Japan, China and South Korea set for Asian Champions

Japan, China and South Korea set for Asian Champions

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): Three competitors in the Asian
Champions Cup East Asia zone -- Jubilo Iwata of Japan, Shandong
Luneng of China and Samsung Suwon Blue Wings of South Korea --
are gearing up for their quarterfinals round-robin matches
kicking off Wednesday at Mattoanging Stadium here.

Heavy favorite Jubilo arrived on Sunday to prepare its squad,
which is led by six national players including the top scorer in
the J-League last season, Masaki Nakayama.

"We failed to win last year's final. Therefore, we are aiming
to grab the title this year," said Masakazu Suzuki, the coach of
Jubilo Iwata.

Jubilo will face a tough challenge from the Blue Wings, which
relies on players from South Korea's 1998 World Cup team and 2000
Asian Cup team.

"We must not repeat our poor performance against Hurriya of
Maldives. We must reach the semifinals without depending on the
results of other teams. And we are very optimistic that we will
be able to realize our ambition although we'll face a tough
challenge from Jubilo and Shandong," said Blue Wings coach Kim
Ho.

Shandong, which arrived on Monday, also expressed optimism
that it would be able to qualify for the semifinals. Led by six
Chinese national players, Shandong must overcome its lack of
experience in the event.

"This is our first experience competing in the Champions Cup.
We'll definitely use the opportunity to perform our best.
However, we must admit that the competition will be very tough,
especially with the presence of Jubilo and Blue Wings," Shandong
manager Tian Di said.

The event, which is the first international tournament to be
staged in Makassar, will be attended by Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) secretary-general Peter Velappan.

The chairman of the local organizer, Ilham Arief Siradjuddin,
said Indonesian Soccer Association chairman Agum Gumelar was also
expected to attend the event.

The opening ceremony will see various cultural performances,
including the Parraga and sere bissu. Following the
performances, horse-pulled carts carrying the teams' flags will
enter the stadium. The carts will also be carrying huge balls
with birds inside.

Meanwhile, 200 female and 100 male dancers will spell out
"AFC" and "Champions".

"We will also have two singers and 40 musicians. In total,
there are 460 people involved in the opening ceremony," said
Ilham.

Meanwhile, tickets for the opening ceremony are nearly sold
out, especially the Rp 20,000 (US$2) tickets for the open
terrace.

The local organizer claimed 80 percent of the tickets had been
sold and the remaining would only be sold to restricted
spectators. The limited number of tickets is meant to prevent
fans from spilling onto the field.

The stadium can hold 22,000 people but the event organizer is
only selling 18,000 tickets for each match. (27)