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GOAL - Zobahan will look to continue their AFC Champions League run when they host Al Hilal in their semi-final first leg.

Al Shabab host Seongnam Ilhwa in Riyadh in the first semi-final on Tuesday.

Zobahan are competing in Asia for only the second time after finishing second in their group in 2004, but are now bidding to emulate fellow Esfahan club Sepahan who reached the final three years ago.

The Greens will take on Hilal, one of Asia's biggest clubs, without former international Mahdi Rajabzadeh, who is suspended after being sent off in the quarter-final second leg against holders Pohang Steelers.

An 80th-minute equaliser by Iran striker Mohammad Khalatbari secured a 1-1 draw in Pohang and a 3-2 aggregate win, but the victory was marred by a red card for Rajabzadeh, who earned a second yellow for time wasting in the 86th minute. Rajabzadeh converted a penalty to secure a 2-1 win in the first leg.

The 32-year-old forward has scored five times in this year's AFC Champions League, including four for Mes Kerman in the group stage before he returned to Zobahan over the summer. Rajabzadeh even played for Mes against Zobahan in May's round of 16 when the hosts won 1-0 through a late Igor Castro header.

Zobahan coach Mansour Ebrahimzadeh also has concerns in defence after Iran centre-back Farshid Talebi missed last Wednesday's scoreless draw with Rah Ahan as they extended their lead at the top of the Iran Pro League after finishing runners-up for the past two seasons.

Zobahan have won all five home games in this year's AFC Champions League including group-stage wins over two-time winners Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, Uzbek champions Bunyodkor and Al Wahda of the UAE.

Khalatbari, Castro, Mohammad Ghazi and Esmaeil Farhadi could play in attacking or wide positions, while new signing Jalal Rafkhaei is also a possibility after starting against Rah Ahan.

Ghasem Hadadifar, who made his Iran debut in August, captained the side in the quarter-finals in place of centre-back Mohammad Salsali and is likely to start in central midfield with Shaahin Kheiri, who returned to Zobahan after winning the 2009-10 league with Sepahan.

Al Hilal are also in fine form and the Riyadh giants claimed their fifth straight win of the Saudi league season on Friday as they beat Ettifaq 1-0 through a second-minute goal by Sweden winger Christian Wilhelmsson. Hilal are second in the table behind Al Ittihad, who have won seven straight games.

Romania international Mirel Radoi, who like Wilhelmsson is involved in UEFA 2012 qualifiers, returned to action in central midfield. Brazilian playmaker Thiago Neves was a notable absentee, while Saudi Arabia striker Yasser Al Qahtani was substituted in the 42nd minute.

Hilal scraped through to the AFC Champions League semi-finals after two late goals in extra-time secured a 4-2 win over Qatari champions Al Gharafa in Doha and a 5-4 aggregate victory.

The club are under immense pressure to win the AFC Champions League for the first time. Over 53,000 fans watched Hilal's 3-0 win over Gharafa in the quarter-final first leg at the King Fahd International Stadium, where they'll play Zobahan on October 20.

Saudi Arabia's most successful club with 12 league titles in 34 years, Hilal won the former Asian Club Championship in 1991 and 2000 and also won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup twice, in 1997 and 2002.
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