriyasu insists the collective strength of Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima will help overcome the individual talents of Shandong Luneng when the Chinese Super League club visits for their 2016 AFC Champions league Group F opener on Tuesday.
Sanfrecce enjoyed a stand-out year in 2015 as they sealed their third J.League championship before finishing third at the FIFA Club World Cup (pictured), and will now be looking for an improvement on their best-ever Round of 16 finish in the AFC Champions League.
And ahead of the meeting at Hiroshima Big Arch Stadium, Sanfrecce also won the season-opening Super Cup at the weekend with a 3-1 win over Gamba Osaka.
“This is our opening home match and is an important game for us. We know China have leveled up their football standard and have some notable foreign players who can decide the game, but we will play with our collectiveness to beat those individual talents,” said Sanfrecce coach Moriyasu.
“Our collectiveness is our tradition from our predecessors and we will play as a team, with all our players as unit, to earn a result.
“We also have good individual players, too, like Toshihiro Aoyama, but they unite all their ability together with the side, and we as a team from the J.League and Japan will do our best to collect a win.”
One player who Moriyasu may be without, though, is forward Hisato Sato who went for a medical check on Monday following an injury picked up shortly after scoring in the Super Cup win over Gamba.
Opponents Shandong, meanwhile, are appearing in the AFC Champions League for the eighth time having claimed a place in the group stage after beating Australia’s Adelaide United 2-1 in the play-offs.
However, the Jinan-based club are still yet to better their debut in the continental competition where they reached the quarter-finals, having failed to advance to the knockout stages in their six appearances since.
“Our objective is to make it through the group stage having achieved our initial target of qualifying for the AFC Champions League. We’ll make sure to collect points one by and one and make our team grow as one with a winning capability,” said Shandong assistant coach Sidnei De Espirito, with coach Mano Menezes unable to attend the pre-match press conference due to illness.
“Sanfrecce are a strong side and we have done a lot of preparation for the game. They play with a good formation, combine well and are stable and mature. Up front they have the likes of Takuma Asano, Hisato Sato and now Peter Utaka, so their attack is very dangerous.
“We are looking forward to playing against such a good team and our players are in a good condition.
“We believe we are capable of dealing with Sanfrecce and a win here can help us start well in the Chinese Super League, too.”
Photo: AFP
Source: the-afc.com