Australian teams: FITNESS!!

by user WeST HaM IV LyFe

Last night I went home, put aside my laptop, uncorked a bottle of red, ripped open a packet of chips and sat in front of the telly determined just to enjoy Sydney FC vs Urawa Red Diamonds and Adelaide United vs Gach Dong Tam Long An as a couch potato. And I have to say I had a pretty enjoyable time. It was good entertainment. Both Australian teams showed glimpses of very good play but were both worryingly flat in their respective second halves. Whether this is just poor match fitness, I’m not sure; certainly in Adelaide’s case humidity would have been a major factor. But whatever the reason, I fear for both Sydney and Adelaide when they return to Asia, Sydney to play Urawa in Saitama and Adelaide to Cheongsam. The stamina levels of the better Asian teams is proving a profound difference between our own Asian Champions League entrants and their competitors.

In Sydney, as they had done in Shanghai, Sydney FC came out like a bull at a gate and ran themselves ragged for half an hour. Urawa had no answer, but as the first half drew to a close, you sensed they had established the ascendancy. Their passes were sticking, they were making it through the formerly stubbornly defended midfield, and individually their skill levels looked sharper. But for the heroics of Mark Rudan, Sydney could have gone to the break even stevens with their Japanese opponents. In the end, I thought the 2-2 result ultimately was a good result for Sydney, even with Clint Bolton’s howler. In the last 20 minutes it was just a case of Sydney holding on.

The 21,000 who turned up got great value for money, especially from the superb Urawa oendan, who simply put the best of our own supporters’ groups in the shade. How much we can learn from these guys!

Detractors of the world game shouldn’t read too much into the crowd figure. This is a new competition, an unknown opponent, with a club on the way back. By this time next year, Aussie Stadium will be packed to the rafters. By then Sydney will also be a much better team. If Branko Culina can maintain the confidence levels he’s instilled in his side and continue their clever style of quick passing and possession, plus get their fitness up to scratch, Sydney FC is more than capable of winning the A-League again and getting a third free pass to the ACL. The mind boggles to think of the aberration they were under Terry Butcher…

Adelaide had much the easiest time of it against Dong Tam in Tan An, the Vietnamese side seemingly following strict orders to sit back and let the South Australians come to them. It was a tactic that was always bound to misfire when the team’s defenders had all the physical presence of Tattoo from Fantasy Island, but Dong Tam were a better side than Simon Hill and Robbie Slater, who were calling the game, said they were.

Even in the first half, they put in some nice passages of passing and their distribution was sound. Only problem, again, was once Adelaide had only the defenders to beat, Dong Tam was lost at sea. But for Fabio Dos Santos, their man-mountain goalkeeper, they could have been four down at the break.

Second half, the pre-game plan had been ripped up. Dong Tam now pushed forward, backing themselves. You could sense they had thrown caution to the wind, and I was particularly impressed by Phan Van Tai Em, who caused a few genuine scares. Perhaps Australia’s first Vietnamese A-League footballer?

Adelaide were about as animated as Phillip Ruddock on Mogadon, but they were clearly suffering in the heat and humidity. Too hard to tell if they are a much better side now than they were under Kosmina, the spongy surface looked to be giving the Reds all sorts of grief, but I would like to see Bruce Djite, who I’ve given big raps to in the past, just have a crack. He does a lot of good lead-up work but seems to be missing the requisite nerve to just shoot and think later. But this will come. Travis Dodd needs to be brought into games more, as well. He looked to be giving the Vietnamese all kinds of trouble, but spent too many periods staring at his bootlaces on the wing while all the action went down the middle.

All in all, a positive night for Aussie teams in Asia. The feeling I get, though, is heartbreak is just around the corner.