AFC Champions League Round Review (Round of 16)

For many, this week marked the end of domestic football for the summer, as the AFC Champions League narrows down to the final 8. While there was the odd big name casualty, the cream generally rose to the top at the right point, leaving us with a tantilising mix of teams for the quarter-final stage which is set to return in August. In the West - Al-Ahli (KSA), Al-Ain (UAE), Al-Hilal (KSA) & Persepolis (IRN) progressed, while in the East - Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN), Kawasaki Frontale (JPN), Shanghai SIPG (CHN) & Urawa Red Diamonds (JPN) made it through. Looking back on the last fortnight of matches, here’s what stood out across Asia;

The Player

It was only a few weeks ago that I was left intrigued to see whether Muangthong United could go further than any Thai club had gone before and fight for the Asian Champions League title. Both the team’s and my dreams came down to earth with a thud however, with a 7-1 on aggregate reverse to Kawasaki Frontale, who themselves can now regard themselves as the next dark horse to compete for the ACL trophy at the end of the year. Skippered by the growing of age Yu Kobayashi, the last two weeks have illustrated what threat they and in particular Kobayashi can produce at this level.

Muangthong went into the knockouts with the joint best defensive record in the competition, having only conceded 1 goal at home in their group stage encounters. In a swift second half performance in Thailand, Kawasaki made a once impenetrable defence look anything but. Kobayashi was in devastatingly clinical form; scoring a stunning volley to make it 2-1, before racing clear down the right to assist the third. Back in Kawasaki, with a comfortable lead to hold onto, the home side were clearly not settled on sitting back; Kobayashi opened the scoring with a neat cut inside and finish, before assisting the second after a perfectly timed run down the flank. The cherry on top came late on, with an audacious by-line backheel to set up Frontale’s 4th on the night. “Welcome to the big leagues Muangthong!”

Kobayashi remains to a degree under the radar in Asian football, but continues to contribute impressive goal and assist stats that make him one of the leading lights of Japanese football. When called upon for the Samurai Blue he hasn't disappointed either; one of their best performers in October against Iraq and Australia, Kobayashi has subsequently been bumped out of the starting lineup, not by any fault of his own but for the vast array of attacking talent coming into form in Europe. At 29, his time to move West looks to have gone, but taking up the mantle of go-to goalscorer after the exit of legendary Japanese striker Yoshito Okubo earlier this year, his career’s crowning glory may yet still be to come.

The Team

With an even group stage period now long gone to the memory, the business end of the competition is in full flight, with the big names upping into the higher gears, encapsulated by Al Ain’s ruthless performance against Esteghlal this last week. With an array of talent at their disposal, we were always likely to see someone on the wrong end of an Emirati masterclass, and the Tehran giants, back in the ACL for the first time in three years were the unfortunate recipients of a mauling.

The first leg was tight, and in hindsight poorly played tactically by Al Ain. The idea of playing talisman Omar Abdulrahman as the furthest forward player has rarely worked (reminiscent of last year’s ACL final first leg), his creative ability which was so devastating in the second leg, couldn't be harnessed into the first game, Brazilian Caio admirably joined Amoory in attack, but for all their possession the Emirati side could only muster one shot on target. A lapse in concentration gifted Esteghlal a win late on after a misguided handball in the penalty area.

The week after however couldn’t have been a starker change; Nasser Al-Shamrani started in attack, allowing Abdulrahman to drop into a free role, where he caused havoc. Caio continued in a rich vein of form, scoring twice before half time, before Lee Myung-Joo, playing his final game for the club got in on the act. In the end the 6-1 scoreline flattered Esteghlal, who could have conceded more. The variety in attacking areas make Al Ain heads and shoulders ahead of anyone in West Asia. But for the potential of a quick turnaround of players in the summer - Lee has now gone, Amoory could finally be off to Europe - back-to-back final’s appearances look a distinct possibility.

The Talking Point

This week saw the curtain close on a couple of the continent’s biggest names, with Al Ahli Dubai and Lekhwiya bowing out of the Champions League for the last time. Both clubs will hope to be allowed to continue in the next year's edition of the competition, however this time it’ll be under different guises with both clubs set to conduct their own set of mergers over the off season. With some confusion on whether either club could continue, either under their previous moniker or their new one if they progressed to the quarter-final stages in August, was quickly made irrelevant as both limped out of the tournament this week - no doubt to the relief of the AFC!

