TEHRAN – Winfried Schaefer has called upon Esteghlal’s supporters to rally behind the team and help the Blues overcome a 1-0 deficit in their AFC Champions League Round of 16 against Zob Ahan on Tuesday. Esteghlal will host compatriot Zob Ahan in Tehran’s 80,000-seat Azadi Stadium on Tuesday. The German coach spoke before the second-leg […]
TEHRAN – Winfried Schaefer has called upon Esteghlal’s supporters to rally behind the team and help the Blues overcome a 1-0 deficit in their AFC Champions League Round of 16 against Zob Ahan on Tuesday.
Esteghlal will host compatriot Zob Ahan in Tehran’s 80,000-seat Azadi Stadium on Tuesday.
The German coach spoke before the second-leg meeting, where he noted the fans’ support could play as important a role as the performances on the pitch.
“We have some problems for the match against Zob Ahan but we have to defeat them and advance to the quarters,” Schaefer said in the pre-match news conference.
“I know my players and I am sure they will do their best against Zob Ahan. They just need to believe in themselves and they can definitely do it,” he continued.
“I hope the fans come to stadium to support us. Esteghlal have the best fans in Asia and we can qualify for the next stage with the help of them,” Schaefer added.
“Zob Ahan are a strong team but we have to put them under pressure in our home. We need to stay calm against them,” he said.
“We all work for Esteghlal. We have a very important match on Tuesday and we want to advance to the AFC Champions League quarters,” Schaefer concluded.
The AFC Champions League, commonly known as the Asian Champions League, is an annual continental club football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
