SEOUL // Having disposed of holders Guangzhou Evergrande in the quarter-finals, the surprise Asian Champions League semi-finalists Western Sydney Wanderers will be even better prepared for their two-leg tie with FC Seoul, their coach said on Tuesday.
Wanderers take on the team the Asian champions beat in last year’s final in the first leg in the South Korean capital on Wednesday.
Their bid to become the second Australian team to make the final of Asia's premier club competition has been complicated by the fact the A-League season does not start until next month.
While that is a hindrance, coach Tony Popovic said he believes a training camp in the United Arab Emirates – where Wanderers lost to East Riffa of Bahrain but defeated Al Jazira 2-1 – and the inevitable improvement in fitness during pre-season will leave his team better prepared for the semi-final.
“At this stage you expect to play the best, and to win such a prestigious tournament you have to beat the best,” he said.
“This is our pre-season still. We don’t have a lot of match conditioning. But we believe we’ll be a lot better prepared this time round.
“We won’t be at our best until midway through the A-League season, you can’t shy away from that. But we will be better physically than we were against Guangzhou.
"Also mentally we'll be strong, after getting through the semi-final against Guangzhou, and if we can put the improvement on the pitch, we have to be confident.
“We’re not here to make up the numbers. We’re not here to just perform well, we want to go through.”
Wanderers will be without suspended striker Tomi Juric, who was credited with the winner in the first leg against Guangzhou, as well as forward Brendon Santalab and midfielder Shannon Cole for the first leg.
“The suspensions are something we can’t control, but the players that are here are very well prepared,” Popovic said. “It’s a two-legged affair and we’re confident we can put in a good performance and take a positive result back to Sydney.
“We know we’re up against good opponents, but we’ve overcome some big obstacles to get to this stage.”
Popovic said Wanderers will not play for a draw on Wednesday before taking the five-time K-League champions back to Sydney for the second leg on October 1.
“We haven’t played a game yet that we don’t go out to win,” he said. “This will be no different. Of course, the first leg’s away, it’s a good advantage to play the second leg at home. But if we go into tomorrow with a negative mindset, we’ll be in trouble so we will be very positive tomorrow.”
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