Preview – SF: Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC (CHN) v Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC (VIE)

Head coach Chang Weiwei wants to turn the increased pressure of playing at home to be the booster for the China PR club to reach Saturday’s final.

“To have the opportunity to play at this stage is something we hold very strong and we will do our utmost to ensure that we can give our best in the match,” said Chang.

“This is our first time participating at the Asian level and because we want to achieve the best result, for sure there is some pressure. However, we want to use this pressure to help motivate us.

“In order to get victory, we have to show more of our strengths and look to minimise our mistakes.”

Chang navigated the team through a difficult quarter-final tie as Wuhan Jiangda had to be at their best to take Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies all the way to a penalty shootout, which ended 6-5 in their favour.

One of the new recruits brought in to bolster the team for the knockout stage is Tereza Engesha, who featured against Urawa with Chang praising the qualities of the Kenyan forward.

“We made this choice to get her because she brings a lot of differences to us and we hope she can bring out better performances in the future.”

As for Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese side will go into the match high on confidence after  they amazingly fought back from 3-0 down to defeat Abu Dhabi Country Club of the United Arab Emirates 5-4 in the quarter-finals.

Nguyen Hong Pham is no longer at the helm with Lu Dinh Tuan the new head coach, with the  56-year-old confident his team are ready.

“We are very honoured to be here to participate in the final stage of the competition,” said Lu. “I took over after the quarter-finals because the previous coach had other commitments. I have my own strategy but mainly, we are looking to improve tactically and mentally.

“I know Wuhan are a very strong team. They have been the winners in their local league many times. They have many national players in their squad with good foreign players, but we are ready to face that challenge.”

Having played all their previous four matches in the competition at home, this will be Ho Chi Minh City’s first away game and it is something that experienced forward Huynh Nhu is wary of.

“In the group stage and quarter-finals, we had the chance to play at home but arriving to the final round, we are playing away and that adds another layer of challenge,” said Huynh.

“We know we will have to face thousands of Wuhan fans. Whoever takes their opportunity in tomorrow’s game will take the win.”

Venue: Wuhan Sports Centre Stadium (Wuhan)
Kick-off: Wednesday, 16:00 (UTC+8)