Ognenovski's last hurrah for Reds
Adelaide United FC’s uncompromising defender Sasa Ognenovski will play his final game for The Reds in this Saturday’s Hyundai A-League Grand Final against Melbourne Victory and he is determined to leave the club with a championship.
The 29 year old, who joined Adelaide from the Queensland Roar at the end of the Hyundai A-League 2007/08 Season, will jet off to Korea to play with Seongnam Ilhwa after the Grand Final and nothing would cap off his memorable time with The Reds more than being part of a championship winning side.
“It has been a great year. Everything that-s happened this year with the club and with myself has been very positive,” Ognenovski said.
“We-re in a grand final and we-ve got the chance to become the champions of Australia so it has been fantastic and I-ve really enjoyed my time here.”
Saturday-s decider at the Telstra Dome will be Ognenovski-s first Hyundai A-League Grand Final after he was part of a Queensland Roar team that bombed out of the championship race in the Preliminary Final last season.
While he has been taking in the Grand Final fever this week, Ognenovski said the relaxed feeling amongst the squad coupled with the lack of hype around the club has got the players- minds fully on what they need to do to get past the Victory.
“We-ve been really focused and we-ve been concentrated fully on the task at hand,” he said.
Coach Aurelio Vidmar has also been delighted with the build up, and says all that is left now is to take it out onto the Telstra Dome on Saturday night.
“We-ve had a fantastic week on the track and I think we-ve done everything we possibly can, and now it-s just about going out there and working the plan to a tee,” Vidmar said.
“Going into this year…we-re probably as balanced and relaxed as we possibly can be.”
“There-s not much fanfare and whether that-s because we-re going into the game as underdogs. But certainly everyone is relaxed and I-m very happy the way we-ve lead into this week.”
In the 2nd leg of the Major Semi Final at the Telstra Dome a fortnight ago, United was on the end of a 4-nil score line which saw the Victory win its fifth game in a row against The Reds. On that occasion, a 10th minute goal from Archie Thompson all but ended United-s chances of winning the two legged tie.
However, heading into a one off Grand Final, Ognenovski is certain United will not be giving up hope if the Victory happen to score first this time around.
“I don-t think any heads will drop if they score early. That goal early (in the second leg) was pretty much like the Gamba goal early (in the 2nd leg of the 2008 AFC Champions League Final), it sort of put us out of the tie fully,” Ognenovski said.
“In the Grand Final if you go a goal down and they score, hopefully they don-t, you-ve still got time to get back into the game.”
Throughout the week Vidmar has emphasised that Adelaide has played its best football when it is a full team effort and he says that is what will be needed on Saturday if The Reds are to deliver a knockout blow to Melbourne.
“Everyone is going to have to play a role. You can-t have passengers in a grand final. You need everything to go your way and a little bit of luck helps, but as I-ve said we-ve come into this week really relaxed so it-s about going out there and stepping up,” Vidmar said.