Evergrande victory on the menu?

Every time boss Xu Jiaying has wanted to inspire his players before a crucial match, he's treated them to a banquet. And every time, Guangzhou Evergrande has won.

Real estate billionaire Xu hosted a feast for his players and coaching staff on Sunday, the first this year, and said he was confident ahead of Wednesday's crucial AFC Champions League match against Seongnam FC in Guangzhou.

Evergrande was sorely in need of a boost.

Coach Fabio Cannavaro hopes to use last week's first-leg loss to Seongnam of South Korea as motivation as the Chinese Super League champion seeks to overturn a 2-1 deficit and avoid a first-ever exit in the last 16 of the AFC Champions League.

Xu urged "four musts" for his players: absolute confidence for victory; implementing the coach's tactics; closely coordinated play; and fighting until the last minute.

Echoing his boss's words, Cannavaro said soccer is a team sport.

"As long as we are highly focused and work closely together, we will win," he said. "We are better than the Korean players and I have full confidence for a victory."

Cannavaro's side saw its winless streak in the AFC Champions League extended to four games last Wednesday as Seongnam captain Kim Do-heon netted a 96th minute penalty for the two-time continental champion.

Midfielder Huang Bowen notched a spectacular equalizer for Evergrande three minutes before the break after Brazilian Jorginho opened the scoring for Seongnam midway through the first half.

Guangzhou will look to make full use of home advantage to secure a fourth consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals.

"The players are angry and annoyed. They are angry because it was a tough match and we had a red card and a penalty, but I trust they will use this anger when we play at home," said Cannavaro, who also saw defender Li Xuepeng sent off just after the hour mark.

"In Europe you see this atmosphere; every game in our stadium is amazing. The stadium is full, a lot of people wearing the red T-shirts, so the atmosphere will be totally different. It is important for the players to come to the stadium excited.

"We scored an away goal and that is very important, so we will see who passes to the next round."

Also on Wednesday, J League champion Gamba Osaka will look to secure a return to the quarterfinals for the first time since winning the AFC Champions League in 2008 after recording a 3-1 win over FC Seoul last week in Korea.

The final two places in the quarterfinal draw, which takes place on June 18, will be determined in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as domestic rivals Al Ain and Al Ahli meet, while former finalist Al Ahli entertains Iran's Naft Tehran in Jeddah.

Emirati champion Al Ain claimed a scoreless draw against Al Ahli in last week's first leg as the inaugural AFC Champions League winner edged closer to a second consecutive quarterfinal.

"The result is good for us, but we have to start preparing for the second leg," said Al Ain coach Zlatko Dalic.

"The two teams were tired because they are playing a match every three days and we are at the end of the season.

"We should improve our performance in the next match and try our best to score from the chances that we will create."

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Al Ahli must overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit at home to Naft after Gholamreza Rezaei scored the only goal in Teheran last week.

yangxinwei@chinadaily.com.cn