Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Malang: After making an extraordinary comeback to reach the knockout stage of the AFC Cup, Arema Indonesia are looking to take a major scalp when they face Saudi Arabia's Ettifaq in the quarter-finals.
The Indonesian Premier League side appeared to be all but out of the competition in April when they languished at the bottom of Group H with only one point from their first four games.
But a 3-0 away win over Myanmar's Ayeyawady United and a 6-2 home trouncing of Vietnam's Navibank Saigon saw them draw level on points with those two teams and pip them to second spot in the group by virtue of their better record in head-to-head matches.
Arema then continued their excellent run with a 2-0 away win over Hong Kong side Kitchee in the Round of 16 that made them only the second Indonesian club - after Persipura Jayapura last year - to reach the AFC Cup quarter-finals.
However, they face a tough test in the last eight against Ettifaq, who topped Group C with an unbeaten record and then edged Omani side Al Suwaiq 1-0 in the last 16.
"Ettifaq are a very good team so we must play a good tactical game against them," said Arema coach Dejan Antonic ahead of Tuesday's first leg at the Gajayana Stadium.
"We need to be patient and play a good short passing game. We cannot afford to play the long ball because they have taller players than us and they also have a lot of good quality with four Saudi national players in their squad."
Arema have not played a competitive game since the Indonesian Premier League season ended in mid-July and they will be without forward Ahmad Amiruddin and midfielder Anggo Yulian, both suspended after receiving their second yellow cards in the competition during the Round of 16.
However, Antonic remains confident that his side can get a crucial win on their home ground against the Saudi club, who arrived in Malang on the eve of the match after a long and exhausting journey from Dammam.
"We have two important players suspended so that has weakened our team," said the Serbian. "But I have told the players to play a patient game and that should help us.
"I do believe that we can get a good result on our home ground tomorrow to give us an advantage to take into the second leg in Saudi Arabia. We know the condition of our fielder and how to play here and that should give us a good advantage for the game."