Central Coast midfielder Nick Montgomery believes the Mariners have shown they can hurt Guangzhou Evergrande in their AFC Champions League match.
Central Coast midfielder Nick Montgomery believes the Mariners have shown they can hurt Guangzhou Evergrande in their AFC Champions League match.
The Mariners trained on Monday afternoon for the first time since their arrival in China, but the session was halted after just 20 minutes as a huge storm struck the city of nearly 13 million people.
Despite the downpour, Montgomery said the players would still benefit from the opportunity to stretch their legs and that confidence is still high in the team, after a positive performance in the first leg in Gosford last week.
“We created so many chances before they scored in the first-leg,” Montgomery said. “We are playing against some top class opposition and I think we matched them for most of the game.”
“If anything we took confidence [from the first-leg] that we can create chances and that we can win the game.”
The Leeds-born midfielder, who has played in the EPL, rates the opportunity of playing in the last 16 in Asia among the high points in his playing career.
“Wednesday is a massive game and a massive achievement for me as a player and the Mariners,” he said. “The AFC Champions League is so big across Asia.”
“For me it-s definitely up there with the biggest games I-ve played in. We-re looking at 40,000 people in a nice Stadium against a great team. These are the nights you play football for.”
Montgomery is also hoping to catch up with an old friend during his brief stay in Guangzhou.
Former China midfielder Li Tie was one of Montgomery’s teammates at Sheffield United, and is now one of Marcello Lippi-s assistant coaches.
“Before the game I looked across and saw one of my old friends, Li Tie,” Montgomery explained in Guangzhou.
“He-s actually retired now, but he-s a coach at Guangzhou which is fantastic for him. He-s learning from Marcello Lippi, which is amazing.
“It was nice to see him, he-s a great lad and hopefully I-ll get to catch up with him before we go back,” Montgomery said.
Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) vs. Central Coast Mariners (AUS) – AFC Champions League Round of 16 (Second-Leg)
Wednesday 22 May, 2013
Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou
Kick-off: 8:00pm (local); 10:00pm (AEST)
Twitter: Join the match conversation on Twitter! The official hashtag for the clash is #GEvCCM
Television: Live and exclusive on Fox Sports 3 & 3HD
