The last side left standing in the AFC Champions League Elite who are not from Saudi Arabia insist they can upset the party as the tournament reaches its finale in Jeddah.
The prospect of playing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Marcelo Brozovic might be a daunting enough challenge.
Then there is the fact they are having to shoulder the burden of carrying the hopes of the whole of the eastern side of Asia.
On top of that, Kawasaki Frontale have had one less day to prepare for Wednesday night’s semi-final against Al Nassr.
The short turnaround has been further exacerbated by the fact they required extra-time to beat Qatar’s Al Sadd in their quarter-final on Sunday.
If the opening round of matches are any sort of a guide, then few would give Kawasaki a chance. While they battled past Sadd, the star-studded Saudi sides crushed everything in their wake in their last-eight fixtures.
Al Hilal beat Gwangju 7-0, Al Ahli won 3-0 against Buriram United, while Nassr cruised into their game against Kawasaki by beating fellow J League side Yokohama F Marinos 4-1.
Such dominance is understandable given the outlay the Saudi league has been making on players, according to Shigetoshi Hasebe, the Kawasaki coach.
“If you look at the results, that tells everything,” Hasebe said.
“This country has invested a lot in football. That is why three teams have been in the semi-final.
“But we are playing football, and nobody know what is going to happen. Many people think the teams from Saudi will win, but I want to break that image tomorrow night.”
Hasebe said his side will be focused solely on themselves rather than the idea they are representing the whole of the East Asia conference.
Teams from that side of the continent have traditionally dominated Asia’s top competition. Since 2006, Al Ain, Hilal and Sadd are the only three West Asia clubs to have won the Champions League.
And yet the balance has shifted since world stars started to flood into the Saudi league around two years ago.
“It is hard to pick a specific name; all 11 players in their starting line up are key players,” Hasebe said of Nassr.
“They play especially well in attack, but in defence I can see some chances. We are a representative from East Asia, but also, we are just a club.
“We cannot have that kind of responsibility on us, as the representative from the eastern side [of the continent]. We are just focused on trying to win, that is all we can do tomorrow.”
Kento Tachibanada, the Kawasaki midfielder, said his team will not be thinking about the names in the opposition line up once the game kicks off.
“Yes, we are the only club left from East Asia, but the winner of this competition can only be one club,” Tachibanada said.
“We are playing to go to the final and to win this title. The key point is not to be afraid of the famous players and the big names. They have many talented players.”
Stefano Pioli, Nassr’s Italian manager, said his side are not underestimating the side from Japan.
“We are very confident in our team, we trust them and we are ready to make the final,” Pioli said.
“Our opposition are very organised, they have fast players who like to pass the ball, and they have a good line up. But we are prepared for them.
“I think the match will be tough because all the teams who have reached this stage deserve to be in the semi-finals. It is going to be a very challenging match. We are ready for the challenge.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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