Al Jazeera reached the same stage of the competition in 2018 before losing out to Iraq’s Air Force Club – defeat which dashed Jordanian hopes of the nation claiming a first AFC Cup title since Shabab Al Ordon’s triumph in 2007.
However, having successfully guided his side past former champions Kuwait SC and Al Ittihad in the group stage and then Syria’s Al Jaish in the Zonal Semi-finals, Ellili is adamant that Al Jazeera are more motivated than ever to claim this year’s Continental crown.
“Winning the title is very important for Al Jazeera,” said the Tunisian coach ahead of Tuesday’s encounter.
“We have a big responsibility as we are representing Jordan and the fact that we can make history. In the last training before the second leg against Al Jaish, we played the national anthem of Jordan, something which shows that we are playing this competition in the name of Jordan."
West Zonal SF 1st Leg: Al Jaish v Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera qualified for the 2019 AFC West Asia Zonal final in stunning fashion as they saw off the challenge of Al Jaish.
Down 3-0 after the first leg of the semi-finals, Ellili's team produced a magnificent comeback to win the return tie 4-0 in front of their adoring fans at the Amman International Stadium.
West Zonal SF 2nd Leg: Al Jazeera v Al Jaish
“A negative for us, though, is that the Jordanian League has not started yet and [as a result] we have not had any competitive matches or official training.
“Nevertheless, we scheduled our preparations accordingly and had a plan which included a training camp. That has helped us to prepare the team for the match against Al Ahed,” Ellili said.
The 55-year-old tactician was, however, also quick to warn his charges of the need to dig deep if they are to defeat their Lebanese opponents and keep alive Al Jazeera’s dream of winning the AFC Cup title.
“Our opponents are a good team and they have good capabilities because they reached this stage of the competition,” Ellili warned.
“We have studied them closely as they have made some changes to their squad. I hope we can gain a good advantage in the first leg, one which we can then take into the second match which will be very important.
“The most important thing is to maintain our concentration throughout the two matches.”
