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China, Japan, South Korea Set for Asian Champions Cup
Three competitors in the Asian Champions Cup East Asia zone are gearing up for their quarterfinals round-robin matches which kick off Wednesday at Mattoanging Stadium in Makassar, capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi, the Jakarta Post reported Tuesday.
The three competitors are Jubilo Iwata of Japan, Shandong Luneng of China and Samsung Suwon Blue Wings of South Korea.
Heavy favorite Jubilo arrived on Sunday to prepare its squad, which is led by six national players including the top scorer in the J-League last season Masaki Nakayama.
"We failed to win last year's final. Therefore, we are aiming to grab the title this year," coach of Jubilo Masakazu Suzuki told the Jakarta Post.
Jubilo will face a tough challenge from the Blue Wings, which relies on players from South Korea's 1998 World Cup team and 2000 Asian Cup team.
"We must not repeat our poor performance against Hurriya of Maldives. We must reach the semifinals without depending on the results of other teams. And we are very optimistic that we will be able to realize our ambition although we'll face a tough challenge from Jubilo and Shandong," said Blue Wings coach Kim Ho.
Shandong, which arrived on Monday, also expressed optimism that it would be able to qualify for the semifinals. Led by six Chinese national players, Shandong must overcome its lack of experience in the event.
"This is our first experience competing in the Champions Cup. We'll definitely use the opportunity to perform our best. However, we must admit that the competition will be very tough, especially with the presence of Jubilo and Blue Wings," Shandong manager Tian Di said.
The event, which is the first international tournament to be staged in Makassar, will be attended by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Peter Velappan.
The local organizer claimed 80 percent of the tickets had been sold and the remaining would only be sold to restricted spectators. The limited number of tickets is meant to prevent fans from spilling onto the field.
The stadium can hold 22,000 people but the event organizer is only selling 18,000 tickets for each match.
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