Kosta Barbarouses won’t be in Mitch Austin’s starting XI when the Melbourne Victory E-League player takes centre stage for the first ever game in the competition’s history.
The 27-year-old Victory winger will face Brisbane Roar’s James ‘iCripsy’ Williams from 8pm AEDT, with both players having to include players from their respective A-League teams in their FIFA Ultimate Team starting XI.
Williams and Austin’s clash is the first of five matches between the 10 Xbox players representing A-League clubs before each of their corresponding PlayStation 4 teammates face off in five more matches.
The club who scores the most goals over the two games will earn three competition points, and that will determine their place on the E-League ladder after Round 1.
Each competitor is free to include whichever international players they want in their starting line up, however, three have to come from their A-League club.
That means Austin needs to include three current Victory players – and New Zealander attacker Barbarouses won’t be one of them.
Austin v iCripsy: E-League kicks off with blockbuster
What 3 @gomvfc players should I use for my squad for the E-league opener on Thursday? 🎮⚽️@ALeague @FFA
— Mitch Austin (@mitchaustin10) February 12, 2018
Barbarouses
— Kosta Barbarouses (@KostaBarb7) February 12, 2018
“I can’t play him [Barbarouses] upfront, he doesn’t have the strength in the game to be honest,” Austin joked to A-League.com.au.
“I might need to send him a gym program and maybe next year he will get a bit of a strength upgrade because he just seems to get pushed off the ball in the game.”
He added: “I might put him on the bench.”
Instead, Austin is contemplating fielding Besart Berisha, Jason Geria and Mitch Austin.
“I’ve been using myself, Berisha and Jason. I think that’s who I’m leaning,” he said.
“I’ve just been practicing with them recently to see who the best is.”
He added: “With people watching from overseas on Twitch and Foxsports, hopefully that gets them involved and get them interested in the A-League players.”
Watch Austin v iCripsy from 8pm AEDT on Fox Sports Digital and the E-League Twitch channel. Visit the E-League Hub for more news and videos.
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@mitchaustin10's social media following: 14,000
His #ELeague first opponent @CripsyAU: 15,000https://t.co/8qnVk7zhwp pic.twitter.com/qAO2xESBJE
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) February 13, 2018
