Guangzhou Evergrande aims for AFC Champions League glory
Chinese Super League champions have a date with destiny as they take on two-time winners Al-Ittihad in AFC Champions League quarter-finals
The potential for success outweighs the pressure, says Guangzhou Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi, as the reigning Chinese Super League champions seek to re-write the history books starting with next week's highly anticipated AFC Champions League quarter-final first leg against Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad.
Zheng has been ever-present this year as tournament debutants Guangzhou became the first side from the mainland to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League since 2006 by beating Japan's FC Tokyo in May.
With the goal of matching Liaoning's Asian Club Championship success in 1989, Guangzhou must first see off the considerable challenge of two-time winners Al-Ittihad to replicate Shenzhen Jianlibao's run to the 2005 semi-finals, having already matched the achievements of Shandong Luneng in 2005 and Shanghai Shenhua in 2006.
"We should think about the challenge and potential achievement rather than a sense of pressure," said China international Zheng. "We need to play each game with the same level of concentration and commitment before we start talking about winning the AFC Champions League."
Zheng was in the Shandong side who held Al-Ittihad to a 1-1 draw at home in the first leg of their 2005 quarter-final tie before the defending champions ran riot in the return fixture and posted a 7-2 win to advance 8-3 on aggregate on their way to a second consecutive continental title.
Now 32, and after returning to China in 2010 to join then second division side Guangzhou following stints in Britain with Charlton Athletic and Celtic, Zheng is determined to banish memories to ensure Marcello Lippi's side make a strong start in Jeddah ahead of the fixture in Guangzhou at the start of October.