Adelaide United coach John Kosmina labelled Eugene Galekovic a ‘world-class goalkeeper’ after his performance against Nagoya Grampus.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina labelled Eugene Galekovic a ‘world-class goalkeeper’ after his performance against Nagoya Grampus.
Galekovic, 30, worked wonders to keep out J League visitors Nagoya in Adelaide’s AFC Champions League round-of-16 match at Hindmarsh Stadium on Tuesday.
Jon McKain’s goal, together with two remarkable saves from Galekovic, earned Adelaide a 1-0 win in the tie, and sent the A-League’s AFC Champions League specialists through to the quarter-finals.
Speaking the day after the match, coach Kosmina acknowledged a large part of Adelaide’s progress in the tournament is down to their inspirational shot-stopper.
“What can you say about Eugene’s performance last night?” Kosmina said.
“One of the saves he made, that might happen once every two or three years if you’re lucky, but he’s made two in one game.”
“You look at the Pohang game (at Hindmarsh on April 18) and he made a similar save in that one as well.
“You look at where we are now, it is a team game but goalkeepers, the ones that make the special saves that win you games, that is when you say you’ve really got a world class ‘keeper on your books and we have.”
“When you look at the quality that he’s produced over the years, he’s one of the best in the country, if not the best.”
Adelaide will find out their next opponents when the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals is made in Kuala Lumpur on May 14.
