Esteban Solari, head coach of Johor Darul Ta’Zim, accepts the challenge to provide competition and try to improve the quality of the game from domestic league to Asian stage and does not want the black moments experienced last season to repeat itself by demanding that his men show the best action to make up for the defeat and at the same time open the campaign this time.
In the season 2022, Johor Darul Ta’Zim drew in group I along with Kawasaki Frontale in a format-centralised venue at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri, Which resulted draw 0-0 in the first match before losing 0-5 in the return match.
“It cannot be denied that Kawasaki Frontale is a strong club because they compete in a fairly competitive league. Besides their coach (Toru Oniki) has been guiding the team for six years, and they are seen as the team of choice in Group I,” Solari said in a pre-match press conference.
“In any case, we will accept the challenge to provide competition and try to improve the quality of the game because it is different when playing on the domestic league stage and Asian level rivals, and of course, the intensity of the game must also be higher,”
Meanwhile, Solari described the return of Fernando Forestieri and Diogo Luis Santo as just in time for the match against Kawasaki Frontale in the AFC Champions League 2023/24 Group stage. after recovered from injury
“Forestieri only started training with his teammates three days ago while Diogo has been training for 10 days, but I need to see their level of fitness first before deciding whether to list them in the main squad,”
Credit Photo : JST
