Yokohama F. Marinos manager Harry Kewell said his team will win the second leg of Saturday’s Asian Champions League final at Al Ain, coached by Hernan Crespo, despite leading by one point. “I have to suffer,” he said.
Kewell’s men won the first leg 2-1 in Japan two weeks ago and now travel to the United Arab Emirates for what is likely to be a sold-out Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
Former Leeds and Liverpool forward Kewell warned that Yokohama “everything goes against us” as the away team, but backed his team to lift the trophy for the first time.
“I’ve never been afraid of a challenge and I’m going to make sure my team doesn’t fear this challenge,” the Australian said after Japan’s 1-1 draw with FC Tokyo in the J-League on Sunday.
“It’s going to be tough but it has to be tough to win the ACL. Nothing is given to you for free, you have to pay for it, you have to work for it.”
“If we want to win this title we have to suffer,” added Kewell, who took over as Yokohama manager in late December last year, replacing former Australia international Kevin Muscat.
Al Ain took the lead after 12 minutes in the first leg, but Yokohama scored again midway through the second half and six minutes before the end to take control of the match.
Crespo said he was “very confident” Al Ain could turn things around in front of their home fans.
“We know what it means to play at home with our fans. It wasn’t easy today with the fans screaming and supporting the team,” he said after the first leg.
“In two weeks time the situation will be reversed and we need to take advantage of it.”
Crespo and Kewell will face each other as coaches in the Asian Champions League final for the first time in nearly 20 years since they faced each other as players in the European Champions League.
Crespo was part of AC Milan’s side that lost to Kewell’s Liverpool in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul.
The Argentine great scored twice to give Milan a 3-0 lead at half-time, but Liverpool fought back to tie the game at 3-3 and win on penalties.
Since the first leg of the final, Al Ain has won 1 and lost 1 in the domestic league. Yokohama has 1 loss and 1 draw.
Kewell acknowledged the second leg of the final cast a long shadow over his team’s league performance, which sits bottom of the division with four wins from 13 league games.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about this game, because this game is huge,” he said.
“I’ve been in these situations as a player and even though you try to shake it off, it’s there in the background.
“So you have to be mentally strong and you have to be ready.”
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