ISKANDAR PUTERI, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- With just a point needed to all but confirm their place in the last-16, Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) will be going all out for a win when they take on Pohang Steelers in their final group match of the East Zone Elite Asian Champions League (ACLE) tomorrow.
JDT head coach Hector Bidoglio, however, expects a stern test from Pohang Steelers as the South Korean club are also still in the running for a top-eight finish and advance to the last 16.
"My opinion is that tomorrow will be another difficult game, but we have a good chance to qualify (for the round of 16)… it is important to win and earn the best position in the standings.
"Initially, our goal was simply to qualify for the last 16 and now that we are very close to achieving it, we need to become even stronger to advance further.
"The players have a good feeling for tomorrow's match and we need to work and grow together. We need to continue to roar, take our intensity level to a higher level…," he told reporters at a press conference here today.
For the record, JDT are fifth in the East Zone group stage with 11 points, while Pohang Steelers are in eighth place with nine points.
One thing in JDT's favour is that all their players seem to be in the best shape and the return of Juan Muniz and Murilo Henrique from suspensions is the icing on the cake for the Southern Tigers.
Bidoglio said that although Anselmo Moraes only joined them two days ago, he expects the 35-year-old to be a useful addition.
But they had better be wary of Pohang Steelers, whose head coach Park Tae-Ha has sounded a warning by declaring that his men are bent on getting all three points against JDT tomorrow.
Tae-Ha is confident that his men can put on a strong performance despite playing in front of more than 30,000 JDT supporters at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
"Our goal is to be among the top eight teams. We want to focus on the next match after a good pre-season training. I believe that if we play our best, we can win.
"... I need to keep an eye on their (JDT's) number 9 (Bergson da Silva) and number 30 (Natxo Insa), who are their key players. Both these players always make an impact and spark JDT’s resurgence," he said when asked which JDT players he is wary of.
-- BERNAMA
