Before Wednesday night’s clash, we have a look at ‘who are’ Darwin Olympic.
Darwin Olympic History
Darwin Olympic is a firmly established sporting club in Darwin’s northern suburbs. They are fiercely competitive, consistently fielding strong squads in Football Federation Northern Territory’s Northern Zone or ‘NorZone’.
Established in 1967, the team’s origins are part of a post-WWII Kalymnian migration wave to Darwin that was in need of skilled construction labour.
In nearly five decades, Olympic’s premier level men’s team has amassed 60 titles in Top End football, making them Northern Territory football’s most successful club at men’s premier level.
Olympic set high standards for themselves and have played over 900 matches at the top local level, continually displaying an unwavering desire to succeed.
This desire has seen them win 19 league championships, 17 league cups and with a record 24 Grand Final wins from 31 appearances, Olympic have managed to win more than half of all Darwin grand finals played. This impressive records shows that Olympic will rise to big occasions.
Olympic’s growth over the past decade has seen them implement a Junior Development Program and a premier women’s team; with both teams bearing fruit.
The club’s ‘battle cry’, which is sung in Greek and means Olympic symbolises power, is legendary in Darwin sport.
One thing has been made clear since qualifying for this season’s FFA Cup Last 32 draw; Olympic has no intention of simply being team number 32. As a prominent ex-player once put it; “Darwin Olympic does not like losing.”
2015 FFA Cup Campaign
Darwin Olympic were drawn against University Azzurri in the third round and experienced, what would be their toughest match in the preliminary rounds. Luckily, midfielder James Walsh’s penalty kick in extra time decided the matter, from there Darwin Olympic romped through the preliminary rounds defeating Palmerston FC 9-2 Port Darwin 8-1, a 10-men Casuarina FC 7-2 and taking out the ‘Sports Minister’s Cup’ against Alice Springs based Celtic FC 5-0.
Darwin Olympic doesn’t compete in the National Premier League and it’s foray into the 2015 Westfield FFA Cup will be the most competitive match in it’s decades long history.
What You Need To Know
· League: NorZone Men’s Premier League
· Current ladder position: 2nd – won 10 / drawn 1 / lost 1
· Latest result: 4-0 win over Port Darwin
· Who to watch out for: Michael Tsounias
· Official site: www.darwinolympic.com
Darwin Olympic v Adelaide United
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Darwin Football Stadium, Darwin (NT)
Kick-off: 8:00pm local (8:30pm AEST)
Referee: Lucien Laverdure
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Brown
Assistant Referee 2: Trent Sleeman
Fourth Official: Mark Finestone
Tickets: Click here for ticketing details
Online Broadcast: Streamed online at www.foxsports.com.au/football/ffa-cup/ffacupondemand and Apple TV via FOX SPORTS Now
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #DOLvADL
Darwin Olympic squad: 1.Kane McADAM (gk), 2.Alex TURNER, 3.Louis BUNTIN, 4.Igor ALVES, 5.Stephen AGYEI, 6.Jacob BRANDON, 7.Oldrich DUBSKY, 8.Josh HORVAT, 9.Foday MANSARAY, 10.Michael TSOUNIAS, 11.Kevin MENDA, 14.John DROHAN, 15.Matthew GOODWIN, 16.Michael REID, 17.Billy KATHOPOULIS, 20.Dean MOLOY, 21.Ross TSOUNIAS, 22.Yuki ENDO, 23.Ilias RODITIS, 24.Mitchell AMIDY, 26.James WALSH, 42.Georgios SKARTADOS (gk)
Adelaide United squad: 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Michael MARRONE,3.Iacopo LA ROCCA, 4.Dylan McGOWAN, 5.Osama MALIK, 7.Pablo SÁNCHEZ, 8.ISAIAS, 9.Sergio CIRIO, 10.Marcelo CARRUSCA, 11.Bruce DJITE, 12.Mark OCHIENG, 13.Dylan SMITH, 14.George MELLS, 15.Ben WARLAND, 16.Craig GOODWIN, 18.Jimmy JEGGO, 19.Eli BABALJ, 20.John HALL (gk), 21.Tarek ELRICH, 23.Jordan ELSEY, 24.Bruce KAMAU, 32.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS