100,000 fans would help Esteghlal: Majidi

AFC – TEHRAN, Esteghlal captain Farhad Majidi is hoping for three things that would make passage into the last 16 of the AFC Champions extra special.

He wants victory over Group A opponents Al Ahli, a record 100,000 fans at Azadi Stadium, and he wants to score.

A win over Ahli would guarantee Esteghlal a spot in the last 16. The Iranians lead Group A on eight points, just one ahead of second-place Gharafa and two in front of Ahli.

They beat Ahli 2-1 away on MD1 and the last time they played at home – a 3-0 win over Gharafa on MD3 – they drew 70,000 fans.

“We had 70,000 fans against Al Gharafa and I believe that if we can get 100,000 for Ahli, we can beat them and finish our task of qualifying to the next round,” Majidi told the-afc.com.

If the blue side of Tehran can pack the Azadi with 100,000 fans, it would be an all-time record for the ACL.

Majidi has scored four goals so far in the 2010 competition and is one of five players who trail Al Sadd’s Leandro by one goal.

“All the goals that I have scored in this tournament were the result of teamwork,” he said. “Every striker dreams to be the top goalscorer and I am no exception.

“I am pretty sure I can overtake Leandro.”

Esteghlal lost in their last Iran Pro League match, going down 2-1 at Saba Battery. However, the defeat has not affected the team going into their ACL assignment.

“These things do not distract us,” said Majidi. “We are fully focused on Wednesday night.

“Our group is still wide open so we won’t underestimate anyone. We have studied Ahli’s players and worked on how to control them during our training sessions.”