Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Al Wehdat coach Raed Assaf has warned his team not to underestimate Al Ahed when they meet in Group A of the AFC Cup on Tuesday, despite the Lebanese side’s defeat to Altyn Asyr in Turkmenistan on Matchday 1.
Al Ahed lost 2-0 to the tournament debutants, who qualified for the tournament via the preliminary rounds, but Assaf is expecting the Lebanese league winners to put up a more significant challenge when they meet in Beirut.
“There is no doubt that this match is very important for us because we want to win and get closer to the next round,” said Assaf, whose team won 1-0 over Al Faisaly on Friday in Jordanian league action after kicking off their AFC Cup campaign with a 2-0 success over Bahrain’s Al Hidd (pictured).
“Our opponents are a strong team and we should be wary that they can give us a lot of problems.
“We watched several of Al Ahed’s matches and we now know their strengths and weaknesses. The mistakes they made in Turkmenistan don’t mean that they are a weak side and I’m sure that they want to make a good comeback, which makes the match against them very difficult.”
Al Ahed go into the game under the helm of new coach Robert Jaspert, who replaces Mahmoud Hammoud, and the Lebanese champions twice came from behind to win 3-2 over Al Ijtimaei on Friday in the domestic league.
“We want to get the three points although it will not be an easy task,” said assistant coach Bassem Marmar. “We are in an important period and it is very important to win especially because we are playing at home and in front of our fans.
“Our opponents are a strong team and they are currently on top of their league. They also have good stability with a group of experienced and skilled players who are also key players for the Jordan national team.”
Altyr Astyr, meanwhile, will look to build on their winning start to their AFC Cup campaign in Manama against an Al Hidd side that won 2-1 over Malkiya in the Bahraini league on Friday.
“It will be a hard match and anything is possible. We have little information about our opponents, but it should be enough for us in order to have a good match,” said Altyn Asyr coach Dmitriy Kori. “We know that Bahraini football is very strong, but we have a chance.
“Our players are motivated and they are optimistic that they will get a good result. We have the ambition to win the match tomorrow because it will give us a big push and hopefully we can show that we are a good side.”
Al Hidd coach Salman Shareedah knows his side need to win against the Turkmen champions after failing to earn anything from their opening game against Al Wehdat.
“We lost the opening match and this means that we need to get a positive result tomorrow in order to get back on track,” said the former Bahrain national team boss. “The match is very important for us and we have tried our best to prepare well.
“We must win the matches that we play at home and try to get the most points possible from our away matches. We are representing Bahrain and we should be giving all our best to show that we have good football and we deserve to play in the competition.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports