Hernan Crespo’s side trail 2-1 from the opening encounter in Japan last week after Kota Watanabe scored with six minutes remaining to give Harry Kewell’s outfit a slender advantage going into the return leg in the United Arab Emirates.
“I’m pretty sure the fans will fire up the stadium for the 90 minutes, I hope so,” said the centre-half. “What I want from them is they fire up for the whole game, from minute one until the last second.
“I believe the fans will play a big role in that game. Always believe in football. There are some details we need to be better in, we players know this. We will work on it and I’m sure in the second leg we’ll do well.
“Before any game we play we know we have the Al Ain crest on our chests, we represent ourselves and we represent our country in this tournament. We are pretty confident about ourselves and I hope the confidence we have in ourselves will help us as well.”
Al Ain are appearing in the final of the competition for the fourth time and are looking to win their first continental title since lifting the trophy in the inaugural season of the AFC Champions League in 2003.
The 21-year wait for a second success after falling agonisingly short in 2005 and 2016 is fuelling a push for the title that has already seen Al Ain overcome Saudi Pro League duo Al Nassr and Al Hilal in this year’s competition.
“That’s why everybody wants this trophy so bad,” said Al Hashemi, “and I hope from the bottom of my heart that we can give happiness to everybody in our country.”
The style of play Al Ain are facing against the J1 League side differs from that encountered when playing teams from within their own region, and it is that challenge Al Hashemi acknowledges his teammates need to tackle to win the title.
“It’s different schools and from what I’ve seen tactically they are very good,” he said. “What we faced against Al Nassr and Al Hilal, their centre-backs are not really good footballers but this team has really good footballers, especially at the back.
“We need to be careful of this, we need to stick tight with them, body to body because I know physically they’re not really good when you get tight with them and fight for the ball. We need to work on that.”
“(In the second leg) I think the other team will defend, so we will attack. We need to concentrate on the counterattacks and the second balls, their strikers are really good, they’re from Brazil and we know them already.
“We have to be aware of that and also the set-pieces. I think they’ll play using set-pieces and counterattacks. So it’s our stadium, our fans. They have the lead now, they’re one up, so I hope we will attack.”
source
کلاس یوس