It was a battle of football brands at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday night in the clash between Adelaide United and reigning Asian Champions Pohang Steelers with the Reds running out 1-0 winners in a match where two opposing styles collided.
The Koreans are coached by Brazilian Waldermar Lemos and the crisp passing and swift movement from the Steelers was evident, although they were stifled and defeated by a solid Adelaide unit who preferred grit and enterprise through determination and hard work.
While Lemos concedes the Reds have some quality players, he was disappointed with the way his opponents played. The fouls stacked up as the match tally reached 38.
Lemos believed United waited for Pohang to make mistakes and was frustrated with the stop-start way the game unfolded.
His approach and philosophy, he believed, was clear when the Steelers were in possession and control.
“I wanted to play offensively when we went a goal down but they did not let us … there were a lot of fouls,” Lemos said through a translator.
“I know Australia’s style … But I don’t like this (waiting for Pohang to make mistakes). Adelaide have good players, this you can see.”
On the other hand United’s interim coach Joe Mullen was delighted with his side’s performance, praising the defence and movement in the front third.
“I thought tonight the defence was very sound. A lot of work has been done with the defence … Our attacking movement was very good when we could go forward. Viddie’s (coach Aurelio Vidmar) been working the attacking movement and the offensive shape and I thought that worked pretty well tonight,” he said.
Mullen was also quick to honour Adelaide’s spirit and belief, something captain Travis Dodd earmarked before the game as a potential match winner and crucial to United’s fairytale run to the final in 2008.
“Certainly the last couple of games in the A-League gave them that belief and they took that into the game tonight,” Mullen said.
The Reds attacking contingent of new signings, Marcos Flores and Sergio van Dijk were excellent for United, linking well and showing plenty of promise.
“Flores has certainly got that flair that was probably missing in the A-League … Van Dijk you can see he is quality. He puts himself in positions that are dangerous.”
Mullen believed the spirit shown by Matthew Leckie mirrors that of the team currently, complimenting ‘the sheer endeavour, commitment and tenacity’ of the young striker.
Leckie’s goal highlighted his raw talent and phenomenal pace, the speedster carried the ball 60m before weaving his way past three defenders, eventually bundling the ball over the line.
