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IT'S the toughest Asian Champions League draw the Wanderers could have predicted, but Brendon Santalab says the players are excited about facing reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande.
Western Sydney will host the first leg of the quarter-final clash against the Chinese giants on August 20, before travelling to Guangzhou a week later.
It pits Tony Popovic against Guangzhou's Italian World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi, who is reportedly using his influence to try and lure Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o to the club.
On their debut in the competition, the Wanderers topped their group and went on to beat J-League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Western Sydney are only the second Australian club after Adelaide to reach the last 16 and Santalab says the team now has the confidence to create more history.
"We always believed in ourselves that we could make it all the way to the end of the competition and we are where we are now and we still believe that we can make it to the end," he said.
Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab in action. Source: News Corp Australia
"Drawing Guangzhou is a massive challenge for us, but we take a lot of belief from our previous games in the ACL into this game.
"Playing against the Korean champions (Ulsan Hyundai) and the Japanese champions within the last few months has given us a lot of confidence with the results we had against them. There's no reason why we can't achieve that against the Chinese champions."
But it will be a vastly different Wanderers side to the one that got them to this stage. The club has lost several key players in the off-season, including Shinji Ono, Youssouf Hersi, Aaron Mooy and former skipper Michael Beauchamp, and have eight spots to fill before the tournament resumes.
"As a player I'm hoping to hear of some signings within the coming weeks so we can get together once we start pre-season and do the best we can to jell together before the ACL game," Santalab said.
"The core of the squad is there from last season and I'm sure the players who come in will fit in perfectly with us. It's another great challenge for us and we're all very excited to play against Guangzhou."
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