Tomorrow night, Brisbane Roar will draw to a close what coach Rado Vidosic has described as “the longest season any club in the word has had” when they host Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan in their final AFC Champions League fixture at Brisbane Stadium.
Tomorrow night, Brisbane Roar will draw to a close what coach Rado Vidosic has described as “the longest season any club in the word has had” when they host Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan in their final AFC Champions League fixture at Brisbane Stadium.
The back-to-back Hyundai A-League Champions have not had a rest since the pre-season regime which began in early May, but Vidosic has urged the players to keep their focus for one last game ahead of their seven week break.
“We-ve been going for more than a year now,” Vidosic said.
“It started with the longest pre-season ever, then the longest season so I think everyone is looking forward to the game and then we can look forward to the break.
“We just need to be as professional as we can – today was our last training session of the season, 90 more minutes and the season is over.”
Neither side has managed a win in the competition so far, meaning South Korean club Ulsan Hyundai and Japan-s FC Tokyo will progress from Group F-s qualification spots into the knock-out stages.
While the term “dead rubber” has been thrown around to describe Brisbane-s match-up with Beijing, the game holds a bit of special feeling for Vidosic, who will be at the helm for his first time at their home stadium as Head Coach, and has made it clear his team will be out for the win.
“I wish the game was holding more importance than what it has but nevertheless, I enjoyed our last game in Tokyo, my first game,” he said.
“Having my second game at home, I-m looking forward to seeing what we can do.
“Unfortunately there is not much riding on the game but we are looking for a good performance.
“If we can get our performance to the level which we like, that would be a fantastic way to end the season.”
Michael Theoklitos will lead the side in the absence of club captain Matt Smith and vice-captain Shane Stefanutto while both Rocky Visconte and National Youth League regular Corey Brown have both been touted as replacements in Stefanutto-s left-back role.
Former Roar favourite Reinaldo, who now plied his trade for Brisbane-s Chinese counterparts, will not feature following his send-off against Ulsan Hyundai in match day five.
Brisbane Roar face Beijing Guoan tomorrow night at Brisbane Stadium. Kick off is at 7.30pm, tickets available at the gate or through Ticketek.
