Evergrande feels heat

Guangzhou has a steep hill to climb after a 4-2 loss to Al Ittihad in first leg

Guangzhou Evergrande remains optimistic about its first adventure in the AFC Champions League despite suffering a major blow in its first leg quarterfinal against Al Ittihad in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday.

Chinese clubs have not claimed a single point away to West Asian teams in the league's history, and that spell spilled over to the Chinese league's defending champion and its centerback, Feng Xiaoting, when the Saudi side claimed a 4-2 victory at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium.

Missing defensive players Zhang Linpeng and Zhao Xuri due to suspensions, manager Marcello Lippi had to shuffle the side, and ended up teaming South Korean defender Kim Young-gwon with Feng, who has yet to fully recover from a knee injury that caused him to miss almost a month of play.

The choice turned out to be a disaster as crucial mistakes by Feng led to all three goals Evergrande conceded in the second half.

"We have two main central defenders in our team, and Tang Dechao has been injured for 45 days, and Feng has been injured for 25 days. I had no other choice, I had to choose one from them … I have no regrets," Lippi said.

Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi said the line-up has been racked by injuries and one player shouldn't be blamed for the defeat.

"I think a declining physical performance (of the team) led to the loss," Zheng said. "Our team has experienced a series of difficulties recently, such as the national team games (amid the club's already tight schedule), injuries and suspensions — therefore it was very physically challenging for us to play in such hot weather in the final stages of the game.

"It's unfair to blame a single player. The whole team was struggling in the second half."

However, the 32-year-old believes Evergrande will win the return game at home on Oct 2.

"This is not the worst result, as we have two away goals. We still have an opportunity on our home field," Zheng said. "As the quarterfinal has two legs, this is just the end of the first half and we will prepare for the second 90 minutes seriously, I believe we will win it back."

Evergrande also received the positive news that Brazilian striker Muriqui, who was carried off the field after being tackled in the 30th minute, was not seriously injured and would be able to play in the second leg.

Despite Evergrande's confidence in an overall victory, Al Ittihad's Spanish coach, Raul Caneda, does not believe the Chinese team can advance now.

"I think we have a good chance to reach the next round. It would be a miracle for Guangzhou to turn the result around," Caneda said.