Adelaide United Captain, Craig Goodwin, has lauded the Coopers Stadium faithful following his side’s 3-0 win over Melbourne Victory on Remembrance Day.
Goodwin scored from the spot after George Blackwood won a penalty late in the second half. It was the Reds’ second goal of the game after Hiroshi Ibusuki opened the scoring.
Ben Warland put the icing on the cake from a delicious dead-ball from his Captain, Goodwin, with the centre back sliding in to smack the ball into the back of the net.
Overall thoughts:
“I’ve always said it’s the biggest game in our calendar.
“So (we) look forward to (it) and in front of our home fans, it was fantastic support.
“Personally, I don’t think it was actually my best game, I think I missed a lot of passes, but obviously happy to contribute as well.”
Aggressive performance before a World Cup:
“I mentally prepared myself for that during the week because I did an interview (where I was asked about sitting out for this match to rest for the World Cup) and I was thinking about it.
“When he asked me the question, I was thinking: ‘I’m the Captain of this side, we’re coming up against our rivals, I can’t take a backward step. I can’t show the boys that I’m pulling out of tackles. What are they going to think of me? If I am, what are the fans gonna think?’
“So I was mentally preparing myself for that and I wanted to show I wanted to win this fixture more than any other fixture.”
Captaincy enhancing his contributions:
“I think (the Captaincy) made me think about… the team more.
“I heard a quote, I can’t remember exactly which player said it… and he said: ‘No matter how you’re playing, the most important thing is that you focus on what happens next. Always thinking in the moment, what’s my role? What’s my role right now?’
“That’s stuck with me the whole time and ever since I’ve heard that, I say that to the boys almost every single game.
“It doesn’t matter how you’re playing, it doesn’t matter the team we’re playing against, think of your role.
“What am I supposed to be doing right now?
“You’re always present in the game and I think that helps ground me.”
