Pirouzi leaving nothing to chance

Dubai Iran’s Pirouzi Athletic won’t be leaving anything to chance when they give one final push against Al Shabab in their final Group D match of the AFC Champions League here Tuesday.

Chasing current group leaders Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, the Iranians go into tonight’s match with a psychological advantage after their 6-1 drubbing of Al Shabab in their home encounter before 82,000 fans on March 21.

With nine points from five matches, Al Hilal host Al Gharafa of Qatar in the second Group D match and Pirouzi’s Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli is wary that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) did not have a simultaneous kick-off for both matches.

'I am not worried about the outcome'

“All over the world the last group matches are normally played at the same time. I wish it would have been the case with the Asian Champions League too. But I am not worried about the outcome,” Denizli said.

“We know the importance of this match and we have prepared accordingly. Al Shabab is a very good team and our 6-1 result in Tehran was unexpected. We are ready for this match and it would have been better to have both final round matches kick off at the same time,” he added.

“Every time, we play for three points. And even if we settle for a draw then we have to be extra careful in the last five or ten minutes to make sure we do not allow them to score.”

Al Shabab coach Paulo Bonamigo admitted that his team is motivated to play this match even though they have no chance of advancing in the league. “We are high on motivation and this is not a time for revenge,” Bonamigo said.

'Dignity, personality'

“I have told my players that our task is to perform in the Asian Champions League while maintaining the dignity and personality of Al Shabab and I am confident in my players to keep this image,” he added.

For Bonamigo, the experience of leading Al Shabab in the continental competition has been a good lesson. “Barring that match against Pirouzi, we had four top-level matches and if we had won all the four matches then no one would have been surprised. Our team lost concentration in the final few minutes, both versus Al Gharafa and Al Hilal. But this is all part of the bigger experience and we can carry this forward for the team,” the Brazilian noted.

“The team now realizes that it’s not just important to play in Asia, but one needs to be more efficient,” he added. In other Asian Champions League matches today (Tuesday) Lekhwia play already condemned Al Nasr in Group C from 8pm, while tomorrow sees Group B’s second chasing Bani Yas play Pakhtakor Tashkent from 19.20 and Al Rayyan face group winners Al Jazira in Group A from 19.55.

FIXTURES
Al Shabab vs Pirouzi Athletic (Iran)
Lekhwia (Qatar) vs Al Nasr
Playing Wednesday
Bani Yas vs Pakhtakor
Al Rayan vs Al Jazira