Adelaide United Head Coach Airton Andrioli and Captain Craig Goodwin spoke to the media on Matchday -1 ahead of Tuesday night’s AFC Champions League Elite Preliminary Stage clash against Công An Hà Nội at Coopers Stadium.
Andrioli on the importance of Tuesday night’s match…
“It’s a big game for the Club tomorrow night and preparation has been good.
“We know it’s going to be a tough game against quality opposition.
“The boys have taken on board the information. We’ve got a game plan for tomorrow and hopefully we can execute it and get the result to get us into that Elite competition.”
Andrioli on preparing for Công An Hà Nội…
“We did our homework. We did as much as we could looking back on previous games and trying to analyse the opposition thoroughly.
“The boys are ready for the match and hopefully we can reward our supporters tomorrow night and get the result.”
Andrioli on the squad’s preparation heading into the match…
“We know the focus is on this game. We know what’s in front of us and we want to make sure that we get a result because we want to challenge ourselves playing in that type of competition.
“They’re in a similar situation to us in terms of pre-season and not having played many games, so that levels the ground a little bit more evenly.”
Goodwin on the opportunity to return to Asia’s elite competition…
“It’s really exciting.
“It’s been 10 years since the Club has been in this competition.
“For us to be back in Asia is a great experience for a lot of our younger players. It’s a great chance for more exposure to better opposition, better quality football and more games for us as well.
“It’s an exciting time and hopefully we can get the right result and put ourselves in the ACL Elite.”
Goodwin on what younger players can gain from playing in Asia…
“It’s natural for young players to want to progress and test themselves against the best players.
“First and foremost, the biggest chance is to play against the best teams and the best clubs in Asia and test yourself as players.
“We have a lot of young players that want to go far in the game and this is great exposure for them.”
Goodwin on facing former Red Stefan Mauk…
“It’ll be nice. It’s a little side story for him, playing against the team and city where he’s from.
“But at the end of the day, we just look at him as another player and that’s all we do.”
Goodwin on his memories of Adelaide United’s previous Asian campaigns…
“I came to a few when I could back in those days.
“I remember the final run and a few times that Adelaide went deep into the competition.
“Not getting ahead of ourselves, but it’d be nice to do as well as we can in the competition and that starts here in this game.”
Andrioli on Adelaide’s physicality and playing identity…
“When people look from outside into Australian football, everybody talks first and foremost about the physicality of our game.
“But I see it differently. We are a team that wants to play football. We want to play good football, we want to be the protagonists of games, we want to control football matches and we want to play with the ball.
“You want to play with the ball and dominate the game, but the physical aspect can’t be neglected.”
Andrioli on the growth of football across Asia…
“I think the gap is much closer now.
“Football in Asia has grown consistently over the last 15 years.
“We know that, but we’re playing at home tomorrow night. It’s a massive game for us and we know what’s in front of us.
“There are so many things going for us, so we have to make sure we’re ready, get the result and consolidate a place in that Elite competition.”
Andrioli on the wider importance of qualifying for the AFC Champions League Elite…
“It reiterates the importance of this match for obvious reasons.
“It’s not just the prize money that comes into it, but also the commercial repercussions and what we can use moving forward.
“Our main focus is to go out tomorrow, execute our game plan, get a result and then have the opportunity to play in an Elite competition.”
Andrioli on if the squad can handle competing on multiple fronts…
“Obviously, if you can equip yourself with more players that can come in and add something to us, we’re open to those possibilities, but they have to be within our means.
“We also have to be creative with the players we do have.
“We want that mentality that we can do this.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to find the balance, play in the A-League, play in Asia and go as far as we can.”
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