Western Sydney coach Tony Popovic says his team risk being branded as big-game flops if they fail to fire against Al-Hilal in the first leg of the Asian Champions League (ACL) final on Saturday night at Parramatta Stadium.
Popovic has implored his players to draw on the disappointment of back-to-back A-League grand final defeats when they go to battle with the multi-million dollar Saudi Arabian giants.
For all their brilliant achievements in just over two years, Australian football’s great success story risks having little to show for it in the trophy cabinet should they again fall short at the final hurdle.
The Wanderers won the A-League premiership for first-past-the-post in their inaugural season of 2012-13, but have gone on to lose successive grand finals to Central Coast and Brisbane.
Popovic is proud of his over-achieving players, regardless of the outcome over the next week, but is tired of being told his new kids on the block have done well just to qualify.
For the coach, there’s no such thing as a fairytale without the silverware to show for it.
“We don’t want to be a club where you look back and say, you made the final – well done. But you didn’t produce when it mattered,” said Popovic.
“We want to produce really well in these two games and you know then you have a chance.
“From the moment we started as a club, we had high ambitions.”
The Wanderers couldn’t have had a worse preparation for the two-leg final, which concludes next weekend in Saudi Arabia.
They suffered their biggest A-League defeat in round one to Melbourne Victory, followed by a devastating capitulation against Sydney FC in last week’s derby.
But in the face of their biggest challenge, Popovic is convinced his team is ready.
“I’ll have no fear looking in their eyes,” said Popovic.
“I know they’re ready.
“I believe they were successful just entering the competition; that in itself was a fantastic story.
“But these players are not satisfied with that. They’re not satisfied with just playing in the group stages – they wanted more. They’re not satisfied with the round of 16 – they wanted more; same as the quarter-final; same as the semi.
“While I’m extremely proud of the group, we’re here to win the final. Our only focus is to be champions.”
At a packed media conference at Parramatta Stadium on Friday, the first question put to Popovic by a Saudi reporter was, “will the match be easy?”.
Popovic was taken aback – and rightly so.
Al-Hilal, owned by Saudi royalty, are considered by FIFA as one of Asia’s greatest teams and have two Asian titles from a proud 50-year history.
Their style will present a unique challenge to the Wanderers, who have faced only east Asian teams from China, Japan and South Korea so far during their ACL campaign.
Captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley denied the Wanderers were nervous approaching such a landmark event.
“Nervous is a strong word. We’re excited,” he said.
“Clearly, this is a huge match for us and Australian football.”
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