Just one goal. That’s all that separates Western Sydney from a spot in the Asian Champions League (ACL) final.
Having held FC Seoul to a scoreless draw in the first leg of their semi-final in Korea earlier this month, the Wanderers host the return leg at Parramatta Stadium on Wednesday where a win – any win – will secure their place in the decider of their maiden ACL campaign.
They’ll also join Adelaide United as the only two Australian teams to reach the ACL showpiece.
Should the game end in another 0-0 draw the match will be forced into extra time and possibly penalties.
Wanderers coach Tony Popovic says he doesn’t care when it happens, as long as his side scores.
“We’ve been in that situation before. We had Sanfrecce here and had to win by two goals and we did,” he said.
“We know we can win this game. Whether that’s doing it in the first minute or whether that’s scoring the winner in the last minute. We’ll just take the win whichever way it comes.”
FC Seoul coach Choi Yong-Soo on the other hand says being sure to score first will be crucial.
He said being so close to lifting the trophy last year only to fall to Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande in the decider will motivate his side.
“The first goal will be very important but we have experience and we do have a lot of passion and belief so we are ready for this game,” he said
“The Wanderers at home will want to show their fans how strong they are but whether they are defensive or offensive is not important for us.
“We have a lot of strategies to deal with them so we are prepared.”
It was Brendon Santalab who scored in the dying minutes in the Wanderers’ round-of-16 clash against Sanfrecce Hiroshima to secure the 2-0 victory and a spot in the quarters.
Popovic gets him, fellow key striker Tomi Juric and Shannon Cole all back from suspension for Wednesday’s clash and the coach says he’s close to settling on his starting line up.
Both Juric and Santalab have scored three crucial goals in the ACL so far with Juric showing nerves of steel to cooly slot home two penalties in the knock-out stages.
While the Wanderers have scored in all but one of their ACL matches FC Seoul haven’t found the back of the net once in their last three games with all three ending in 0-0 draws.
The second leg of Seoul’s quarter-final clash against Pohang Steelers was forced to penalties and Choi is prepared for the same on Wednesday.
With the coach expecting the game to go down to the wire he’s likely to again use dangerous forwards, Colombian Mauricio Molina and Brazilian Everton Santos, off the bench given their game-changing impact up front.
Choi also gets key Spanish centre-back Osma Barba back from injury.
Popovic is all too aware of the quality the Korean side’s foreigners bring but says his charges can match them.
“They’re very well structured, very well organised and they put their foreign players on the bench so you can see how much faith they have in their squad,” he said.
“They have those individuals who can make a difference but so do we.”
Leonardo
Roar Guru
If they make the final, the first leg will be at Allianz or ANZ on 25th Oct. AFC have already told them that Parra stadium is not acceptable and doesn't have the facilities for all the foreign dignitaries and foreign journalists who will be attending.
Leonardo
Roar Guru
If WSW make the final it will be on 25th Oct and 1 Nov, which are Saturdays, so their A-League games against CCM and BR will have to be rescheduled. They may even ask to postpone the first Sydney derby, which is on the week leading up to the first leg of the final.
Leonardo
Roar Guru
He'll be busting at the seams Josh like a wound up clock. He just needs to channel his aggression and not get into any trouble. These Seoul players will be falling over at every opportunity like they're playing on ice - time wasting, diving, faking injury and getting into WSW faces. Will be a very interesting game and WSW need to score first and early on to make it a spectacle, otherwise it will be a very frustrating night for the players and fans.
AZ_RBB
Guest
It's two legged. First leg will be in East Asia, second leg will be in West Asia (in Riyadh, home of Al-Hilal) Al-Hilal have averaged over 50k during this ACL campaign. Riyadh itself is a pretty intense city, both culturally and its climate. They'll get 70k comfortably, and i use the term comfortably very loosely as the temperatures will be in the high 30s during the game.
AZ_RBB
Guest
It is a little difficult for the A-League. Once it becomes a 16 team competition it'll be easier to shift fixtures around as there won't be the risk of having weekend days without any games.
Bondy
Guest
JohnL Agree . _______________________ Also agree with AZ we dont see a team from Mid West Asia until the Final if an Aus team gets through ...
Bondy
Guest
Its going to be a tough match tonight I hope they get through . AZ_ . If they get through why dont we host the Final in AUS ? ...
albatross
Roar Pro
FCS has been given a helping hand with match scheduling - their last K-L game was on the 24th (a 1-1 draw with Gyeongnam FC). It's a pity that the HA-L has never been able to sort out scheduling like that.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I guess you could but it is a little silly. I think they should start mixing east and west from quarters at least. Group stage being split is understandable. Not that I see it changing any time soon.
JohnL
Guest
Would you call the winner tonight the unofficial East Asian Champions? The ACL final is an eastern asian club v a western asian club.
Josh
Guest
I can see this being Santalab's night, not sure why but he just has that ability to come through with the goods.