Beirut: Nigerian striker Musa Jabiru will be fit for Al Ahed as the Lebanese side seek to take an advantage from the first leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final first leg meeting with Al Muharraq on Wednesday evening.
The forward will be available to coach Robert Jaspert despite picking up an injury in the domestic league match against Safa on Friday, which Al Ahed won 2-1 to kick off their Lebanese league campaign in style against the defending champions.
“We have proved that we are a good side in the previous stages and we are now in the quarter-finals where we qualified thanks to the good performance of our players,” said Jaspert. “They are determined to continue in the competition as far as possible and win the title.
“I'm optimistic that we can advance to the semi-finals but at the same time we should not underestimate our opponents. We should get a positive result in the first leg in order to make things easier when we travel to Bahrain.”
Al Ahed crushed Syria’s Al Wahda 4-0 in the Round of 16 to qualify for the quarter-finals after topping a group that featured former champions Al Wehdat from Jordan, Bahrain’s Al Hidd and Altyn Asyr of Turkmenistan and seeking to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition for the first time.
The Beirut-based club last qualified for the quarter-finals in 2005 while Muharraq bring a wealth of experience to the game, having twice reached the final of the AFC Cup, winning the competition in 2008.
Rodin Gacanin’s side kicked off their domestic campaign with a 1-1 draw against Al Manama on Thursday and go into the game after seeing off two-time champions Al Faisaly from Jordan in the Round of 16 and topping group D in the opening round ahead of Syria’s Al Jaish, Ahli Al Khaleel from Palestine and Omani side Fanja.
“There is no doubt we are playing an important match against a strong side who have a complete squad,” said Muharraq’s Serbian coach. “However we want to have a strong performance which satisfies our fans by using the experience of our players at such an important stage.
“Our players are capable of filling in any gaps that we will have in the match tomorrow. We respect Al Ahed because they are a strong side and they play with a stable performance, but at the same time we are a good team and we have a good chance to advance to the next round.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com