Sepahan Defender Hadi Aghili not Worried about Raul
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Sepahan defender Hadi Aghili insists he is not worried about Al Sadd striker Raul Gonzales ahead of their AFC Champions League clash.
Al Sadd of Qatar will host Iran’s Sepahan on Wednesday in Group D of the AFC Champions League group stage.
The two teams have played each other in the 2011 quarter-final, where the Iranian side lost 4-2 on aggregate.
“We are well-prepared at the moment and we want to get a good result. I know the Qatari team very well but I have to say the team has good players including Khalfan Ibrahim and Rodrigo Tabata as well as Raul,” Aghili said.
“It’s not the first time I will play against Raul Gonzales. I’ve already played against him when I was playing in Qatar. I can bring him under control,” former Qatari teams Al Arabi and Qatar SC said.
“The Brazilian Tabata is one the most dangerous player and played very well against Esteghlal last year. Al Sadd has always good strikers and three Iranian teams Esteghlal, Sepahan and Tractor Sazi have conceded nine goals in their away matches in Qatar,” Hadi Aghili said.
“Sepahan could score against Al Sadd since their defenders are not as good as their strikers. Sepahan is an experienced team and we are not the losers,” he added.
As regards Sepahan's chance to win the match, Aghili said, “Our chances are 50-50. We have a difficult match there. It’s a bad luck for Sepahan since we begin the tournament with an away game and we finish the group stage with an away game too,” Sepahan defender said.
