JEONJU // Ismail Ahmed says Al Ain’s performance in the Asian Champions League final first leg will have earned the respect of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, as the UAE club look to turn around the tie and claim the title at home this week.
The Garden City side, winners of the competition in 2003 and runners-up in 2005, were defeated 2-1 by the South Koreans in a keenly contested clash at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium on Saturday.
Al Ain scored first, through Danilo Asprilla just after the hour-mark, but a quick-fire double from Brazilian forward Leonardo turned the match on its head. However, with an away goal, and the return leg to come at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium this Saturday, centre-back Ahmed is confident his team did enough against the 2006 champions to suggest they can end their 13-year wait for Asian glory.
More from the Asian Champions League final first leg:
• Leonardo: First-leg match-winner says Jeonbuk must 'play intelligently' to get job done in Al Ain
• Report: Al Ain still alive in Asian Champions League final despite Jeonbuk's slender advantage
• Reaction: Zlatko Dalic 'convinced' Al Ain can overturn first leg deficit
“I’m from Al Ain, Jeonbuk must respect us because our team is a big team,” Ahmed said. “They are a very good team also, with some quality players, but when you go on the pitch you don’t think about reputations, only we play football. It’s 11 against 11. We’ll prepare now for the second leg.
“It was our idea to come here to score, we weren’t coming to draw 0-0 or something, but this is football. We took a good result; I will not say it was bad. We still have the second half to play and all the players know what is waiting for us at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.”
Al Ain more than matched Jeonbuk for much of the first leg, but the visitors had to navigate some nervy moments towards its conclusion as Jeonbuk pushed for a third goal to try to kill the tie. Choi Kang-hee’s side, also participating in a third Champions League final after losing out on the trophy in 2011, are now unbeaten at home in 12 matches in the competition.
“For us, 2-1 outside our home is not a bad result, but hopefully we’ll give our best in the second leg,” Ahmed said. “I want to thank all the players for the game, because we played a good 90 minutes.
“It’s normal to have some pressure in the last minutes from the other team because we play away from home, but as I said before, we still have the second half of this match and hopefully the cup will stay in Al Ain.”
Like Ahmed, teammate Mohammed Fayez said Al Ain could not be too disheartened by the defeat. The left-back was involved in the incident that led to Jeonbuk’s winner, when both he and Mohanad Salem tussled with opposing striker Kim Shin-wook in the Al Ain penalty area, prompting the referee to point to the spot. Leonardo coolly converted for his 10th goal of the tournament.
Fayez, though, says Al Ain can rebound when the two teams meet again at their home.
“It is a positive result, not bad at all, and the great performance of the players enhances our motivation for the match in Al Ain to perform to our best,” he said. “We can compensate for the defeat.”
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