Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Parramatta: Tomi Juric is under no illusions about the size of the task faced by Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers in Riyadh next week despite the striker returning from a month on the sidelines to net the only goal in Saturday’s AFC Champions League final first leg victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal at Parramatta Stadium.
Australia international Juric had not featured since scoring the decisive away goal in Western Sydney’s quarter-final second leg success over China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in mid-August, with a combination of suspension and injury keeping the 23-year-old out of the semi-final victory over FC Seoul.
And despite the groin injury also forcing Juric to withdrawn from Australia’s recent squad and miss the opening two games of the new A-League season, the striker netted the only goal on Saturday just six minutes after being introduced by coach Tony Popovic to hand Western Sydney the advantage ahead of next week’s daunting return fixture at the King Fahd Stadium.
“I’m expecting them to come at us, being 1-0 down now and being at home,” said Juric after netting his third goal in his last five AFC Champions League games.
“It’s going to be a tough game for us, but we’re looking forward to it. It’s a big challenge for us and I think we can do the job over there.”
But despite also hitting the post inside the final 20 minutes after handing Western Sydney an added edge following his introduction in place of Brendon Santalab just before the hour mark after Al Hilal had dominated proceedings up to that point, Juric also remained cautions over his chances of a more prominent role in Riyadh.
“Fingers crossed, it’s up to the boss at the end of the day,” added Juric, who had previously netted his two AFC Champions League goals this year away from home having also struck in Japan during the Round of 16 success over Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
“I'm happy to play whatever role he wants me to play.”
AFC Champions League debutants Western Sydney, who will depart from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday looking to become the first A-League side to win the continental title, had initially found themselves forced onto the backfoot for the majority of the first leg by two-time Asian champions Al Hilal who were seeking a potentially crucial away goal.
But it was not until the closing stages after Juric had slid home an inch-perfect cross from full-back Antony Golec four minutes after the hour mark that Western Sydney goalkeeper Ante Covic was forced in any real action to preserve the home side’s advantage.
And the combination of Juric and veteran custodian Covic saw Western Sydney record a sixth consecutive home win in the AFC Champions League without conceding a goal.
“I feel great, I’m very happy to have scored and I'm very proud to be a part of this team. It showed in the way we performed,” said Juric.
“I thought we were very compact and confident in defence and we gave them a hard time.
“We were under the pump for a lot of the game, but we held on well and showed a lot of character to come through.”
Photo: AFP