Shabab supremo sure of Saudis’ success

AFC – ESFAHAN, Al Shabab boss Enzo Trossero believes his side have the necessary resilience to claim the point they need to reach the last 16 of the 2011 AFC Champions League when they visit Zob Ahan on Tuesday.

The Iranians have already sealed top spot in Group D thanks to last week’s 1-0 at Emirates thanks to Mohammad Ghazi’s goal 10 minutes from time.

Al Shabab, meanwhile, overcame Al Rayyan at Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium through Nassir Al Shamrani’s second-half goal to move two points clear of Emirates ahead of the final round of games.

It means the Saudis need just a point at Foolad Shahr given they hold the edge over the UAE side on head-to-head records.

“It’s not the first time I’ve come up against an Iranian team and I hope we put in a strong performance to reach the next round,” said Trossero.

“We’ve had a lot of injury problems but we are still among the best teams in the Saudi League and have had good results in the AFC Champions League.

“Tomorrow we want to play a good game and we need to score if we want to qualify.

“Both teams are strong, we also have selection problems but this is the same for both teams and we want to get to the next round.”

However, the Argentinian expects a closely-fought contest against a side that held them to a goalless draw in Riyadh.

“Saudi and Iranian teams are of a similar level, ultimately the difference usually comes down to one incident,” he added.

“Zob Ahan have good strikers and we need to watch them closely.”

Zob Ahan will be without the suspended trio of Ghazi Najafabadi, Ahmadi Mohammadali and Mohammad Reza Khalatbari for the clash in Esfahan.

Despite that, and the fact they have nothing to play for, boss Mansour Ebrahimzadeh insisted his side will be fully committed.

“Just because we are in the next stage, it does not mean that we do not care about tomorrow’s game,” he said.

“We must respect fair play as other teams depend on the result. We have some players suspended but otherwise the players are in ideal condition. I will pick my strongest team.”