Adelaide United FC Coach John Kosmina has finalised his squad for the Group Stage of the AFC Champions League 2012.
Adelaide United FC Coach John Kosmina has finalised his squad for the Group Stage of the AFC Champions League 2012.
Of particular note in the Reds- 28-player squad is the addition of former United defender Iain Fyfe, who has signed from Korean club Busan I-Park.
In regards to the maximum three foreign spots permitted in the squad, Kosmina has opted to go with Cassio, Sergio van Dijk and Francisco Usucar, meaning Ukrainian Evgeniy Levchenko is the unlucky one to miss out.
Kosmina says the decision on whether to go with Usucar or Levchenko was an extremely tough one to make, but in the end it came down to the depth of available defenders the Reds now had in their reserve.
“The consideration was that we would either take Lev as a defender or Pancho as a midfielder, so when we signed Iain Fyfe, we decided to go with Pancho for the AFC Champions League,” Kosmina said.
“While that-s the decision we-ve made, I-ve got a lot of respect and admiration for Lev because he took the news on the jaw and he is determined to still do his best and everything he can to help the team for the rest of the A-League season.”
“I also really appreciate that he has taken on a role in the last four games that he-s never been familiar with before, and he-s done a very good job at it.”
With clubs allowed to name a squad of up to 30, Kosmina has also included Adelaide United Youth players Teeboy Kamara, Evan Kostopoulos, Allan Welsh, Jon Mavromatis, Jordan Elsey, Liam Wooding and goalkeeper John Hall.
Clubs participating in the 2012 AFC Champions League are required to submit their final squad seven days prior to their opening match of the competition, which for the Reds is against reigning Uzbek league champions Bunyodkor on March 6 in Tashkent.
The Reds- travelling squad will stay in Sydney on Friday night before departing for Tashkent on Saturday morning.
Adelaide United FC – AFC Champions League 2012 Squad
1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk), 2.Osama MALIK, 3.Nigel BOOGAARD, 4.Jon McKAIN, 5.Daniel MULLEN, 6.CASSIO, 7.Zenon CARAVELLA, 9.Sergio VAN DIJK, 10.Dario VIDOSIC, 11.Bruce DJITE, 12.Antony GOLEC, 13.Ricardo DA SILVA, 14.Cameron WATSON, 15.Jacob MELLING, 16.Spase DILEVSKI, 17.Iain RAMSAY, 18.Fabian BARBIERO, 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), 21.Francisco USUCAR, 22.Iain FYFE, 23.Evan KOSTOPOULOS, 24.Teeboy KAMARA, 25.Allan WELSH, 26.Jonathan MAVROMATIS, 27.Jordan ELSEY, 28.Liam WOODING, 30.Paul IZZO (gk), 38.John HALL (gk)
