Adelaide United defender Robbie Cornthwaite wants to play the AFC Champions League round of 16 match in front of a capacity crowd at Hindmarsh Stadium and would prefer not to face the daunting 30-hour trip to Asia for the one-off knockout encounter.
United and Pohang Steelers both secured a berth in the round of 16 after a scoreless draw at the Steelyard was enough to gain an unassailable lead on Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Shandong Luneng.
The team that tops Group H will host the runner-up of Group F, with that match to be played on May 12 with the winner likely to be decided on match day six.
“Obviously we’re pretty happy with picking up a point away from home and qualifying for the round of 16,” said Cornthwaite.
“But the job is not done and we want a home final so we need to put a good performance in and get the three points in two weeks’ time.”
“A home final is so important because we don’t want to be travelling 30 hours to play away from home in tough conditions, we want to be playing here in front of a packed Hindmarsh, so it’s important we get the win in two weeks.”
United can sew up top spot with a win against Shandong Luneng at Hindmarsh Stadium on match day six and ensure a home final, much to the delight of Cornthwaite.
The tall defender now believes the Reds must focus on the final group game and field the strongest XI possible, albeit missing three players through suspension and a further five with one yellow card already in the competition.
Lucas Pantelis, Daniel Mullen and Adam Hughes picked up their second yellow cards of the tournament against Pohang on Tuesday night and are suspended for the match against Shandong, while Scott Jamieson, Travis Dodd, Nigel Boogaard, Matthew Leckie and Cornthwaite are all sitting on one, meaning another in the match against the Chinese powerhouse would sideline them for the round of 16 final.
“Viddie’s (Aurelio Vidmar) probably got a few headaches now,” he said.
“There’s a few boys out with suspension but I think we’ve got to play our best eleven whether they have a yellow or not.”
Vidmar praised his side’s effort and performance and admitted that the ‘little things you need to go your way’ may finally be leaning in United’s favour after deserting them in a forgettable Hyundai A-League season.
Tuesday night’s result was even more significant, said Vidmar, with some of his squad affected by illness leading up to the match.
“Yeah, probably. It went a little bit our way,” he said.
“We had a few boys that were sick as well the day before the game. When you’ve got gastro it makes it very difficult to have any energy and strength and that’s why I applaud the boys. They just rolled up their sleeves and really worked their socks off to get a result.”
“They really wanted to play for the Red shirt on Tuesday night so that is really pleasing.”
Cornthwaite also wished team-mate Jamieson well after the left-back departed for Germany, leaving the rest of the squad to fly home from Hong Kong, after securing a trial with second division club Greuther Furth.
Cornthwaite, though, stopped short of saying he would miss his travelling room-mate too much.
“Yeah, Scotty’s gone over to Germany for a week or so, so I wish him all the best and hopefully he does well,” he said.
“I feel like I’m on a holiday without Jambo.”
“My ears will stop bleeding for the first time in about two years.”