The summer will be a period of transition, which will create plenty of speculation and hype as both new team’s shape up for their new domestic league campaigns. Al Ahli are set to merge with Al-Shabab and Dubai CSC to form the less than originally named Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC, while Qatari champions Lekhwiya will join forces with last year’s semi-finalists El Jaish to form Al-Duhail SC. Neither side as yet have been confirmed by the governing body as a participant in next year’s ACL tournament, yet we’re unlikely to hear too much on the subject given the AFC have a good 6 months to debate resolutions that will no doubt be best suited to benefit themselves.

The prospect of having two super-clubs representing the Middle East region is a tantalising one. Neither the UAE or Qatar have a real standout side that can count on domestic domination let alone continental success, the one exception being Al Ain, who despite succeeding on the continent fell outside the ACL qualification spots in last term’s Arabian Gulf League. Both cases should however be considered in isolation, with a different set of resources and expectations being affixed to their individual mergers.

The Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai FC merge, brings together two clubs with moderate standings with another fallen giant going through financial struggles. With Al-Ahli already set to ship star player Everton Ribeiro back to Brazil and club captain Ahmed Khalil to domestic rivals Al-Jazira, it’s clear that the first step is to strip the decks and make the club profitable again, something that may hamper their debut season on the pitch. Al-Duhail on the other hand have a wealth of talent to choose from, as they merge two of the best teams in Qatar, while initial takeaways suggest no such trimming is required purely to balance the books, rather out of preference.

Lekhwiya have shown a consistency that the Qatar Stars League had previously lacked, making it through to the knockout stages of the ACL over the last three editions. With the return of old favourites Al Sadd directly into the group stage next year, we could be hovering over a greater dominance for the diminutive peninsula for seasons to come. With talents such as Nam Tae-Hee, Youssef Msakni and Romarinho all potentially set to dovetail, next season could be a hell of a breakthrough year for Al-Duhail.

AFC Champions League Round Review (Final)

It’s been a generally positive year for Asian club football on the pitch. While we were expecting a breath-taking assault from the Chinese Super League on the AFC Champions League (ACL), we were left content that the opposition across the continent remains on a similarly high footing. There were the unexpected underdog runs of Lokomotiv Tashkent and El Jaish, but in the end we were left with an all familiar final two, that were amongst the favourites back when the group stages kicked off in March. Korean runners up Jeonbuk Motors edged past Emirati club Al Ain to clinch their first ACL title in 10 years, while Asia’s most sought after talent Omar Abdulrahman is left waiting another year to pick up the continent's top domestic trophy. Here is my take on the final round of 2016 play.

The Player

In an age of zonal marking and a greater emphasis on team philosophy, the role of a man-marker is a rare sight in modern day football, which makes the performance of Jeonbuk Motors’ Choi Chul-Soon ever the more impressive. To successfully mute Asia’s best player in Omar Abdulrahman to all but a few glimmers over 180 minutes is no mean feat, given his usual position on the right of defence. Choi’s year which has culminated in his first national team call up in 3 years now has a cherry on top, with an ACL title for his locker and a deserved man of the round plaudit.

The man marking mission was by no means kept a secret. From the first whistle in Jeonju, Choi became “Amoory’s” shadow, following him from high up the pitch (given Abdulrahman started as a false 9 in the first leg), to much deeper as the tie moved on, with the Emirati playmaker having to drop back, feeling frustrated to look for the space he desired. All seemed to be getting too much for Abdulrahman in the second leg, as he first petulantly kicked out at Choi as early as the 12th minute, before being booked late on as he began to lose his temper. Choi however, remained a calm presence throughout, yet I’m sure I’m not alone in being surprised he escaped a yellow card (or two) over the last fortnight.

Choi’s involvement wasn’t restricted to purely his defensive duties either, and by no means did he look wildly out of position frantically returning to his main duty. In possession he was regularly trusted by his teammates, running the ball out of defence well, and picking the right pass when needed. He even nearly forced a second leg victory, having had his shot blocked in the box, Choi was bundled over on the rebound by the on rushing Khalid Eisa, who was very fortunate not to give away the penalty. An all-round game for the 29 year old then, who goes one step further from his runners up medal in 2011.

