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The Warriors are in for a stern test against a Suwon side featuring the likes of 2002 World Cup semi-finalists Lee Woon Jae and Song Chong Gug
With all teams in Group G of the AFC Champions League drawing their first matches without any goals scored, it is anyone’s game from now. And with a spate of injuries seemingly plaguing the Warriors’ camp, coach Richard Bok is more than relieved to find out that unlike last year’s campaign, players who were booked in the qualifiers will all start on a clean slate this year in the group stages.
Under this new ruling, Uruguayan forward Federico Martinez will be available for the visit by Suwon Bluewings. Lions Noh Rahman and Daniel Bennett, as well as the up-and-coming 21-year-old Japanese midfielder Taisuke Akiyoshi, who have all picked up yellow cards in the qualifiers, will also be relieved to know that they are all starting off fresh as well. Unfortunately, though, Noh will be ruled out with a knee problem after the Lions 1 – 2 loss to Jordan. He will join Shaiful Esah and John Wilkinson in the treatment room.
The home side will go into this game as the underdogs against a far more experienced team. With titles like the 2009 Korean FA Cup, 2008 Korean League and 2002 AFC Champions League under their belt, as well as 2002 World Cup semi-finalist Lee Woon Jae as their captain and goalkeeper, Suwon will be the clear favourite. However, the Warriors are confident of their abilities, having weathered difficult conditions to earn a hard-fought draw at the Zhengzhou Hanghai Stadium in Henan two weeks ago against 2009 Chinese Super League 2nd runners-up Henan Jianye.
“It’s going to be tough. Suwon are a big team in Asia,” Bok acknowledged, “hopefully the (tropical) weather and the pitch will be to our advantage”.
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