Sharjah Players attend a training session ahead of their ACL match against Tractor FC. Courtesy: Twitter

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

Group B leaders and hosts Sharjah will look to extend their winning streak in the second match of the AFC Champions League when they take on Iran’s Tractor on Saturday.

Sharjah got their campaign off to a winning start when they defeated Iraq’s Air Force club in their opening game on Wednesday.

Khalid Bawazir slotted home the winner for the hosts in the second half of the match off a pass from Caio to move on the top of their group after the first match on Matchday One ended in a 3-3 draw.

In their previous two AFC Champions League appearances, Sharjah faced one Iranian side with their two encounters against Persepolis in the 2020 group stage producing no wins.

Sharjah coach Abdulaziz Al Anbari said they are well prepared for the match despite the short gap between the matches. “We have prepared well despite the short gap between the matches. We have seen the videos of the previous games to identify the weakness and strength of our opponents. Tractor are a strong team and we expect a tough fight with them,” said Anbari.

Sharjah are slated to play six matches in a fortnight as the games have been crammed into a jam-packed calendar to make up for lost time due to the coronavirus.

With the outbreak of the coronavirus, all the sporting activities had come to a halt. Matches were either cancelled or postponed.

Anbari also exuded confidence in his team despite the absence of key players ahead of their second match.

Talismanic striker Igor Coronado and Al Hasan Saleh missed the first game and have been ruled out of the second match as well.

“Igor and Hasan are recovering fast. They are training individually now with the fitness coach and have not joined the group as yet.

“I expect them to join the team training after the next match and be ready to join us pretty soon,” informed Anbari.

Anbari and Tractor coach Rasoul Khatibi have played alongside as players for Sharjah in 2007 and have utmost respect for each other.

Khatibi said he was anxiously looking forward for reunion with his ex-teammate Anbari.

“When we were playing for Sharjah, we played very well and were top of the league at some point. Anbari commanded a great respect both as a captain and a player.

“All the players respected him and now he has gone on to become the coach. He has delivered some good results since taking over. We hope that apart from tomorrow’s game, he will continue to have good results in future games,” he said jokingly.

Tractor have an opportunity to get their first win of the campaign, after spurning the chance to seal a win against Pakhtakor after throwing away a 2-0 lead.

Tractor have played in their AFC matches with UAE-based teams earlier also and they had mixed fortunes, winning five, losing four and drawing three of their 12 games.

“We plan strategy match by match. For the next match against Sharjah, we will be looking to capitalise on their weaknesses and exploit them to our advantage.

“We are in one of the most difficult groups, but all our players have quality and are in a good physical condition,” said Khatibi.

Striker Mohammad Abbaszadeh, who scored a brace in their opening game, will be looking to deliver the same performance again.

Al Wahda, FC Goa face-off: UAE’s Al Wahda and India’s FC Goa will be eyeing victory when they lock horns in Group E of the 2021 AFC Champions League on Saturday.

Al Wahda suffered a 1-0 defeat against 2020 AFC Champions League runners-up Persepolis FC on Matchday One, while FC Goa held Qatar’s Al Rayyan to a goalless draw in Group E’s other fixture.

Al Wahda came from a goal down to defeat Iraq’s Al Zawraa SC 2-1 in the 2021 AFC Champions League playoff but were unable to replicate their performance against Persepolis on Wednesday.

Henk Ten Cate’s charges have notched three wins and two losses in their last five matches in all competitions and the Abu Dhabi-based side hold the edge over their Indian rivals, having a superior Continental experience with 12 previous appearances in the AFC Champions League.