Gamba cautious ahead of Adelaide clash

Gamba Osaka coach Akira Nishino says his side will take nothing for granted ahead of Sunday's clash with Adelaide United in the Club World Cup, with a semi-final against Manchester United at stake.

Japan's Gamba, who pride themselves on their brand of attacking football, insisted their focus was on the Australian outfit they beat 5-0 on aggregate in November's two-leg AFC Champions League final to seal their first regional title.

“We are only looking at Adelaide,” Gamba coach Akira Nishino, the 2008 AFC coach of the year, told reporters Friday as Japanese media speculated on how the squad would fare against star-studded European champions Manchester United.

“When it's a one-shot deal, Adelaide can show its different side,” Nishino said.

“We want to prepare well for the game. Our immediate goal is this one victory,” he said.

The pressure is on Gamba to improve upon the success of their J-League rivals Urawa Reds, who finished third in last year's tournament of continental champions won by AC Milan.

Gamba want to use the competition as a springboard to become regular faces on the regional and international scene.

Midfielder Yasuhito Endo, voted the most valuable player of the AFC Champions League tournament, said he was ready for the Adelaide game.

“It will be our third match in a short time. I am sure there will be easy and difficult phases in the game. But I am looking forward to meeting them,” Endo said.

Adelaide meanwhile cast themselves as ambitious challengers.

“We know that we will have to play at an optimum level to get close” to Gamba's performance, coach Aurelio Vidmar said after beating Oceania champions Waitakere United on Thursday.

“In football anything can happen. So you have to believe. If we can play at a very good level, then we have to believe we can win,” he added.

Manchester United are seeded in the semi-final at Yokohama on December 18. South American champions Liga de Quito of Ecuador are in the semi-final in the other half of the seven-side tournament.

The Club World Cup, first organised in its current form in 2005, is an extension of the Intercontinental Cup contested by European and South American champion clubs.