Persepolis Midfielder Resan Eyes Historic ACL Title
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Persepolis midfielder Bashar Resan is eyeing a historic AFC Champions League triumph, despite his side coming into the second leg of the final at Azadi Stadium with a two-goal deficit.
The Iranian giant will host Kashima Antlers in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Saturday.
“We are not happy with the result, we could have come away from Kashima with at least a draw,” the 21-year-old reflected on last week’s defeat in Kashima.
“We did very well in the first half but made mistakes in the second half and were punished with two goals. The result puts us under a great deal of pressure in the return leg here at home,” Resan said.
“Reaching the final is in itself an achievement for us, considering all that we have been through and also that financially, we are not as strong as teams from Japan, the UAE or Qatar.
“But we want to go one (step) further and win the title; it would be historic for the club. Something fans will remember for years to come, and for me personally to win the AFC Champions League to my previous AFC Cup win would be special,” the Iraqi midfielder added.
One last challenge Persepolis will have to overcome is that of the 10,000 miles round trip they have had to travel over the past 10 days from Iran to Japan and back. That’s double the distance travelled by Kashima who arrived in Tehran on Thursday.
“We suffered from jetlag, our sleeping patterns were disturbed. You could see it in the first leg. We played really well in the first half but struggled physically in the second half,” Resan concluded.
