Sydney: The ascent of Western Sydney Wanderers to the very pinnacle of Asian soccer means they may now struggle to hold on to coach Tony Popovic, whose inspirational leadership has been the driving force behind the young club’s success.

Just 900 days after the former Socceroos defender took over an expansion club with no strip, no playing staff and no facilities, he led Wanderers to the Asian Champions League (ACL) triumph in Riyadh at the weekend.

The 0-0 draw against twice Asian champions Al Hilal in front of 65,000 fans in the Saudi capital on Saturday was enough to secure the coveted prize after a 1-0 first leg victory at home in Parramatta.

It was also a microcosm of Wanderers’ entire maiden ACL campaign, defying huge odds in hostile environments to overcome Asian powerhouses with budgets far in excess of their own.

The 2012 Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai, J-League champions Sanfrecce Honda, China’s defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande and last year’s losing finalists FC Seoul all succumbed to the Australians on their path to the final.

“We don’t have the resources or the funds that some of these other teams have,” Popovic told reporters in the flush of the triumph on Saturday.

“But we have something that money can’t buy, the desire to win, the resilience to play for each other and do anything they can to win.

“No money can buy that and that’s what these players have in abundance.” It was a typical Popovic comment. Like all good leaders, he is quick to deflect any praise onto his players when the team is winning, while doing his utmost to take the flak in defeat.

Undoubtedly an important man-management tool, it has perhaps served to distract from his own achievement in masterminding the rise of the Wanderers.

Getting the club to the A-League championship final in their first two seasons of existence was extraordinary, even if they lost both.

Winning the biggest club prize in Asia at the first attempt almost defies superlatives, even before considering it was done mostly while the club was in pre-season training having turned over about a third of the squad in May.

Being able to foster such belief and resilience in a side is sure to make Popovic attractive to clubs with a lot more cash than Wanderers, who were sold to their current owners for A$12 million ($10.46 million) earlier this year.

A coaching assistant at Crystal Palace before he took the job with the Wanderers, Popovic has experience of playing at the top club level in England and Japan as well as on the international level in 58 matches for Australia.

The 41-year-old has already turned down offers from other clubs, however, and the attachment to the club he helped create in the same western Sydney suburbs where he was born, raised and started his career is clearly strong.

“You always strive to get better. You’re always looking to improve and I want to be the best I can be and I’m very ambitious,” he said before the first leg of the final.

“But so is the club and so are the new owners and so is everyone associated with this football club.

“Whether it’s the playing group or whether it’s the administration, you know, everyone’s looking every day at how we can get better.

“We don’t stand still here and that’s something that I really enjoy and at the moment, I’m very happy here.” Club chief executive John Tsatsimas is confident that will remain the case as the club looks to become one of the biggest names in Australian sport.

“Tony’s been paramount to the success of the team, his personality has driven the culture from the footballing side of things,” he said last month.

“He’s an unbelievable character and the club is first and foremost in his thinking. We’re very proud and happy to have him and may he remain part of the club for a long time to come.

“There will always be considered interest from elsewhere but he’s knocked back those to date and we’re eternally grateful that he’s committed to Western Sydney Wanderers in the long term.”