AFC CUP SF 1ST LEG PREVIEW: QADSIA SC V JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM

Kuwait City: Defending AFC Cup champions Qadsia SC will go into the first leg of their semi-final against Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim on Tuesday with head coach Rashed Al Bedaih missing a quartet of players.

Goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi and Talal Al Amer were excluded from the squad after missing training last week while defenders Amer Al Fadhel and Khaled Al Qahtani are absent due to injury.

But despite the absentees, Al Bedaih is confident his team is well prepared as the Kuwaitis aim for a place in the final for the fourth time in six seasons.

“We managed to go through in the quarter-finals against Al Jaish and we prepared for this match with a game against Kuwait SC,” said Al Bedaih, who saw his team lose that Super Cup meeting 3-1 against their compatriots.  

“The team is ready for the match and hopefully we can achieve a good result in the first leg.

“We know a lot if information about our opponents as we followed their matches in the AFC Cup and this will help us in the match. However, we have a lot of respect for our opponents and hopefully we can achieve a good result before the second leg.”

SEMI-FINALS FIRST LEG FIXTURES

29 September, Tuesday
Kick-off time: 19:20hrs (Kuwait time)
Qadsia SC v Johor Darul Ta'zim

30 September, Wednesday
Kick-off time: 19:20hrs (Kuwait time)
Kuwait SC v FC Istiklol

Qadsia remain on course for a second straight AFC Cup title and reached the last four with a 3-2 aggregate win over Syria’s Al Jaish while Johor, the first Malaysian side to reach this stage, advanced to the semi-finals thanks to a 4-2 victory over two legs against Hong Kong’s South China.

Johor will go into the game missing influential Argentinian striker Luciano Figueroa, who was ruled out after being sent off in the second leg of the meeting with South China, but coach Mario Gomez remains focused on the task at hand despite facing a more experienced opponent.

“We know that Qadsia SC are the defending champions and they have good players,” he said. “I have some information about the players of Qadsia SC and they have showed great skills in the previous match.

“There is no doubt that Qadsia SC have a good experience and they are the champions but games are still games and everything is possible. It is good for us to reach this stage and we want to win the match.

“It is history for Malaysia and it is very important for us to achieve a good result and advance to the final.”