Sun Hei on brink of advancing
Hong Kong's Xiangxue Sun Hei will be seeking victory in tonight's AFC Cup final group match in Singapore to make sure of reaching the knockout stage of the tournament.
Sun Hei take on Singapore's Home United at the Bishan Stadium, and must win to pip Malaysia's Perlis and advance to the next stage.
The reigning Hong Kong FA Cup champions and the Malaysian side are tied in group E, with both teams having collected 10 points from five outings. However, Sun Hei have a better head-to-head record against Perlis, having defeated them in an away game last month. They will therefore be assured a place in the quarter-finals if they win tonight, regardless of the result of the match between Perlis and New Radiant of Maldives.
'We have a very good record in the away games of the tournament after winning two of them and hopefully we can continue our good run tomorrow,' said coach Koo Luam Khen, whose team left for Singapore on Sunday for acclimatisation. 'It will be a big disappointment if we cannot make it in this final game of the group.'
Sun Hei will be sending a full squad tonight with all three expatriates available - striker Julius Akosah, Fladimir Freitas and defender Cristiano Cordeiro - while the rest of the team are also hitting peak form after opting out of the post-season Cite De Louvre Cup.
Sun Hei reached the semi-finals last season and the team are this year aiming for the final, with US$300,000 going to the champions.
'Home United are already out of the tournament and their players may find it difficult to focus with nothing to play for. We lost to them at home in March, but we were down to 10 men in the first half and they just took an opportunist goal to beat us. I am confident we can set the record straight this time,' said Koo.
Meanwhile, Happy Valley, who have no chance in group F, will host Tampines Rovers of Singapore at Mongkok Stadium tonight.
