Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
With a perfect record after four games, Syrian side Al Shorta are in complete command of Group E and need only a draw from Wednesday's match against Iraq's Al Zawra'a in Duhok to seal first place and a spot in the Round of 16 of the AFC Cup.
The Damascus-based side have been forced to play all of their AFC Cup group stage games outside their country due to the ongoing troubles, but they have made light of their situation with four consecutive victories since they opened their campaign with a 3-2 win over Al Zawra'a in Jordan in March.
Despite not playing a competitive league match since February, they have remained in control of their group and a 2-0 win over Yemeni side Al Tilal two weeks ago put the Syrians within a point of qualification.
Former Syria international coach Tita Valeriu was brought in to replace Fajr Ibrahim a week ago, but the Romanian has promised no let-up by his side as they bid for a spot in the knockout stage of the AFC Cup on their debut in the competition.
"I have asked the players to put in all of their effort for our last two matches because they are decisive," said Valeriu, who led another Syrian side, Al Ittihad, to victory in the AFC Cup in 2010.
"Our previous results mean that we must maintain our good performances to finish on top of the group. The match against Al Zawra'a will be very hard and we must concentrate in this game in order to secure our place in the knockout stage."
With no league action in Syria, Al Shorta played a friendly against Syria's U-19 team last Friday, winning 2-0, before travelling to Iraq via Lebanon.
Goalkeeper Mahmoud Karkar will return after missing the win against Al Tilal through suspension, but Brazilian defender Leonardo (Leonardo Devanir de Paula) could miss the game with a leg strain while defender Feres Ali is out with to a knee injury.
Al Zawra'a, meanwhile, are in a battle with Lebanon's Safa for second place in the group.
With the Iraqi club losing 1-0 in Beirut two weeks ago, the head-to-head record between the two teams has been negated so goal difference is likely to be the tie-breaker if they are tied on points at the end of the group stage.
While Al Zawra'a will have forward Marwan Hussein available after he missed the match against Safa through suspension, coach Radhi Shnaishel will be missing the suspended midfield duo of Azhar Taher and Khaldon Ibrahim.
"We must have a good performance and get a good result against Al Shorta. We will miss some key players but we have full confidence in our players to fill in the gaps that we have," said Shnaishel.
"Al Shorta are a good team and they have several key players who previously played for the Syria national team as well as three Brazilian players. We must be aware of their threat."
In the other Group E game, Safa will be looking for a decisive victory when they host pointless Al Tilal and improve on their goal difference, which is lower than the one amassed so far by Al Zawra'a.
"We can go further than the group stage especially after getting three important points against Al Zawra'a," said coach Akram Salman who saw his side beat Tadamon Tyre 5-2 in the league last Saturday.
"We are now competing for a place in the knockout stage of the competition and the match will be open as Al Tilal have nothing to lose. We will be playing at home and in front of our fans, which means that we will have added motivation to get the three points."
Al Tilal have lost all four of their games so far but their coach Noradin Abdulghani still feels that his team have benefitted from the experience of playing in the AFC Cup.
"We performed well in our last match especially in defence but we have some young players and we lack experience which has caused a lot of problems for us in the competition," said the coach of the Yemeni side, who are missing midfielder Amr Najib through suspension.
"We are looking forward to the match against Safa as we performed well in our previous meeting against them. Hopefully the players will get more experience in these last two matches in the AFC Cup."