Brisbane Roar have arrived safely in Beijing, China after a tiresome journey ahead of their AFC Champions League match day two meeting with Beijing Guoan on Tuesday.
Brisbane Roar have arrived safely in Beijing, China after a tiresome journey ahead of their AFC Champions League match day two meeting with Beijing Guoan on Tuesday.
Following their 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday night, the Roar players and officials travelled down the F3 highway for an overnight stay in Sydney before their 9am flight to China the next morning.
The Brisbane squad arrived in Beijing-s chilly minus temperate conditions at 8pm local time following a short layover in Seoul, South Korea and enjoyed a dinner banquet at their hotel before getting some much-needed rest ahead of today-s training commitments.
Brisbane Roar captain Matt Smith said despite their busy schedule, the players were looking forward to taking the momentum of Saturday-s Hyundai A-League victory into their continental clash tomorrow night.
“We had a game Saturday night, travel Sunday and we got here last night so everyone has got the cobwebs out and has had a good night-s sleep,” he said.
“We-re more than excited to get to the stadium tonight to have our first training session.
“It-s always better to come off the back of a win than to come off the back of a loss.
“Moving into the game on Tuesday, it-s certainly keeping the confidence levels high.
“It-s a big game for us and one we-re certainly looking forward to.”
The Roar players will have one familiarisation session on the Workers Stadium pitch this evening, scheduled for 7.30pm local time, spending most of the day recovering from yesterday-s gruelling trip after a team walk around Beijing this morning.
While the weather and especially the extreme temperatures have been challenging to adapt to at such short notice, Smith refused to make any excuses
“We keep finding Mohamed [Adnan] in the sauna – he-s still thawing out!” he joked.
“Looking out the window now, the snow is still here from last night.
“It-s definitely cold but that-s part of playing in this league and it is part of this experience so for us.
“It-s about just getting on with it and making sure that we get our heads right mentally for the game on Tuesday night.”
