BONACIC FOCUSSED ON DOWNING FRONTALE
Written by AFC

Persian Football, CA
Tuesday, 18 September 2007

AFC – ESFAHAN, Sepahan coach Luka Bonacic has said that victory in
Wednesday’s AFC Asian Champions League quarter-final first leg tie
against Kawasaki Frontale is his team’s main objective of their
embryonic season.

Both sides are making their debuts in the knock-out stage of the
competition but Sepahan go into the match at Foolad Shahr Stadium as
the form team.

While the Japanese side have only one win in their last six J.League
matches, ‘The Yellows’ of Esfahan have enjoyed an unbeaten start to
their Iran Pro League season, winning four out of five matches to lie
second in the table on goal difference behind Tehran giants Persepolis.

But Bonacic says that the five domestic league matches have all been
about preparation for Wednesday’s AFC Champions League clash.

"My main objective so far this season has been to beat Kawasaki and
for this reason in all the matches I’ve tried out different styles,"
said the Croat.

"In (our last match against) Fajr Sepasi I spoke with the players
and gave them tasks which they will have to perform against Kawasaki.

"I think they’ve carried out their responsibilities very well and if
everything goes to plan, we will beat Kawasaki."

Despite a flying start to the season and a formidable home record
which saw them winning 12 out of 15 league matches at Foolad Shahr
last season, Sepahan still go into the match with question marks
hanging over their squad.

Three influential players – Armenian goalkeeper and cult hero Armenak
Petrosyan, midfielder Mohammed Nori and forward Hamid Shafiei –
left the club during the off-season while right-back Saeid Bayat is
serving the second of a two-match suspension after being sent off in
their penultimate group stage game against Al Ittihad of Syria.

But perhaps the biggest worry for Bonacic is that their top scorer
in the competition is out of both quarter-final games with a knee
injury. Seyed Mohamad Salehi, who was short-listed last week for the
Asian Player of the Year award, scored four goals as Esfahan become
only the second Iranian club to reach the last eight of the tournament.

The reigning Hazfi Cup holders finished above inaugural AFC Champions
League winners Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi outfit Al
Shabab and Syria’s Al Ittihad in Group D, winning four out of six
matches, which included a memorable 5-0 thrashing of Al Ittihad
in Syria.

In the absence of Salehi, Bonacic will be looking to Mahmoud Karimi
to continue the blistering form which has seen him plunder five goals
in as many matches.

Behind him, playmaker Moharram Navidkia, who seems to have rediscovered
the form which earned him a move to German Bundesliga club Bochum in
2004, is charged with supplying the ammunition for the attack.

Bonacic has warned his defenders to be wary of Kawasaki’s pace up
front but the 52-year-old is clearly focussed on building a lead to
take back to Japan.

"We know a lot about Kawasaki and we know how to attack them. We can
do this effectively through our fast and technical forwards," he added.