The Team

They may not be the most popular of victors, but for the players on the pitch at least (I’ll choose to ignore what’s going on off the field for this moment) this was a well-deserved title victory for Jeonbuk Motors. As I discussed last month, the match fixing scandal which has dominated the news across the continent has turned from being a potential distraction to a very real detrimental causation which has seen them collapse domestically and wobble in Asia. However, from when the season had finished in Korea, Jeonbuk’s focus on the ACL title has looked unfazed within a perfectly worked game plan.

In general this was a team effort, spurred on by their tactician Choi Kang-Hee, but there were key performances at the right time from a number of areas. Skipper and keeper Kwon Soon-Tae was solid throughout, making a number of timely saves, apart from a clumsy penalty giveaway Kim Hyung-Il managed his personal battles with the Ain attack well, Lee Jae-Sung was creative and cool in possession, Leonardo was the difference in the first leg, while super-sub Han Gyo-Won proved to be so in the second.

While some fans will look for further sanctions to be enforced going into a new continental season, man-for-man Jeonbuk are hard to pick apart on the pitch. This was a team victory, yes with the odd Brazilian imported flair within their ranks, but never relying solely on their input. While the Chinese Super League was assumed to run riot in Asia this year, the seasoned professionals of both Korean clubs (Seoul included) that made the ACL semi-finals this year have shown that pedigree and nous can’t be brought in overnight.

The Talking Point

While the pre-final story of eventual champions Jeonbuk surrounded their off-the-field misdemeanours, the positive snippets in the media previews surrounded their opposition’s star Omar Abdulrahman, in what was supposed to be his career defining moment. It may be harsh to write off this as a personal failure, given we’d be probably lauding over him if Douglas had stuck away his second leg penalty, but the comparisons with Leo Messi and Argentina’s 2014 World Cup final defeat (and Higuain’s big missed chance) are there for all to see.

Across the two legs, Abdulrahman was clearly targeted as Al-Ain’s main supply line, and for all the quality of Choi Chul-Soon, Amoory remained able to create something out of nothing, namely Al Ain’s opener in Korea for Danilo Asprilla. He was quieter than normal for sure, but his talent was always on show. He may have not got the time on the ball he needed to dictate play, but there were flashes of close interplay in tight situations and some impressive vision to bring other players into the game.

When we look back on 2016, Omar Abdulrahman will remain Asia’s top player (at least amongst those who still play within the AFC), he was by far the best player over the outgoing ACL campaign, and at times he’s kept his country within a shout of Russia 2018 singlehandedly in World Cup qualification. If ever there was a time to leave for Europe, now surely is? It’s been said countless times before, many have discussed the pros and cons, the player’s perspective and more, but this could be the last chance for the 25 year old to get given a promising opportunity to develop his potential. We’ll wait to see if anyone jumps in for a player who continues to look a class apart within Asia.

AFC Champions League Round Review (Semi-Finals)

We now know our final two for November’s two legged AFC Champions League final, as Al Ain and Jeonbuk Motors sealed their progression with semi-final victories over El Jaish and FC Seoul respectively. Both clubs have won the title once before in the last 13 years, while both have side stories to focus on namely the brilliance of a certain Emirati playmaker and a bribery case that won’t go away for some time. In the mean time I look back at the key player, team and talking point of the semi-final round.

The Player

Asian football enthusiasts everywhere will be happy to see Al Ain pass through to their first Asian Champions League final in over a decade, as we’ll finally get to see arguably the continent’s best player in the club game’s show piece event. The mercurial genius that is Omar Abdulrahman is set for a potential career defining tie in November’s final with Jeonbuk Motors, after he at times single handily overcame El Jaish in the semis. Undoubtedly the very best performer of last year in Asia, a continental title to boot in 2016 will again give rise to pressure for him to move to Europe.

Amoory is a special player, we all know that, but at times he’s been seen to squander his gifts, especially in the latter stages of the ACL. This year seemed different however, and in the last round he’s clearly stamped his mark. The first leg, and ultimately the match that sealed progression for Ain was all of the little magician’s making. He created the first of Ain’s goals for Brazilian striker Douglas, making it to the bye line before perfectly clipping it to the back post for an easy tap in. Later in the half, he converted brilliantly from distance a wonderfully hit free kick, before again laying on an assist, this time for Caio in the second half, with a helping hand from the keeper.

