ACL Semi-Final Preview

Australian football is not only thriving at an international level, but domestically, it is flourishing as well.

The standard of the A-League continues to rise and Western Sydney Wanderers short but successful history is a true testament to the prosperity of the league.

Since their inception, they have done nothing but break records and defy the expectations of their fans and the wider football community.

In their first season, they were crowned minor premiers of the A-League and were runners up in the finals series.

In their second, they finished runners up in the league and progressed to their second A-League final in as many seasons.

Tonight, they face the biggest moment in their fairytale history yet – an Asian Champions League semi-final.

After stunning everyone by defeating champions Guangzhou Evergrande the Wanderers face last season’s finalists FC Seoul in this evening’s first leg.

This is an outstanding achievement and one that is unmatched by any other A-League club with the exception of Adelaide who reached the final in 2008.

Regardless of the result, the Wanderers will be able to hold their heads high, but as everyone knows, the Wanderers will be satisfied with nothing less than a win.

This winning philosophy instilled by coach Tony Popovic will hold the key to the Wanderers progression to the final.

Their football ideology is centred around defensive principles and counter attacking football.

They are renowned for their compact and tight defence, an aggressive midfield and sharp counter-attacks.

The implementation of this ideology has seen sides in both the A-League and Champions League struggle to break them down.

This has allowed the Wanderers to become experts in absorbing pressure and dictating the pace of the game.

Undoubtedly, this will be the way Popovic sets his side out against their South Korean opponents.

The squad’s impressive performances so far mean that they have no reason to be intimidated by the Seoul outfit at the imposing World Cup Stadium.

If the Wanderers are to win however, they will need to be extremely patient in defence and pick their moments in attack, capitalising on FC Seoul turnovers.

This execution in transition will be a critical factor for the Wanderers, and will be the best opportunity to expose Seoul.

But exposing their opponents will be a difficult task.

Not only are they a quality side, but the Wanderers will be without strikers Tomi Juric and Brendon Santalab along with Shannon Cole, who are all suspended for accumulated yellow cards.

Nonetheless, Popovic’s intense belief in his players and his system will ensure that they are at their best despite these key absentees.

Brazilian attacking midfielder Vitor Saba is set to start his first game for Western Sydney Wanderers and will offer that extra bit of attack required due to the Wanderers suspension woes.

The entire squad will be feeling exuberant with the journey so far, and will have the mindset that they can mix it with any opponent among Asia’s elite.

The Wanderers path to the semi final saw them defeat Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Evergrande on away goals.

A troubling thought is the fact they could so easily have been eliminated in both ties.

However, their opponents have not been convincing in their progression to the final four either.

They defeated Japan's Kawasaki Frontale on away goals in the last 16 and did not score once in the two legs of their quarter-final with fellow K-League side Pohang Steelers before prevailing in a shoot-out.

The match will be an extremely tight affair and will more than likely be decided by one or two goals.

It is fair to say that all Australian football fans, even those who support rivals Sydney FC, will be backing the Wanderers to succeed – not only for the club, but for Australian football.

Squads:

FC Seoul: Sang-Hoon Yoo, Du-Ri Cha, Jin-Kyu Kim, Hyo-Jin Choi, Osmar Barba, Woong-Hee Lee, Myong-Jin Ko, Yo-Han Ko, Sang Hyup Lee, Everton Santos, Hee-Seong Park, Kwang-Min Ko, Yong-Dae Kim, Hyun-Tae Choi, Sergio Escudero, Mauricio Molina, Joo-Young Kim, Il-Lok Yun.

Wanderers: Ante Covic, Daniel Mullen, Daniel Alessi, Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Antony Golec, Brendan Hamill, Alusine Fofanah, Mateo Poljak, Yianni Perkatis, Jason Trifiro, Iacopo La Rocca, Kwabena Appiah, Labinot Haliti, Vitor Saba, Mark Bridge, Golgol Mebrahtu, Dean Bouzanis, Steve Kuzmanovski