Brisbane Roar Youth League coach Rado Vidosic is optimistic of an upset victory when his young charges tangle with Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday.
Brisbane Roar Youth League coach Rado Vidosic is optimistic of an upset victory when his young charges tangle with Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday.
The Roar face second placed Adelaide after their run of consecutive victories came to a halt at the hands of defending champions Sydney FC last weekend.
However, Vidosic saw enough in his squad-s performance to suggest they would make life difficult for the title chasing United.
“Adelaide is one of the top teams, even last season they played in the grand final,” Vidosic said.
“They are going to be doing everything to try and beat us … but we-ll just go out and try to perform and see if we can upset them.”
Roar and United fans have witnessed exciting affairs between the squad-s this season, with the home squad leading the balance thanks to a 2-1 victory in December.
Vidosic said he was expecting another open style game at Hindmarsh, but hoped his players – with a little bit of extra motivation – would be the hungrier for the victory.
“The last two games indicated that we can perform against them, so hopefully this game will be the same,” he said.
“Plus the fact we play the curtain raiser before the first team will hopefully have an influence on the players.”
One influence which has had a profound effect on the young squad was the appearance of Dutch great Patrick Kluivert at training this week.
Kluivert assisted with drills, was involved in the small matches and led the squad-s strikers in shooting practice at the end of training.
Vidosic said Kluivert-s appearance was a ‘fantastic experience- for the young footballers.
“They were over the moon to have someone like that and be part of the training session,” he said.
“To get information from someone like Patrick was priceless.”
Line-ups for Brisbane Roar Youth League versus Adelaide United Youth League
Brisbane Roar Youth squad:
Matt ACTON (GK), Matthew BYRNE, Luke BRATTAN, Kenneth DOUGALL, David DODD (OA), Josh McVEY, Luke MUIR (GK), Alistair QUINN, Michael RYAN, Antony SCHIAVO, Tyler THURTELL, Stefan VRBESIC, Tim SMITS (OA), Isaka CERNAK, Matt MUNDY (OA)
Adelaide United Youth squad:
Joel ALLWRIGHT, Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), Andrew CIARLA (c), Michael DOYLE, Kingsley FRANCIS, Evan KOSTOPOULOS, Codey LARKIN (gk), Dane MILOVANOVIC, Perry MITRIS, Francesco MONTEROSSO, Nick MUNRO (gk), Inseob SHIN, Alex SUNASKY, Liam WOODING, Joe WRIGHT
