Brisbane have been the stand-out side through the opening month of the 2011-12 Hyundai A-League season, but even with four wins from four starts star goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos described their next opponents, Melbourne Victory, as ‘frightening’.
Brisbane have been the stand-out side through the opening month of the 2011-12 Hyundai A-League season, but even with four wins from four starts star goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos described their next opponents, Melbourne Victory, as “frightening”.
Boasting a plus-12 goal differential, the Roar are accustomed to causing other sides anxiety, yet the star-studded Victory appear to be one of the few line-ups in the competition with the firepower to make the defending champions wary.
Brisbane’s last defeat before embarking on their record-crushing 32-game undefeated streak came in the corresponding match against the Victory last season.
The Roar recovered from their 3-0 defeat with a 2-1 victory at home in the second meeting between the clubs, before they fought out a 3-3 draw in their third and final clash of the season.
Theoklitos, who also won two Hyundai A-League championships with the Victory, had no hesitation naming Saturday night’s showdown with his former club as the biggest match of the season thus far.
“(In the) pre-season everyone was saying Melbourne and Adelaide were the title favourites, so it’s going to be a massive challenge, especially in front of the 30 or 40,000 supporters that they’ll have there,” said Theoklitos.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to see where we’re at in terms of playing a high quality opposition. The likes of Harry (Kewell) and Archie (Thompson) … you can go through the whole list – they’ve got a great list.”
“Personally, when the fixtures come out the first thing I look at is when we’re playing Melbourne in Melbourne and (Brisbane).”
Brisbane have shown plenty of respect to the Victory through the build-up, openly declaring their ambition to emulate their long-term success both on and off the field.
But Theoklitos, the reigning Goalkeeper of the Year, reflected his side’s confidence by claiming it would be a battle of a team of champions against a champion team.
“They were the title favourites and on paper they’ve got supposedly the best team, so of course they’re going to be saying they want to test themselves against us,” said Theoklitos.
“We’re going to make no qualms about it, we’ve been playing great football and we’ve set the benchmark, in terms of our style of play and the results we’re getting.”
“They’ve got so much talent it’s frightening … I can’t single out anyone in particular; they’re all very exceptional players. But for us, it’s more the team thing.”
“On paper, they’ve got an amazing team, but we’re a champion team the other way around, whereas we don’t have many big names, we just play the football week in and week out that Ange (Postecoglou) wants of us.”
