V-League champions Binh Duong will battle Home United on the Singaporean club’s home turf during their first AFC Champions League qualifying duel this evening.

The champs come into the bout after suffering three consecutive losses in the local top-flight V-League.

The Singaporean squad will boast five national team players to take on the 2007-2008 V-League champions, said Home United coach Narajanan Sivajl during a press conference at the Royal Hotel in the city-state Monday.

“This is the first match but it is very important for both teams,” Sivajl said.

He said Binh Duong was a strong club. As the V-League champions for two consecutive years, he said they would be consistent and hard to defeat.

Sivajl also said Binh Duong’s domestic and foreign players had played well against Australia’s club Adelaide in the AFC Champions League last year.

Long stretch

The coach also noted that Home United had suffered a hard loss to their compatriots SAFFC in the S-League last weekend. He added that after the clash with Binh Duong, they would encounter another club in the S-League on Friday.

With so many matches in a short time, Sivajl said it would be a rough week for Home United, adding: “However, we’re prepared to keep the reputation of Singaporean football strong.”

Binh Duong also has five national team players on the squad, said Binh Duong coach Francisco Vital.

“Vietnamese and Singaporean football are equal at the club and national levels. So the match will be exciting,” he added confidently.

The Portuguese tactician admitted Binh Duong had been having some minor troubles recently, but he said he was confident the team squad would come together to play well against Home.

Vital said Binh Duong, like Home United, had the disadvantage of moving around and playing three matches in nine days. He said such work could exhaust the players.

Vital said Home United had the advantage of playing on its home artificial grass field, which Binh Duong players were not used to.

As a practice session at Jelan Besar Stadium Monday, left back Quang Thanh showed he had recovered from an injury he suffered in a V-League match against the Fourth Military Zone last Saturday.

Reported by Quang Tuyen