Reds looking to return to the top
Adelaide United FC has a chance to go back to the top of the table when it opens its 2009 against Sydney FC at the Adelaide Oval tomorrow night in Round 18 of the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 Season.
The Reds will face Sydney FC and former Coach John Kosmina for the second time at the picturesque ground, attempting to go back to the top of the table and continue Sydney-s run of three straight defeats.
With Kosmina-s men desperate to keep their finals aspirations alive, United Coach Aurelio Vidmar admits it is a serious ‘danger game- for his side heading into a heavy month of fixtures.
“We know they (Sydney) haven-t had the right results lately but they-ve been playing pretty good football, some of their players that have been out of form are slowly coming back into form and it-s a danger game for us,” Vidmar said.
“We-ll need to play to a very good level and if we can do that, I think we can take the three points and really start putting pressure on the teams below us.”
The Reds were replaced at the top of the table after the Central Coast Mariners- win over Perth Glory on New Years Eve, and while United have games in hand on the other clubs, Vidmar knows it will count for nothing if his team does not capitalise on the position confronting them.
“As I said last week, we put ourselves in a pretty good position up to this point and with the games we-ve got left, we-ll probably need three to four wins to take that top spot,” Vidmar said.
“One thing is having games in hand, the other thing is actually winning them so we-re still far away from doing that. On the surface it looks great but you still need to roll up your sleeves and get a job done.”
Vidmar will have key left sided defender Scott Jamieson available, the 20 year old having recovered from a sore hip and declared a certain starter as he looks to continue his stellar debut season in the Hyundai A-League.
Marquee signing Paul Agostino is likely to have another run with the Youth Team, while Vidmar will decide on the final make up of his starting eleven after the squad-s training session at the Adelaide Oval later this afternoon. Goalkeeper Matthew Nash, who is a short term signing in the absence of the injured Mark Birighitti, will sit on the bench as back up to Eugene Galekovic.
Sydney FC stunned Melbourne Victory with two goals in the opening four minutes last weekend, and Vidmar is fully aware of the threat Sydney FC can pose, particularly in attack.
“They (Sydney) started the game off last week against Melbourne extremely well so we know they-ve got weapons going forward with the likes of Alex Brosque, Mark Bridge, John Aloisi, Steve Corica and Shannon Cole,” Vidmar said.
A massive crowd saw the teams fight it out in the historic first Hyundai A-League match at the Adelaide Oval last season and with a similar atmosphere expected again tomorrow night, the match is guaranteed to be another enthralling battle between two Hyundai A-League heavyweights.
As part of Saturday night-s match, Adelaide United FC and Chairman Dario Fontanarosa are also proud to announce that one dollar from every ticket sold for the game will be donated to the Starlight Foundation.
Kick-Off is at 7.30pm (ACDT) with gates open at 5.30pm. There are still plenty of tickets available for the match and they can be purchased through Venue*Tix by calling (08) 8225 8888 or online at www.venuetix.com.au. Tickets will also be on sale from the Victor Richardson gates at the Adelaide Oval from 12pm on match day.