Adelaide United boss Guillermo Amor has named his 23-man AFC Champions League squad for their impending do-or-die play-off clash with Shandong Luneng Taishan at Coopers Stadium on 9 February.
The four-time Chinese Super League winners secured a 6-0 rout of India’s Mohun Bagan on 2 February and will now meet the Reds next Tuesday for a place in the 2016 ACL.
Amor had the arduous task of informing two of his five incumbent imports they would not be included to partake in the tournament under the AFC’s 3+1 rule.
The AFC stipulate that three foreigners registered outside the Asian confederation can be selected, while the other one must come from Asia, excluding Australia.
However, there were no real surprises when the Barcelona legend picked Argentine maestro Marcelo Carrusca and Spanish pair Isaias and Sergio Cirio as the three imports.
That means Pablo Sanchez and Iacopo La Rocca, who recently returned from a long injury lay-off, are the unfortunate duo to miss out.
Dutch striker Sergio van Dijk, who has trained with Adelaide for the past three weeks, was named as the club’s Asian player, given he holds an Indonesian passport.
READ MORE: Adelaide United confirm return of Sergio van Dijk for Asian Champions League campaign
It will be the fifth time these two sides have been pitted against each other after previous meetings during the 2007 and 2010 group stages of the competition.
Group F, containing Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan), FC Seoul (Korea) and Buriram United (Thailand) awaits the winner of the one-off tie.
Adelaide United 23-man AFC Champions League squad:
Goalkeepers: Eugene Galekovic, John Hall, Daniel Margush
Defenders: Michael Marrone, Dylan McGowan, Mark Ochieng, Ben Warland, Tarek Elrich, Jordan Elsey, Ruon Tongyik, Jordan Pudler
Midfielders: Stefan Mauk, Isaias, Marcelo Carrusca, Dylan Smith, George Mells
Forwards: Sergio Cirio, Bruce Djite, Craig Goodwin, Mate Dugandzic, Sergio van Dijk, Bruce Kamau, Antoni Trimboli
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