Sydney FC have arrived in Vietnam ahead of their tricky AFC Champions League Group H assignment.
The Sky Blues will be based in Ho Chi Minh City where they will play six games in three weeks in a round robin format as they attempt to reach the last 16 of the competition for the second time.
The Sky Blues will face Korean Champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC, Japanese Champions Yokohama F. Marinos and Vietnamese Emporers’ Cup winners Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
Sydney FC Head Coach Steve Corica is under no illusions of the size of the task.
“All three opponents are in this competition because they are very good teams, we are very aware of their qualities so it will be a tough group,” he said.
“Our target is to get out into the last 16 and to do that we need to finish first or have one of the three best second placed finishes.
“We know how difficult that is going to be but like any tournament we go into we aim to finish top.”
The Sky Blues faced both Jeonbuk and Yokohama in their last AFC Champions League outing so will have a good knowledge of some of their players.
It’s the host Vietnamese club who could be the surprise package.
“We know they have some very good players, their striker Phượng in particular is very good,” continued Corica.
“We play them in the second game so we’ll be able to watch their first game and learn from that.
“Then we will have more of an idea of what we need to do against them but we are very happy to be here in Ho Chi Minh City.”
The Sky Blues start their tournament in the early hours of Sunday (00.00 hrs kick off) against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and all games can be seen on Ten Play.
Sydney FC AFC Champions League 2022 Fixtures