Travelling to Qatar, Ain pretty much had it in the bag, but Abdulrahman sewed it up. One of the particular highlights didn’t result in a goal but demonstrated the high level in which he’s consistently performing at. A first time whipped through pass from half way to set up Danilo Asprilla was a carbon copy of a pass played through for Ali Mabkhout in the recent World Cup qualifier against Thailand for UAE. Clearly not a fluke, even if it seemed a casual almost arrogantly easy effort. A goal in the second half underlined his performance over the two legs, a type of goal he’s missed from his game over his career, bursting into the box late to finish off the move. He’s on a platform way above anyone at the moment, at least in West Asia; clearly all headlines will be written of his involvement in the run up to the final.

The Team

The unstoppable (Hyundai powered, of course) green machine Jeonbuk Motors continued their excellent continental form easing past national rivals FC Seoul in the semi-finals, confirming their third ACL final in their history, hoping to win it for the first time in 10 years. Despite off the field misdemeanours involving match-fixing which has seen them slapped with a potentially title stripping 9 point deduction and the subsequent loss of form, Jeonbuk continue to fire on in Asia, in the end beating their rivals for the domestic title 5-3 on aggregate.

The last couple of weeks have been tough for Jeonbuk, they’re now viewed through a much grubbier lens than ever before after the bribery allegations and subsequent penalty came into action, and in many ways returning to ACL football for the second leg this week was a welcome side show to their lowering stock within South Korea. The first leg, before this whole mess blew up was a truly professional effort, running up a 3-0 lead in front of a record home crowd before half time. Over the two legs either or both of their wingers Leonardo and Ricardo Lopes proved a threat, while the Seoul defence looked weak in their pursuit to halt the physical presence of Kim Shin-Wook.

The second leg was put to Seoul to provide the backlash, and while they took a half-time lead, Ricardo Lopes put paid to any sort of comeback. While it was far from impressive from Jeonbuk, in reality it didn’t need to be, switching attention back to their domestic run in of two away ties over the next two Saturdays before preparation starts for Al-Ain in November. Whatever the results over the coming month, Jeonbuk can’t come out of this period in a good light, with some calling for their exclusion from the ACL in addition to their domestic sanctions. But make no mistake about it they have the players and experience to prove an unpopular victor next month.

The Talking Point

After scoring his record equalling 13th goal of the ACL campaign, you can safely assume Seoul’s Adriano will be the 2016 Golden Boot winner. If anything strange were to happen, Jeonbuk’s Leonardo (currently on 8) is the next likeliest to win it, non-surprisingly he’s also of Brazilian nationality, something that is hardly new within the Asian game. You have to go back to 2011 for the last time an Asian player topped the goal scoring ranks, rather fittingly Lee Dong-Gook who will likely play a part in this year’s final with Jeonbuk. Should we be concerned with this from a developmental point of view, or is it typical of the world game?

It’s long been the case that to increase your competitiveness on the continental front, you buy in an overseas striker, in most cases a Brazilian (the fact 4 out of the last 5 golden boot winners have been Brazilian is no coincidence). The likes of Muriqui, Elkeson and Ricardo Goulart, who have all shone for Guangzhou Evergrande in the last few years have been the best examples of this. Clubs are tending to use their valuable 3 overseas ACL slots for attacking players, choosing to better utilise their home portion in more defensive areas. Looking out for a stand out Asian forward is difficult for sure. Igor Sergeev still stands as the joint highest scoring Asian, despite not playing a single game since the group stage.

This year’s upcoming final will showcase a typical formula of Brazilians working in tandem with local talent. The aforementioned Omar Abdulrahman alongside his brother Mohammed will work alongside a couple of notable Brazilians in Caio and Douglas, while the creative brilliance of Lee Jae-Sung will look to tee up fellow Korean poachers Kim Shin-Wook and Lee Dong-Gook alongside Jeonbuk’s Brazilian wingers Ricardo Lopes and Leonardo. Casting an eye over to other confederations the same seems to apply but with less made of it given the lack of overseas player restrictions. The fact that Barcelona, who’ve been praised for integrating a truly Spanish philosophy, have relied upon the South American talents of Neymar, Luis Suarez, and of course Lionel Messi over the last few years, lessens the concern for Asia. For now at least South America is clearly the go to region for reliable goal scorers.

