Think big, urges Lippi after Guangzhou thrash Aussies
Chinese giants reach quarter-finals of AFC Champions League but World Cup-winning coach says they have the quality to go further still
Guangzhou Evergrande confirmed their place in the draw for the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League, but reaching the last eight for the second season in a row will not be enough to satisfy World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi.
The Italian's side cruised to a 5-1, round-of-16 aggregate win with a 3-0 second-leg victory over Australia's Central Coast Mariners at Tianhe Stadium last night to ensure progress to the quarter-finals thanks to goals from Luis Muriqui, Dario Conca and Gao Lin.
But while Guangzhou were eliminated at the same stage last year by two-time winners Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, Lippi has set his sights on going further this time around.
"It's a very important target that we've reached and the club will be very happy," said Lippi, whose side also sit atop the Chinese Super League standings.
"It allows us to grow psychologically because it's not easy for the players to play so many matches and keep winning and they need to be stable.
"We have been winning a lot of matches and trying our best to stay calm. But I don't think reaching the quarter-finals is enough. I want to go to the semi-finals if we can."