For Sydney FC defender Matthew Jurman it doesn’t get any bigger than Wednesday night’s AFC Champions League clash at Sydney Football Stadium against Shandong Luneng (kick off 8pm).
On the cusp of a first ever quarter final berth, Jurman called for as many fans as possible to turn out at the Sky Blues home for what will be an historic night for Sydney FC.
“It’s probably the biggest game in the club’s history to be honest,” Jurman said.
“We’ve never been this far in the ACL so I think it’s a massive game and hopefully all the fans come out and support us.
“I don’t think people realise how big this tournament is. It’s the Asian Champions League, it’s the equivalent of the European Champions League and for us it can’t get any bigger than this.
“We need to get the win and to get to the last eight of the Asian Champions League is a massive achievement and hopefully we can do that.
“It says a lot about this group of players that we’ve got this far and hopefully we can get the right result on Wednesday night.”
Leading the Sky Blues in the first leg in China, Jurman said it was a huge honour to wear the captain’s armband, as the towering defender set his sights on guiding the Sky Blues to last eight in Asia at home.
“It was massive for me, I was really proud to put it [the captains armband] on and captain the club I’ve been supporting since I was a young boy,” he said.
“It was a proud moment for me and my family to have the armband for that game and hopefully on Wednesday night I can wear it again and get us through to the round of eight.
“To get through to the round of eight couldn’t be better for the club, it’d be huge.
“Individually we need to be up for this game, it’s massive and hopefully we can get the win,” he continued.
“It’s going to be tough for them with the travel but they’re still a quality team. They’ve got some quality players, we need to be careful, we need to make sure we defend well and not give them any chances.
“I think we just have to go through like last time, play attacking football and try and get another goal.
“I don’t like sitting back and trying to defend what we’ve got. I think if we keep attacking that will put them on the backfoot as well.”
Sydney FC take on Shandong Luneng at the Sydney Football Stadium in the second leg of their AFC Champions League round of 16 clash. Get your tickets today and be at the SFS for an historic Sky Blue night.
Sydney FC’s 2016 AFC Champions League campaign proudly supported by StarTrack and UNSW
Sydney FC 2016/17 Memberships on sale June. Register your interest by signing up at http://my.sydneyfc.com
