South China coach Casemiro Mior to face his predecessor in AFC Cup quarter-final

South China coach Casemiro Mior is expecting to play mind games with his predecessor Mario Gomez when the Caroliners face Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim in the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup in August.

Brazilian Mior replaced Gomez as South China coach less than two months ago when the Argentine left Hong Kong to take the helm at the ambitious southern Malaysian club.

Hong Kong champions Kitchee, meanwhile, were given an even harder assignment at yesterday's draw in Kuala Lumpur. They were pitted against Kuwait SC, the three-time winners who beat South China in the 2009 AFC Cup semi-finals.

Said Mior: "Gomez will know our team very well because he was the coach of South China quite recently. He will know what to do against our players. Therefore it will be tough for us.

"But at the same time, our players will be familiar with his style. We will try to predict each other's tactics.

"We will have to focus and show respect to the Malaysian team. They are strong and have very good players and we will need to prepare well, but we believe we can reach the next stage."