Caio Junior plays down Juninho absence

AFC – TEHRAN, Coach Caio Junior is confident the absence of captain and influential Brazilian playmaker Juninho will not derail Al Gharafa as the newly crowned Qatar league champions take their 100% AFC Champions League record to Esteghlal on Tuesday.

Sadd Al Shammari and Brazilian striker Araujo scored inside the final 10 minutes two weeks ago as Al Gharafa rallied to beat Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli 3-2 to claim a second win in Group A with the only disappointment the late red card for Juninho.

But after wrapping up a third Qatar League title in as many years on Friday with a 4-1 win over nearest contenders Al Sadd, Caio Junior is confident of holding onto top spot ahead of Al Gharafa’s visit to the Azadi Stadium to face an Esteghlal side who have collected four points from their opening two games to sit second in the table.

“Juninho will not be playing for us and it gives me a chance to evaluate the team’s performance without him,” said the 44-year-old former Vissel Kobe coach.

“This won’t do us any harm as I believe the rest of my players can compensate for his absence.

“But we should be careful not to lose our concentration throughout the game to reach our goal.”

Esteghlal coach Samad Marfavi, meanwhile, defended perceived negative tactics in the goalless draw with Al Jazira at home earlier this month and is confident of returning to winning ways with a second win in three games after beating Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia last month.

“We have collected four points out of the first two matches, but we’ll only be thinking about winning the game, we are playing at home and we can rely on the support from our supporters,” he said.

“We know that it will not be easy to play against Al Gharafa, their morale has been dramatically boosted after winning the Qatari league a few days ago.

“Psychologically they are well poised since they won the cup recently.

“Technically speaking they are very good too, but it doesn’t mean that we will back away. We are playing at home and for sure we will do our best to get the three points.”

Unlike Al Gharafa, Marfavi does not have suspensions to deal with although expects to be without midfielder Hashem Beikzadeh.

Beikzadeh made a late appearance off the bench during the win in Saudi Arabia, but was not named in the squad for the draw with Al Jazira and only returned to the group at the weekend.