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Abu Dhabi: Former league champions Al Wahda start their 2007-08 football season with a high-voltage clash on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal in the AFC Champions League quarterfinals.
Playing at home under new coach Brazilian Ivo Wortmann, Al Wahda make up for the absence of former Asian club champions Al Ain, who failed to make it to the last eight for the first time since the AFC Champions League started in 2003.
The two teams will play a home-and-away two-leg quarterfinal and the two clubs from West Asia will be taking the field under similar circumstances - during the fasting month of Ramadan.
The other two West Asian clubs who progressed to the last eight, Iran's Sepahan and Syria's Al Karama, will take on Japan's Kawasaki Frontale and Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.
The last quarterfinal has champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea take on Japan's Urawa Reds.
New focus
Al Wahda clinched the last eight berth under Dutch coach Richard Tardy but replaced him with the Brazilian after the season when they lost the league title to Dubai's Al Wasl.
The Abu Dhabi club, which had to focus more on the AFC Champions League than the UAE First Division league, finished on top of their four-team group but will have their task cut out against the Saudi giants.
Wortmann was Carlos Alberto's assistant when he was in charge of the UAE during the late 80s and has also been coach of the Saudi Arabian national team.
Al Wahda, who will miss their midfielder Abdul Salam Juma (now with Al Jazira) and diminutive wingback Fahad Masaoud (with Qatar Club), have a highly talented mix of youth and experience. After having lost the league title by the narrowest of margins in both 2005-06 and 2006-07, Al Wahda are looking at some success on the bigger stage. Wednesday's match in the AFC Champions League gives the club a chance to move forward. Apart from the AFC Champions League title, the winning club will also gain a winners' cheque of $500,000 and a berth in the Fifa Club World Championship.
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