Roar excited by ACL draw

Brisbane Roar received a relatively kind draw for their inaugural AFC Champions League campaign in 2012.

Roar, the 2010-11 A-League champions, come up against Chinese Super League runners-up Beijing Guoan, K-League’s Ulsan Hyundai, and a yet-to-be-determined winner of Japan’s Emperor’s Cup.

Roar coach Ange Postecoglou said on Tuesday he was excited to have drawn clubs from three of the most competitive leagues in Asia.

“It’s exciting, that’s the main thing,” Postecoglou said.

“We’re in it, we’re in an important international competition and that’s what we want as a club.”

“You want to play against the big clubs and big countries to really test yourself.”

“We’ve got a team from Japan, China and Korea which are all strong football countries with strong club football sides.”

It is Beijing’s fourth attempt at the tournament, having progressed from a group including Melbourne Victory in 2010, their last appearance.

Ulsan will be making their third appearance having not qualified in the past two campaigns, while the fourth team will be known when the Emperor’s Cup is decided on New Year’s Day.

The Central Coast Mariners, who qualified as the second placed team in last year’s A-League, have a tougher assignment against Korean FA Cup champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, 2010 J.League runners-up Nagoya Grampus and Chinese FA Cup winners Tianjin Teda.

Seongnam won the Champions League in 2010, while Tianjin are making their fourth appearance and Nagoya their third.

Adelaide United, the third-placed A-League side from last season, were gifted a place in the main group stage when Chinese club Liaoning Whowin withdrew and they received a favourable draw.

While they will face Gamba Osaka, the team who thrashed them in the 2008 Champions League final, and Uzbeks Bunyodkor, they also get the winner of the playoff between third-placed K-League outfit Pohang Steelers and the Thai FA Cup champions.