KUALA Lumpur City make their AFC Cup debut against PSM Makassar in Cheras today in a long-awaited return to Asian club competition.
Since their last appearance in the quarter-finals of the 1994 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, KL plunged as low as the third-tier in 2014 but their fairy tale triumph in the Malaysia Cup last year sealed their return to the continent.
Makassar, the 2019 Indonesia Cup champions, are first up for KL in Group H, which also includes Singapore's Tampines Rovers with only the top team guaranteed a spot in the knockout stage.
"All three teams in the group are equal," said KL coach Bojan Hodak, who will have intimate knowledge of several Makassar players having led the Indonesian club in this competition in 2020.
"The advantage for Makassar and Tampines is that they play in the AFC Cup almost every year while KL did not play in Asian competitions for many years. Our only advantage is we're playing at home."
While this game is effectively Makassar's first competitive game of the season with the 2022-23 Indonesian League 1 yet to start, KL comes into the match on the back of a chastening 2-0 defeat to Terengganu last Saturday.
"Terengganu was a good opponent, tough game so I think it helped us prepare for this game," said Hodak, who revealed that winger J. Partiban is the only player ruled out through injury.
"You cannot think too much about the past game, just need to focus on the next one. I have a feeling our players are waiting for this AFC Cup because they want to achieve something and they are focused on this game."
Hodak will have to omit one foreign player from his starting line-up today with only four permitted on the pitch, although new loan signing Jordan Mintah cannot play anyway as he has not been registered for the AFC Cup which means the player he is replacing, Kevin Koubemba, remains for the group stage.
"I need to take one out and it's a headache to think what to do," Hodak admitted.
"We will have to rotate depending on the game and the opponent."
Makassar coach Bernardo Tavares hopes to spring a surprise against KL although he criticised the schedule which was changed to allow KL five days between matches while Makassar and Tampines both play two games in four days.
"You cannot change the schedule and not give reasons," said the Portuguese Tavares, who only took charge of Makassar in May.
"KL is the host but these things you must explain. If you make a schedule, you must respect the schedule.
"It's not a good image for this competition. We must give proper rest to the players to make a good game. My concern is that after this match we only have two days to rest."
Makassar arrived having played on Sunday in the pre-season President's Cup with Tavares hoping the three matches in that competition might be enough to surprise KL.
"Tomorrow is a big challenge for us," said Tavares, who signed 14 new players, including three foreigners.
"It's an opportunity to see how our team is developing. I feel my team wants to make a surprise. I prefer to have more days to work but this is the schedule we have."