Sydney FC have arrived in Satiama, Japan ahead of their AFC Champions League clash against Urawa Red Diamonds on Wednesday night (kick off 9:30pm AEDT).
Flying out early the morning after the Sydney Derby, Sky Blues defender Rhyan Grant said the squad were in good spirits as he reflected on a positive Derby display at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
“For the neutral it would have been a great game to watch and that made the atmosphere unreal,” he said.
“We had the chances at the end to win but I think it was a well-earned point.
“It was an early morning [after the game],” he continued.
“It’s never good getting up too early after a game, but the boys have handled the travel well and are in good spirits.
“It’s all about recovery at the moment, making sure we recover after playing on Saturday, it’s a pretty quick turnaround so we’re trying to get the bodies right.
“I don’t think training will be too strenuous, it’s just a matter of getting our game plan right and going from there.”
Urawa Red Diamond are no strangers to Sydney FC, having faced the Sky Blues in their 2007 AFC Champions League campaign, as Grant said he’s looking forward to the challenge that Asian teams produce.
“I know they [Urawa] are a big club in Asia and a good team,” Grant said.
“The Japanese players are very quick and very technical, so they’ll be dangerous like most Asian players. We’ll be looking forward to testing ourselves against them.
“Arnie will go through the footage with us and we’ll learn from that. We just have to concentrate on ourselves, play how we want to play and go from there.”
Sydney FC take on Urawa Red Diamonds in their opening AFC Champions League 2016 group match at Saitama Stadium, Japan, on Wednesday night (kick off 9:30pm AEDT). Catch the match live on Fox Sports 4 or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for updates.
Sydney FC’s 2016 AFC Champions League campaign proudly supported by StarTrack and UNSW
Sydney FC welcome Guangzhou Evergrande to Sydney Football Stadium for their first home AFC Champions League match of the group stage on Wednesday 2 March (kick off 8pm AEDT). Get your AFC Champions League Membership today and see the Sky Blues take on the best in Asia at home!