AFC Champions League Round Review (Quarter-Finals)

Last week saw the AFC Champions League narrow down to the final four, with the second legs of the Quarter-Finals taking place across the continent. Lokomotiv Tashkent’s impressive journey as one of the tournament’s most talked about underdogs is over after losing to Al Ain, while El Jaish were gifted much of their result after Al Nassr had to forfeit their comfortable first leg victory over player ineligibility. In the East it was a clash of countries with Korea Republic’s K-League coming out on top; meaning Jeonbuk Motors and Seoul will contest for a final place at the expense of Chinese Super League duo Shanghai SIPG and Shandong Luneng.

The Player

With Omar Abdulrahman struggling through illness, failing to make a greater impact than he did against Lokomotiv, Al Ain had to turn to a resolute defensive performance to overcome their Uzbek opposition and make it to the final 4, led strongly by the ever improving Khalid Essa in goal. Back-to-back clean sheets alongside a string of saves to keep them in it over the two legs, Essa’s really starting to put his name forward as one of West Asia’s top keepers, after only really breaking through on the international scene over the last couple of years.

His problems previously have surrounded his stature, hardly a keeper’s build at just over 5’6’’ and relatively slender also for his positioning. He has all of a sudden seemed to show confidence, be it in claiming crosses or contesting 50-50 challenges while upping his regularity on what he’s always been good at, spectacular saves or bursting off his line at speed. His form has now cemented him a place in the national side, which he carried forward into last week’s WCQ’s producing a couple of notable performances against Japan and Australia.

Back to the Champions League, and you can reel off tie defining moments; from his save to deny a long range effort from Sandjar Shaakhmedov in the first leg, before brilliantly denying Marat Bikmaev late on in Tashkent. I’ve always had a worry over Essa, mainly due to his style which can often leave him being labelled as quite erratic. Over the last month however, his performances have become consistent and dare I say it solid, a true run of form which he’d hope to take through to the semi-final with El Jaish.

The Team

Hulk’s long awaited debut in the ACL for his new club Shanghai SIPG turned from anti-climax to downright embarrassment within 45 minutes as Jeonbuk Motors hammered the Chinese outfit 5-0 on Tuesday. Shanghai were touted as the Chinese Super League’s greatest hope after Guangzhou Evergrande swiftly exited in the group stage, but the Korean champions proved that their experience and team chemistry are still worth plenty above that of a growing SIPG side and their glamourous star striker.

The tie was finely poised, 0-0 in China before heading back to Korea this last week. While the match stayed level going into half time, Jeonbuk were clearly the better side creating plenty of promising openings, it seemed a case of when rather than if. And when it did come, it well and truly open the flood gates. Jeonbuk scored two within quick succession; a well worked move ended emphatically by Brazilian winger Leonardo from outside the area before Lee Jae-Sung, who’d openly snubbed CSL the day before, mazed through the limp SIPG defence before forcing an own goal by Shi Ke.

The goals kept coming after Lu Wenjun saw red (rather unfairly) for Shanghai for a high boot, Leonardo scoring from the penalty spot before substitute Lee Dong-Gook added a brace late on. In truth Jeonbuk ran riot in attack, in a match that was reminiscent of the same nation’s competing on the international stage in last week’s World Cup qualifiers. While the score wasn’t as emphatic, the nous, quality in the final third and general game plan displayed by the Koreans was again streets ahead of that of Chinese. It’s been an admirable debut ACL campaign for SIPG, but a demonstration in class by East Asia’s leading side at present Jeonbuk shows they have much more work to do.

The Talking Point

While much has been digested over Wanderley’s forged passport situation, the talking point concerning the football on the pitch surrounded the aforementioned billed coming of age round for the Chinese Super League sides. In the end they flattered to deceive, with both Shanghai SIPG and Shandong Luneng exiting to Korean opposition. While much will be put on the supposed false dawn of the Chinese Super League, there are areas to explain the last week’s round of exits rather than simply the league’s glamour clubs aren't living up to their lofty expectations.

