Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ¨C Kawasaki Frontale coach Shigetoshi Hasebe says he is determined to prove East Asian teams can match the firepower of their big-spending rivals from Saudi Arabia after booking a place in the semifinals of the Asian Champions League Elite.
The J. League outfit qualified for the last four of the continental championship for the first time on Sunday with a 3-2 extra-time win over Qatar¡¯s Al-Sadd to set up a meeting with Cristiano Ronaldo¡¯s Al-Nassr on Wednesday.
Kawasaki is the only team from its side of the continent remaining, with Saudi Pro League duo Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal facing off in the other semifinal after wins over Thailand¡¯s Buriram United and Gwangju from South Korea respectively.
¡°Before our game, three teams from the eastern side had lost so this was the last chance to break that (negative) image and I believed we could win to do that,¡± said Hasebe.
¡°It depends on which opponent you play; the teams on the western side can beat us but eastern teams can win too. It depends on the game.
¡°Now there is only one club, one force from the east. Just us. I¡¯m trying to break again that kind of image in the next game.¡±
Kawasaki captain Yasuto Wakizaka scored nine minutes into extra time to see off the Qatari side and take Frontale into the last four for the first time in the club¡¯s history.
Progress to the semifinals after three quarterfinal appearances marks a significant result for the club¡¯s coach, who replaced four-time J. League winner Toru Oniki in December.
¡°This is a new team and of course some people have already left the club, but because of them we could come here,¡± said Hasebe. ¡°As a new team we did this. This is something very meaningful for the club.¡±
The 54-year-old former Avispa Fukuoka coach will now turn his attention to the meeting with an Al-Nassr side that features Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran with Kawasaki disadvantaged due to having one day less to prepare than the Saudi side.
¡°They are very quick, very skillful with big names but that is this competition,¡± he said of Wednesday¡¯s opponents. ¡°The time is very limited for the players, without any doubt, but we will prepare for the next game.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.