Adelaide United has downplayed the favouritism it’s taking into the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup, believing New Zealand team Waitakere United will be tough to beat.
The Reds’ performance in the Asian Champions League and consistent form in the Hyundai A-League suggests they’ll be too strong for the semi-professional Kiwi side.
But coach Aurelio Vidmar says anything can happen in a cut-throat tournament, especially against a side that’s had experience at this level before.
“It’s going to be an extremely difficult game and they’re the tricky ones, we still need to be extremely focussed and make sure we get that result,” Vidmar said at a Club World Cup launch on Thursday.
“They’ve already been there last year so they’ve got a good taste of what to expect, we haven’t. A lot of people would say it’s a foregone conclusion we’ll go there, turn up and take the points against Waitakere and that’s certainly not going to be the case.”
Adelaide captain Travis Dodd also predicted a tough challenge from their new Trans-Tasman rival.
“Although they may only be a part-time club they’re definitely taking it seriously. They have a big preparation in China, they are playing a few games so it’s not going to be an easy game for us,” he said.
“We can’t go into the game thinking of the next one.”
It would be easy for the Reds to fall into the trap of looking too far ahead considering the rewards that come with beating their New Zealand opponent.
A victory would see them at least double their prize money to US$1 million while their next opponent would be Gamba Osaka – the team that beat them in the ACL final.
Vidmar said his team would ‘love another crack at them’.
“They are a much better quality side than us, there’s no question about that and everyone saw that over the two legs and they thoroughly deserved to win the Asian Champions League,” Vidmar said.
“Certainly there were periods in both games where I thought if we can keep up this intensity you just never know.”
Dodd said he’d also welcome a re-match.
“It would be good to beat them but I guess if we do it’s not going to bring us an Asian Champions League trophy,” he said.
“We’ll have more players available … we are pretty confident we can go over there and get a positive result.”
An upset result against the Japanese side and a clash against Manchester United would follow. Dodd admitted the scenario was a massive incentive for the Reds to play well.
“It is a dream come true. Potentially it’s a once in a life time opportunity so we’ve got to make the most of it,” he said.
