Ittihad and Al-Ahli enter the round two of the AFC Champions League Tuesday with hopes to improve their position in the championship. At Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Al-Ittihad, the last championship's runner-up hosts Zobahan of Iran in a Group B encounter. The host team had lost its first match in the championship 0-3 against Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan at Jar Stadium in the Uzbek Capital Tashkent on Feb. 23. Ittihad administration has announced a free entrance for the fans of the team for support. In the team's last training session, Ittihad coach Enzo Hector focused on certain tactics. Hector divided his players into two groups; the likely-to start group and the substitutes. The latter included the Tunisian striker Amine Chermiti, defender Ridha Takar and the goalkeeper Mabrouk Za'id. The coach concentration on his right defender Osama Al-Muallad was obvious as he ordered extra fitness exercises. Al-Ittihad enters the match with no points or goals and is keen to change its status from Tuesday's match. Meanwhile, in a press conference held Monday morning at the Marriott Hotel, Hector said that he would prefer to go to the gallows if he could not resolve the errors his team has made in the previous matches. “We have worked hard to show the real face of Ittihad and I'm sure you'll see Ittihad as the team you have always known,” Hector said. The Argentinean coach added that he knows the Iranian team quite well. “I have encountered Piroozi when coaching Shabab. I have to important weapons tomorrow; home ground and supporters. With these two important factors, we are going to attack from the beginning,” he said. On the other hand, Mansour Ibrahim, coach of Zobahan commented that he knows Al-Ittihad very well and his team is ready for the encounter,” Ibrahim said. He added his team will enter the match with a balanced tactic and hope they would keep their goal safe. He also assured that all the teams in the group have equal chances to qualify to the next stages of the competition. In another match, Al-Ahli meets Al-Gharafa of Qatar in a Group A match at Thani Bin Jassim Stadium. Ahli had also lost its first match against Esteghlal of Iran 1-2 at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. With its Brazilian coach Sergio Farias, Al-Ahli will enter the match attempting to redeem the image of the team. Farias, who won the last year's Asian title with his former Korean team Pohang Steelers, told reporters at the Qatari capital that he has a very strong team that can compete in domestic and continental championships. “We know Al-Gharafa is the title holder of its country's league, thus we have to highly respect them,” Farias said. He added that they will back to Jeddah with the three points. “We came here to make up for our failure in front of Esteghlal. The win will surely give us more chances to qualify,” he added.
