Abu Dhabi: Al Wahda, the UAE's champion club and one of the most consistent club sides in the region over the past decade, have a great opportunity to create history when they take on Asian Club champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma from South Korea in the quarter-finals of the Fifa Club World Cup tonight.
The Abu Dhabi giants, who reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League two years ago, face an uphill task against Chunma who have been on a roll in the continent.
The home favourites, coached by Austrian Josef Hickersberger, do have a few things going in their favour and will get to pit their skills against European club champions Inter Milan next should they advance.
The home advantage is likely to be a huge factor as Al Wahda can bank on an attendance far in excess of the nearly 24,000 fans who cheered them on in their win over Papua New Guinea's Hekari United at the much bigger Zayed Sports City Stadium.
The confidence of having scored three goals in the opener would have certainly soothed their nerves and Al Wahda can now play more confidently.
All eyes on Mattar
More importantly their two Brazilian strikers Hugo and Baiano have already found the net and with the third Brazilian Magrao in impressive form, Al Wahda will be looking for a repeat show from the trio. With Esmail Mattar's best yet to come and the remaining UAE national team players all in good nick, having skipped the Gulf Cup, the UAE club has a great chance of making the most in this all-Asian affair.
On the win in the opener, Matar said: "We won, we celebrated and now we are focused on the match against Chunma. They are a very fast side but we hope to upset them."
If Al Wahda rely on their Brazilian strike force upfront, the Koreans have in skipper Sasa Ognenovski, a towering defender while in goal is Jung Sung Ryong, who did duty for Korea in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Another factor favouring the Koreans is that they have a side whose average age is just around 25 while most of Al Wahda's stars are seniors with the three Brazilians being plus-30.
"Though our season is over we are still in good shape and the boys know that a win will set them up against one of the top clubs in the world," said Ognenovski, the Australian who played in the Club World Cup in 2008 with Adelaide United.
Chunma coach Shin Tae Yong, who represented South Korea during the 1996 Asian Cup championship in Abu Dhabi, said, "Matar and Mahmoud Khamis are good players but I feel their movement with the ball is slow so we plan to attack this."
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