Luneng aim to win first ACL knockout stage match in 11 years

Head coach of Chinese soccer club Shandong Luneng Mano Menezes said here Tuesday that he has full confidence in his team to win the upcoming Asian Champions League (ACL) game against visiting Australian team Sydney FC.

"It' s going to be a tough game, with both teams hoping to make further progress," Menezes told a press conference, adding that it is his hope that Luneng will be in good form as soon as possible in Wednesday' s game and deliver a good outcome to the fans.

Having been kept out of the knockout stage since 2005, Luneng will host a Sydney side that are gearing up for their debut at Round of 16 of Asia' s premier soccer club tournament after finishing atop Group H.

"We know that Sydney FC are a very strong team, the team went through to the knockout stage in a very tough group that included the ACL champions," Menezes said, referring to defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande who failed to emerge from group stage this year.

Luneng' s midfielder Jin Jingdao will miss the match due to suspension, but Menezes said Brazilian striker Diego Tardelli, who recently suffered a light injury and was rested during the team' s last domestic league match against Changchun Yatai, will be among the starting line-up.

Graham Arnold, head coach of Sydney FC, for his part, said his team will always go for a win and never play for a draw, acknowledging that both teams will have a 50-percent chance of winning the game.

"When we fly back to Sydney on Thursday, we have five to six days to be prepared for the game with Shandong, but it' s difficult (for Shandong) to travel to Australia from here, with the time difference and different climate," Arnold said.

Arnold said he hoped his team' s performance on the field and the additional travel for Shandong will make a 60-40 advantage for them in the second leg scheduled a week later. Endit