AFC Cup: Al-Jaish to take on Omani Fanja

Coach Anas Makhlouf is hoping al-Jaish  can transfer their good run of form from the domestic league to continental competition when they begin their AFC Cup campaign against Omani  side Fanja  in Group B on Wednesday.

Al Jaish,Syrian league’s title holders, are six games into the 2014 domestic season and currently lie in third, unbeaten so far .

However, coach Anas Makhlouf acknowledged that the AFC Cup will be a step up in level ahead of the game against their Omani opponents at Seeb Sports Complex.

 “We are looking forward to get a good result against Fanja and we want to have a goodstart to our campaign in the competition which we consider important for us,” said Al Jaish coach Makhlouf.

Asked about Fanja’s level, Makhlouf said:“Fanja have good players and they are not an easy side. I have watched Fanja in the recent period and we have now a lot of information about them which can help us.”

Fanja’s confidence will be high after they convincingly defeated Majees 5-0 in the Omani League last Friday to continue a nine match unbeaten streak with Chazouani’s side currently leading the table.

However,Fanja coach Chazouani affirmed:”we  prepared well and we have a complete squad which we are looking forward to using in the match. We have got a good idea about Al Jaish and their players who are a mixture of experienced and young players who will be looking to show a good performance in the competition,” said Fanja coach Chazouani.

“We are now on the top of the league and this will give us a big push for the match against Al Jaish.

“I’m confident that the players will show great fighting spirits and a good performance in order to have a winning start in the competition,”according to the AFC site.

Mohammad Daoud