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Imai-san, Bahadoran ready for Brisbane challenge

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All smiles for Global manager Toshiaki Imai and skipper Misagh Bahadoran when they talked to the press after a historic win last night.

By Kevin Estrada


MANILA -- Global manager Toshiaki Imai and Misagh Bahadoran could not hide their glee after getting their revenge on Tampines Rovers last night in the AFC Champions League playoff, especially meeting with the scribes in the post-match presscon at nearby Ninoy Aquino Stadium Tuesday night.

Their reward for making Philippine club football history in a 2-0 win in their ACL debut is a trip Down Under on the 31st, where the three time A-League champions Brisbane Roar awaits them at the cavernous Lang Park that can hold up to 52,000 people.

For them, it was a huge result for the club despite all the constraints that go in their way leading up to Tuesday's match.

"It was a tough game, as coach [Imai] said we used a different strategy. I was kind of surprise because wanted to score in the first half but coach keeps telling us to calm down,  we will score in the second hald" quoted the skipper who was the man of the match, setting up the first goal and scored the second to send 1,120 fans home happy on that historic match.

Imai-san said that he is ready for next Tuesday's tussle with Brisbane, in which a stunning win against the more fancied Aussie club will pit them with Carlos Tevez and Shanghai Shenhua on February 8.

"I think Australian players are great and they have good power. Most of them have good ability, I hope my players will play 100% there," the former Chinese Taipei gaffer said when talked about the quality of John Aloisi's men, including the dreaded strike combo of Jamie Maclaren and Tommy Oar.



Follow him on Twitter: @KevinLEstrada