Guangzhou must step up in AFC Champions League final, says Conca
The Guangdong club may be favourites for Asian final, but playmaker warns against complacency
With home-field advantage and two away goals in the bank, Guangzhou Evergrande should go into Saturday's second leg of the AFC Champions League final against FC Seoul at Tianhe Stadium as favourites.
But for Dario Conca, the Argentinian playmaker who has been so instrumental to the club's success since joining in mid-2011, those benefits will count for nothing if he and his teammates are incapable of stepping up in the remaining 90 minutes.
"It's going to be amazing to be at home because this is our place, we know the field and we have our fans to support us and this is our stadium and it's going to be something positive for us," said Conca.
It's up to us to do our work and to put 100 per cent effort into winning the game
"But in the end, it's not the biggest factor that will influence the result of the match. It's up to us to do our work and to put 100 per cent effort into winning the game.
"I don't believe the goals we scored in Seoul are an advantage. If you lose the match then it's useless, but if you win of course it could be an advantage. It all depends on the outcome of the second game and we'll see. If they score enough goals to win then it's not an advantage at all."
Guangzhou are just one game away from becoming the first Chinese club to be crowned Asian champions since the creation of the AFC Champions League in 2002 and the first club from the nation to win any continental title since Liaoning won the Asian Club Championship in 1990.
The first leg in Seoul concluded in a 2-2 draw after a see-saw affair that ended with Montenegrin striker Dejan Damjanovic levelling for FC Seoul seven minutes from time after Gao Lin and Elkeson had cancelled out Sergio Escudero's early opener.