Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Guangzhou: After a five year absence from the AFC Champions League, FIFA World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is looking to make an impact on his return to the AFC Champions League when former winners Guangzhou Evergrande take on Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol in next week’s quarter-final first leg.
Scolari’s first taste of the AFC Champions League was at the helm of Uzbekistan’s Bunyodkor in their thrilling 5-4 aggregate defeat to eventual champions Pohang Steelers in the quarter-finals of the 2009 competition, before the former Brazil coach led the Tashkent side to a Round of 16 finish the following year.
Since then, the 66-year-old guided Brazilian side Palmeiras to the 2012 Copa do Brasil and took his country to the semi-finals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup (pictured) before joining Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou in June as a replacement for Fabio Cannavaro following a short spell at Gremio.
“The last time I fought on this stage was in 2010, but now the strangeness and equally the familiarity is coming back to me following my previous experience with Bunyodkor,” said veteran coach Scolari, who numbers English Premier League champions Chelsea and the Portugal national team amongst his former employers.
“I am excited to be back with a team like Guangzhou who are a great team who have been the winner of the AFC Champions League during their history.
“Guangzhou have a strong squad full of top players. After the first month of working and communicating with the team and the players as well as the staff, I am confident we can win many games and go far in this competition.
“They have top level experienced players working together, who have a thirst for honour with strong self-confidence, therefore, I have no doubt they can produce wonderful performances.”
Along with a solid core from the 2013 AFC Champions League winning side that features captain and 2013 AFC Player of the Year Zheng Zhi, defender Zhang Linpeng and striker Gao Lin, Scolari will also be able to call on a trio of compatriots in the form of last year’s Chinese Super League top scorer Elkeson, summer signing Paulinho and current ACL leading scorer Ricardo Goulart.
Goulart, in particular, has been key to the southern Chinese club’s 2015 campaign and has looked a worthy heir to Argentinean playmaker Dario Conca, bringing flair and creativity to Guangzhou, while also filling 2013 AFC Champions League Top Scorer Muriqui’s goalscoring boots, having netted eight goals in seven starts.
“Goulart’s talent and performance is obvious for everyone to see and he is very important to the team, but don’t forget there are 11 players on a team and everyone in this team is outstanding so we need to make sure everyone is performing well to be successful,” added Scolari.
“Kashiwa Reysol are not a weak side and we must pay 100% attention and give 100% effort against them as they deserve to be at this stage in the competition.
“But we must also give 100% against whatever team we need to face in any competition and at whichever stage.
“Guangzhou is a wonderful team and we just have to see what happens with the results in the games to see what type of effect I will have as the new coach of Guangzhou.”
Guangzhou will travel to Chiba for the first leg of their 2015 ACL quarter-final at Kashiwa’s Hitachi Stadium on August 25 having recorded a 4-1 win in Japan in the first leg of their 2013 semi-final en route to posting an emphatic 8-1 victory on aggregate.
The quarter-final second leg will then take place at Tianhe Sport Center Stadium three weeks later, with either 2006 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea Republic or Japanese treble winners Gamba Osaka, the 2008 ACL champions, waiting in the semi-finals.
“We are not unfamiliar with Kashiwa Reysol after we previously met in the AFC Champions League,” said Guangzhou captain Zheng Zhi, who was a virtual ever-present during the 2013 title winning campaign.
“They are a respected opponent and we must concentrate on ourselves and the match to achieve a victory.
"We lost to another Japanese team, Kashima Antlers, in the group stage and we know there are no easy games. But even though they are Japanese teams, they each have their own style and characteristics and we must pay attention to every opponent.”
Photo: AFP