Tokyo: Diego Castro has spoken of his delight at being part of Perth Glory’s maiden AFC Champions League campaign as the Australian side get set for their Group F opener against FC Tokyo on Tuesday.

As 2018-19 A-League Premiers, the Western Australia club qualified for the competition for the first time and, after last week’s match against Shanghai Shenhua was postponed, they will make their tournament bow away at Tokyo Stadium.

For their veteran skipper Castro, who has been at Perth since 2015, the chance to test their wits against the best in Asia marks the realisation of a dream for a player who made well over 200 La Liga appearances for Sporting Gijon and Getafe in his native Spain.

See also :

“I’ve always been attracted to the idea of playing overseas with this team, but you have to earn your position by winning the [A-League] Championship or Premiership, which we did in our first year under our new coach Tony Popovic,” the 37-year-old told the-AFC.com.

“So it’s a historical time for the club and it will be an honour to be a part of our first experience of Asian competition. Hopefully we can do a good job and make everybody at the club and across the A-League proud.”

While Tuesday’s game in Japan may be Perth and Castro’s first experience of the AFC Champions League, they go into the match under a coach who knows just what it takes to succeed on the Continent.

Popovic created history by leading Western Sydney Wanderers to the title in 2014 in what was his and the club’s maiden appearance as the New South Wales side defeated Al Hilal in the final in one of the most remarkable stories the competition has seen.

After a short spell in Turkey, Popovic returned to Australia to take over at Perth and promptly guided them to a first A-League Premiership title, and Castro is quick to pay homage to the man at the helm.

“I have worked under and know a lot of coaches, my father being one of those, and I would say that Tony Popovic is a world-class coach,” said Castro

“The way he approaches the game, how passionate he is, the knowledge that he has. With him at this club, we will always be in a position to win competitions. We have to enjoy the time we have with him and learn as much as we can.

“I think we have more chance of doing well in the competition with this coach than with any other coach in the country, although it will of course be tough because the standard of players at clubs in China PR and Japan, in particular, has gone up in the last four or five years.”

After making the long journey to the Japanese capital to face FC Tokyo, Perth will return home for A-League action before flying to Korea Republic to take on 2012 winners Ulsan Hyundai in their second group stage match on March 4.

Their first game at Perth Rectangular Stadium will take place on April 7 with Ulsan the visitors and, while starting with two away trips against more experienced opponents may appear a tricky introduction to the tournament, Castro believes there are positives to be taken.

“We know in advance that [our opponents] have been involved in the AFC Champions League for a long time and for us it’s the first time, but we will go into it confident that we can go through [into the knockout stages],” admitted Castro

“When I was playing in La Liga, the same thing happened when we played Real Madrid and Barcelona. We can compare these scenarios because now we have to play teams who have a massive difference in salaries.

“But on any given day, you can beat any team and that happened previously in my career. In a long period, or in a league format, it would be tough, but in a shorter competition like this, it is definitely possible.

“It may sound strange but I’m always happy to play away. If we have to face teams on their home ground, it’s better to do so early because if we can get a good result, then we still have the advantage of playing them in Perth in front of our fans.”

And playing in front of the Perth fans is an experience that is mutually beneficial for player and supporters alike, with the Spaniard having become a club icon during his time in Australia.

Indeed, so synonymous is he with Perth that when using the side’s custom #OneGlory hashtag on Twitter, a Diego Castro emoji automatically appears.

“I could give you a thousand reasons why I’ve stayed here and if I started to thank all the people I’d like to thank for helping me on this beautiful journey, I’d be talking for an hour!,” added Castro.

“Every year is different. I started in the Kenny Lowe era and struggled with the different culture and settling my family in the early days.

“After Popovic came, he gave me the possibility to win things and that drove me. He also made me skipper and, although I had been captain of many teams in Spain, it is different here when you are an overseas players.

“[As for the emoji], I love it! I use it when I’m sending messages. It definitely looks like me, but the the emoji has better hair!”

Photos: Perth Glory