Hiring a travelling chef could be part of Adelaide United’s preparations heading into its second semi-final leg against Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor on October 22.
The cautious Reds don’t want to leave anything to chance and less than flattering stories about food in Uzbekistan has them worried about the players’ health ahead of the big ACL clash in Tashkent.
United coach Aurelio Vidmar said communication with Australian football officials, who have taken sides to the country in the past, had prompted the concern.
“Over the last couple of weeks we’ve spoken to just about everyone at the FFA. The Socceroos and the Joeys, who are there at the moment, had some problems with food poisoning,” Vidmar said.
“So that’s something that we really need to have a good look at and make sure that anything that we eat is well prepared.”
With those experiences in mind, the club had considered hiring a chef to reduce the chance of illness.
“We are looking at that as well, so that’s probably going to be a viable option for us.”
Vidmar said he was proud of his players’ workmanlike effort in beating Bunyodkor 3-0 at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday. He was also pleased the Reds’ performances were lifting the profile of the Hyundai A-League.
“I know Ben Buckley is over in England at the moment and said it’s all over the press over there … I think everyone is rapt with this,” he said.
“I think you can always get people to convert, I’m sure there would have been lots of people there last night that haven’t been to any football games before. If you can convert a few people all the better.”
But he admitted the opposition wouldn’t be lying down and allowing his team to progress further in the ACL.
“We are going into the unknown, we are going into Tashkent, we’ve got absolutely no idea what to expect and I’m sure there will be a fair bit of gamesmanship going on because they want to do everything they possibly can to reverse the result,” he said.
Another unknown is Fabian Barbiero. The 24-year-old not only scored a goal in the first leg of the semi-final but was given the task of shutting down Brazilian champion Rivaldo.
Barbiero was told of his massive job in the training session before the game and used a match DVD and Youtube vision off the internet as preparation.
“Between me and Reidy (Paul Reid) we had the job of staying close and I think we did a good job of keeping him out of the game,” he said.
“He’s got a good touch and for his age he’s very good still.”
The midfielder is looking forward to tackling Bunyodkor again but it’s unlikely he’ll be given the responsibility of navigating the trip to Tashkent. The Adelaide-born player has never been there but should be given a partial credit for his geographical knowledge of the region.
“Iran, Iraq somewhere … I don’t know Borat?” he joked.
“I would have never managed to go there (before) but look it’s wonderful.”
