Much has been written about Brisbane Roar’s record-breaking 14-month unbeaten streak, but when you start to crunch the numbers, the achievement appears even more remarkable.
Much has been written about Brisbane Roar’s record-breaking 14-month unbeaten streak, but when you start to crunch the numbers, the achievement appears even more remarkable.
It has been well-documented that should the Roar avoid defeat against Perth Glory at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, then they will break the record unbeaten streak for any elite footballing team in this country, surpassing Eastern Suburbs’ achievements in the then NSW Rugby League competition from 1935-1938.
The Roar’s streak began against Adelaide at Suncorp Stadium on September 18 last year, just eight days after the Roar were humiliated 3-0 by Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
In the aftermath of that Victory game, coach Ange Postecoglou defended his team’s insistence on a game plan heavy on passing and possession. The team answered their critics by going undefeated for the rest of the campaign and winning the championship in dramatic fashion over Central Coast.
Perhaps even more remarkably, Brisbane have never had a 0-0 draw in those 35 matches (not counting the Grand Final which was 0-0 after 90 minutes but ended 2-2 after extra time). Of those matches, they have won 22 and drawn 13, scoring at least one goal in every game, with a total of 80 goals for and 32 against.
Goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos has played in every game in that amazing run, keeping a clean sheet on 11 occasions, while only twice he has conceded more than two goals. He has been on the field for all except 10 minutes after he was substituted late in a game against Gold Coast United in February with the Roar leading 3-0. It total he has spent close to 53 hours on the pitch in that time.
The other two players to feature in all 35 matches are Erik Paartalu and Matt Smith, while the influential Thomas Broich has missed just one match. In total, Brisbane have used 27 players across those 35 matches.
There has been a quite amazing spread of goalscorers for Brisbane over that period, with 16 different players responsible for the 78 goals as well as two own goals. Two men who are no longer at the club, Kosta Barbarouses and Jean-Carlos Solorzano, head the goalscorers, with Mitch Nichols, Broich and Henrique having scored eight apiece.
Just one player has scored a hat-trick in that time, with Besart Barisha scoring four in the record-breaking 7-1 win over Adelaide earlier this season.
If you break down the scoring pattern by halves over that period, 35 goals have been scored in the first half and 43 in the second half, plus two in extra time (2011 Grand Final).
They have conceded just 11 goals in the second halves of games in the current run, with 19 goals scored in the first half and again two in extra time.
But they have not built their almighty run with a complete dominance over their opponents and every team in the Hyundai A-League apart from Melbourne Heart have taken a point off them in that streak.
Their chief rivalry has been with Central Coast Mariners, who they have met seven times, including that extraordinary Grand Final last year, with 25 goals scored between the two teams in their encounters.
What this all tells you is that Brisbane’s amazing record has not been built only on defence, but an attacking and entertaining brand of football, the standard of which the Hyundai A-League and arguably Australian football has never seen.
If they want to write themselves into world football history, then they may have some way to go. The current longest unbeaten streak by a top flight side is owned by a side from Cote D’Ivoire, ASEC Mimosas, who compiled a 108-match unbeaten run between 1989 and 1994.
To do that, Roar would have to get to the end of the 2013-14 season without another loss!
