Thunder Castle ready to fire

Thunder Castle ready to fire

Buriram's Diogo Luis Santo, left, trains with teammates in Osaka yesterday.
Buriram's Diogo Luis Santo, left, trains with teammates in Osaka yesterday.

Thai League 1 champions Buriram United are confident that they will get a result at Cerezo Osaka in the AFC Champions League today.

In the other Group G match, South Korea's Jeju United host China's Guangzhou Evergrande.

Former champions Guangzhou have five points from three matches, Buriram and Osaka four each, and Jeju three.

The top two teams of each group reach the knockout stage.

Buriram stunned Cerezo 2-0 at their Chang Arena in the home leg.

It was the Thunder Castle's first ever win against a Japanese club. The Thai champions have never won a match in Japan.

"I don't think much about the past. I only focus on the present,'' Buriram coach Bozidar Bandovic said yesterday.

"We are having a good time here and we will try our best in this match. We aim to surprise them."

He admitted that Cerezo are strong but his players are looking forward to getting a good result.

The visitors are without midfielder and captain Jakkaphan Kaewprom, who is suspended after being sent off in the previous game.

However, they welcome back Diogo Luis Santo after the Brazilian striker served his one-match ban.

Buriram president Newin Chidchob said his men are the underdogs.

"We are the underdogs but our spirit and hearts are second to none and this will help us get at least a point,'' he said.

Cerezo coach Yoon Jong-Hwan said: "This is an important game for us and we will use the best squad for the game. We must win this game to keep alive our hopes of progressing."

Meanwhile, Guangzhou will be looking for another win over Jeju after the Chinese side came from two goals down to beat a 5-3 victory in front of their own fans.

Ricardo Goulart scored four second-half goals for the former ACL champions.

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