Mariners happy with draw
Central Coast Mariners and the Newcastle Jets managed to avoid the East Asian heavyweights at the AFC Champions League draw late yesterday, with both club coaches quite happy with how it panned out according to the Mariners Lawrie McKinna.
The Mariners will play in Group H, joined by the J.League-s Kawasaki Frontale, Tianjin Teda of the Chinese Super League and Korean FA Cup winners Pohang Steelers, while the Jets will play in Group E, alongside Beijing Guoan, Ulsan Horang-i and Nagoya Grampus.
In an ironic twist, if Central Coast manage to win their group and Newcastle finish as runners-up in their group, the two will play-off in a single Round of 16 match, when the knock-out phase begins in the second half of 2009.
Speaking from Dubai, where he attended the draw, along with Jets counterpart Gary Van Egmond, McKinna was delighted to have avoided teams like defending champions Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers and Korean Champions Suwon Samsung.
"The Newcastle Jets and ourselves stayed away from the more difficult groups and it would be fair to say that we-re quite happy with the draw," said Mariners Football Manager Lawrie McKinna from Dubai.
"We-ve got some basic feedback on all of our opponents and now we-ll explore our contacts in China, Japan and Korea in the hope of learning more about each of them.
"All the teams are going to be strong, the J.League teams are obviously the most fancied and will always be there or thereabouts, but we-re not going to be putting any team on a pedestal, we-ll be going out there to compete, do well and hopefully get out of the group.
McKinna is under no illusions how tough it will be to advance to the next round, but says his team is really excited and ready to embrace the tournament when it starts on March 10 (home game against Pohang Steelers).
"It-s obviously going to be very hard and it-s amazing to see what Adelaide United achieved this year," said McKinna.
"There-s a big buzz about the AFC Champions League here in Dubai and back at home and we-re as excited as anyone ahead of what will be a fantastic tournament for our whole club to experience."