Sunday, August 22, 2010

Asian Champions League: Jeonbuk win despite Lee absence

Jeonbuk Motors coach Choi Kang-hee hailed his team's ACL chances after a 1-0 K-League win without star man Lee Dong-guk.
Jeonbuk, who won the 2006 AFC Champions League are set to face Saudi Arabian giants Al Shabab in the quarter-finals of this year's competition, with the first leg in South Korea on the 15th of September.
Despite the difficult nature of the tie, coach Choi Kang-hee believes the South Koreans have the talent needed to progress after he watched his side overcome FC Seoul without their suspended star player Lee Dong-guk.
"Our key player Lee Dong-guk was suspended for the match but still the players showed enough passion to win," Choi told the-afc.com.
"I think the victory will help boost the confidence of my players for the AFC Champions League."
With Lee missing it was up to foreign import Enio to open the scoring for Jeonbuk, with the Brazilian finding the net in the 27th minute. The Greens held on to their lead for the remainder of the match, with FC Seoul having Uzbek Server Djeparov sent off as they searched for an equalizer.
The victory means Jeonbuk stay second in the standings, two points behind leaders Jeju United and Choi has stated the importance of the win as they continue the search for a second K-League title.
"I expected a tough match and told the players to play like it's the final of a competition," he said.
Lee Dong-guk, who had a spell in England with Middlesbrough, has scored 5 goals in 9 appearances this season and should return for the next game against Gyeongnam.
(Based on espnstar.com)

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