Reds confident of spoiling Gold Coast party
Adelaide United’s squad believes it can fly under the radar and execute the game plan to inflict Gold Coast United’s first loss of the season, when the teams clash tomorrow night (Friday 21 August 2009) at Hindmarsh Stadium in Round 3 of the Hyundai A-League 2009/10 Season (Kick-Off 7.30pm ACST).
The Reds host the current league leaders, who opened their season with two comprehensive victories, and have ambitions to fulfil Gold Coast owner Clive Palmer-s statement that the new Hyundai A-League franchise can got through its inaugural season undefeated.
However, United Coach Aurelio Vidmar has other ideas and is confident his team can bring Gold Coast United back down to earth.
“Certainly tomorrow is going to be a big test. They-ve obviously got a lot of good players, especially in that front third where they can really hurt you, so we know we need to be wary of that and we-ve got a pretty good plan, we hope, so it-s about going out on the park tomorrow and putting it into practise and seeing if it comes off,” Vidmar said.
“I think we-ve got a fantastic group, one that wants to achieve something and with the right mentality, which this team has got, we can go out there and put on a pretty good performance and that-s what we-re expecting tomorrow.”
Vidmar is satisfied with The Reds- opening two hit outs, and he is not phased that most football punters are already writing his team off as a serious championship threat.
“I think we-re flying under the radar this season anyway. Not too many people have given us much hope of having a successful season, which is fine by us, we-ll go about our business and we think we-ve had two pretty good performances…so we-re in pretty good shape,” Vidmar said.
While Gold Coast have bolted out of the blocks, scoring eight goals from their opening two games, Adelaide United has prided its promising start to the season on a water tight defence, which only suffered one hiccup in last Sunday-s loss to Sydney FC. While The Reds have only found the back of the net once so far, Vidmar says his team will not get caught up in a shootout with Gold Coast United-s star studded line up.
“We-re a little bit different so we-ll play to our strengths and I-m very confident in our group and our team that we can go out there and get results,” Vidmar said.
“It-s certainly going to be a tough game but if we stick to our guns and stick to our plan, then I-m very confident we can get a result.”
Striker Lloyd Owusu and defender Daniel Mullen are a chance to be included in the final 15 man squad for the first time this season, while Cassio has also been named after recovering from illness.
However midfielder Paul Reid is a late omission following adductor soreness after the match with Sydney FC.
Gold Coast United-s squad has a distinct South Australian flavour. Shane Smeltz, Kristian Rees, Scott Higgins and Robert Bajic were all at one time or another part of Adelaide United-s squad, while Adelaide born Joel Porter played a season with West Adelaide in the old NSL.
After the hype surrounding the match and an enormous build up, the gloves are off and The Reds are ready for a showdown with the Hyundai A-League-s early season title contenders.
Kick-Off is at 7.30pm (ACST) and tickets are available through Venue*Tix (call 8225 8888, web www.venuetix.com.au)