Firstly the run of form the clubs have experienced. The fact Shandong at least made it through to this stage of the competition was a relative surprise given their struggles domestically and their changing managerial situation, while Shanghai themselves look to a distance behind ACL qualification also at present. While money has been continually splashed across the league, Shanghai have been less than fortunate in terms of injury, Hulk made his debut in the ACL in the second leg after missing much of his short spell with SIPG through a knee injury, while further setbacks for Dario Conca and Elkeson left the physical Brazilian broadly alone in attack on Tuesday.

The other area to comment on is pure quality, which isn’t going to improve over night, especially against such experienced campaigners like Jeonbuk and Seoul. Last week we saw the league’s national teams do battle with similar results, the truth is the Chinese local talent base needs time to improve to reach continental class levels. It doesn’t matter how much overseas talent is brought in, if the foreign player cap remains, the home based players need to pick up the slack. While Jeonbuk and Seoul regularly rely on the likes of Lee Jae-Sung, Kim Shin-Wook and Kwak Tae-Hwi within their ranks, the Chinese outfits have yet to develop those players with that sort of experience to call upon.

AFC Champions League Preview (Group B - 2015)

The 2015 AFC Asian Champions League kicks off this week. Here's a quick preview of the West Asian side of the draw with Group B; including Uzbek champions Pakhtakor, Saudi Cup holders Al-Shabab, Emirati galacticos Al-Ain and Iranian domestic leaders Naft Tehran.

Team: Pakhtakor

Country: Uzbekistan

Manager: Samvel Babayan (UZB)

Key Man: Jamshid Iskanderov (UZB)

Given the rise of Uzbek football, the fact that Pakhtakor ran away with the Professional Football League title suggests they are worthy challengers to the ACL crown this year. Their comprenstive victory can be attributed to a fresh squad coming of age at the right time. Impressive playmaker Jamshid Iskanderov has shown flurries of his exciting talent, while fellow Uzbek international Igor Sergeev has goals in him to worry any defence in the tournament. Three group stage exits in a row doesn’t provide too much hope this time around, as doesn’t the amount of preparation going into the tournament. The Uzbek season returns in late March after a long Winter break, leaving Samvel Babayan with it all to do in anticipation of the ACL kick off.

Team: Al-Shabab

Country: Saudi Arabia

Manager: Jaime Pacheco (POR)

Key Man: Rafinha (BRA)

After an impressive 2014, Al-Shabab go into the new year in mixed form and eagerly looking for a new spark. After starting the year in the mix for the title spots in the Saudi Pro League, last season’s Cup victors Shabab have fallen off the boil and have yet to pick up three points since the league kicked back into gear. Star striker Naif Hazazi hasn’t recovered from a luckless Asian Cup campaign with the national team, while the Park Chu-Young experiment was cut short early after numerous ineffective displays. Rafinha remains Shabab’s most likely source of creation, but more must stand up if they are going to make it out of what is a pretty tough group.

Team: Al-Ain

Country: United Arab Emirates

Manager: Zlatko Dalić (BIH)

Key Man: Omar Abdulrahman (UAE)

It can be argued that Al-Ain are the most glamorous side in West Asia, boasting a number of highly paid stars quite capable of succeeding on the European stage. It makes you wonder what happened last term, considering Al-Ain made a decent fist continentally they struggled so much in the Arabian Gulf League. A last gasp Cup victory helped them to ACL qualification, and from there, their form has gone from strength to strength. Joint leaders at present, spurred on by the attacking trident of Asamoah Gyan, Miroslav Stoch and Jires Kembo-Ekoko, Ain possess one of the strongest attacking set-ups in the league, in direct opposition to their leaky defence. A return from injury to newly tied down Omar Abdulrahman is yet another spectacular addition to one of this year's ACL favourites.

Team: Naft Tehran

Country: Iran

Manager: Alireza Mansourian (IRN)

Key Man: Alireza Beiranvand (IRN)

The ACL will truly assess the credentials of Iran’s currently form outfit who have gained plenty of admirers after a riveting first half to the Persian Gulf Pro League season. Naft Tehran possess some of West Asia’s finest young players from goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand to attacker Amir Matahari, however the loss of promising midfielder Pouraliganji to the Chinese Super League may prove detrimental to Naft’s second half of the season. Already slipping slightly in the league, their title pursuit looks a little fragile at present. A solid ACL campaign which started with an impressive playoff victory over Qatar’s El Jaish could reignite their charge.