JEONJU // Zlatko Dalic said his Al Ain side did not deserve to lose the first leg of the Asian Champions League final against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, but he remains confident they will rebound next week at home to clinch the title.
The Garden City club, the UAE's only continental champions after winning the trophy in 2003, were defeated 2-1 by the South Koreans at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium on Saturday, when the hosts came from behind to seal the win.
Danilo Asprilla opened the scoring for Al Ain second half, but Leonardo struck twice in seven minutes to give 2006 champions Jeonbuk a slender advantage. The two teams meet in the return match next Saturday at Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
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“I can be happy with the performance of my players tonight, but I cannot be satisfied with the result,” Dalic said. “I’m convinced we didn’t deserve to lose the game, but we did enough for the second leg at home.
“We played against a very, very strong team who have big support from 40,000 people pushing their team forward. But it will be a big game at our home. When you play away and you score a goal and lose 2-1, you should be happy with this result, but we are not. But we have a chance. I have confidence in my players.”
Contesting their first Champions League final since 2005, Al Ain more than matched Jeonbuk for the majority, a side now unbeaten at home in Asia in 12 matches. However, Dalic’s men must prove they can be as resolute in front of their own supporters next week, as they look to end a 13-year wait for Asian club football’s most coveted title.
“It will be a big fight there,” Dalic said. “But I’m convinced, I’m sure, we will play a fantastic game because we fight to be champion. It will not be easy — it’s a competitive team, a compact team.
“But tonight I’m happy because I saw my players in the dressing room afterwards and they are very, very disappointed. They are very sad because they saw they could play this game, a close game, but they lost.”
Dalic warned his side must be wary of Jeonbuk next week, but the Croat said he was satisfied with his players for implementing a game plan that had Omar Abdulrahman beginning the match as the team’s lead attacker.
“We did everything we said in the meeting for this game,” he said. “We blocked everything. Of course, we will change our style at home, because we have to play more offensive and score a goal — we don’t have a choice but to win the game. For sure, it will be a different game from our side.”
Dalic’s opposite number, Choi Kang-hee, agreed that the tie remains very much in the balance.
“We have 90 minutes more, but we are in a good position to win the Champions League,” said the South Korean, a winner with Jeonbuk in 2006. “It’ll be very hard, but we’ll prepare everything.
“Today’s result is not that important at all — we need to overcome the away match. All the players didn’t want to concede, however we’ll approach the second leg with the mentality to win. Al Ain are strong, but we believe we have quality players that can play well.”
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