Esteghlal Determined to Bounce Back in ACL
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian football team Esteghlal is determined to bounce back from a below par result in the 2019 AFC Champions League.
Esteghlal will play Al Shorta SC of Iraq at Franso Hariri Stadium in Group A on Monday.
As the 2018-19 Iraqi Premier League winner, Al Shorta earned the honor of being Iraq’s first representative in the AFC Champions League after the resumption of the country’s eligibility for the competition, the-afc.com reported.
Safety reasons mean the Baghdad-based side has to play its home matches 220 miles north in Erbil, with the first challenge of the campaign pitting it against Tehran giant Esteghlal.
Coach Farhad Majidi’s side is determined to bounce back from a below par result in 2019, when it narrowly missed out on a place in the knock-out stage, finishing third behind eventual champion Al Hilal and Qatar’s Al Duhail.
Unlike Al Shorta, Esteghlal has had to navigate two levels of qualifiers before reaching the group stage, and the two matches offered them an opportunity to flex their muscles.
Against Kuwait SC in Preliminary Round 2, Cheick Diabate bagged a brace and Vouria Ghafouri rounded off the scoring in a 3-0 victory. Three days later, it emphatically beat Qatar’s Al Rayyan 5-0 with Mahdi Ghaedi & Amir Arsalan Motahari netting twice each after a Diabate opener.
Preparing for its maiden AFC Champions League campaign, Al Shorta splashed the cash on January signings; acquiring Colombian forward Diego Calderon from Saudi Arabia’s Al Faisaly SC and bolstering their midfield with Ugandan international Anthony Mawejje from Kuwait’s Al Arabi SC.
It hasn’t been all positive news on the transfer news for Al Shorta as it lost two Iraqi internationals; Amjad Attwan left for Kuwait SC and Sherko Kareem signed for Erbil SC.
