Home advantage

Al Shabab coach Paulo Bonamigo is hoping to make home advantage count when his team face Uzbekistan's Neftchi in their qualifying play-off for the 2012 Asian Football Confederation Champions League tonight. "We have the advantage of playing at home and I hope this works in our favour," Bonamigo told Gulf News as his team prepared to take on the Uzbekistan side. "We are well aware of their strengths. They are tall, strong and very physical on the field and we will have to be alert and at our best to ensure we keep our mistakes to a minimum." After ending in fourth place in the Etisalat Pro League last season, Al Shabab will be vying for one of four spots on offer in the main draw for the 2012 Asian Champions League. Weary outfit "This is going to be a difficult game for us as our players are tired and they have lost a lot of energy in the past few weeks. Neftchi have been preparing for this one match for the past two months, so they are so very focused. So the home advantage should be a huge bonus for us," Bonamigo said. "We have done our best in putting this aspect of confidence in our team. We are a family and a compact unit, but we realise that we will have to deliver once we are on the ground." Aiding the Brazilian coach will be their hard-fought 3-2 win against neighbours and arch-rivals Al Ahli in the 14th round of the Pro League earlier this week. "It will be a tough game and it will be completely different compared to playing against Al Ahli or any other UAE team. But if we play like we did against Al Ahli then we can advance to the main draw of the Asian Champions League." Other qualifying matches being played today include Australia's Adelaide United against Persipura Jayapura of Indonesia, Iran's Esteghlal versus Al Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia, and Korea's Pohang Steelers against Chonburi FC from Thailand.