Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is confident his Reds will continue on their winning ways in the AFC Champions League despite his absence for Tuesday’s night clash with Pohang Steelers.
Adelaide United coach John Kosmina is confident his Reds will continue on their winning ways in the AFC Champions League despite his absence for Tuesday’s night clash with Pohang Steelers.
Kosmina doesn’t hold the required qualifications to coach in the ACL but was granted permission to sit alongside acting coach and usual assistant Luciano Trani in the opening two games of the tournament.
However, Tuesday’s match with Pohang will mark the first time Kosmina won’t be present on the sidelines.
The former Sydney FC coach will instead be in Canberra studying for the compulsory FIFA A-League coaching licence in order to officially manage the Reds in Asia.
Kosmina who once bragged he could “coach from a coffee shop” following his ban for criticising referee Matthew Breeze in 2007, is adamant his players will remain responsible and disciplined, and come away with a positive result without his guidance.
“The players have to take responsibility on the park on the day and they all know what their jobs are,” Kosmina said.
“It comes down to how the guys approach the game mentally.”
“We have to go into the game thinking we are going to get a result. We can’t sit back and soak it up and hope we are going to get something out of it.”
“There has been enough success and good things out of our last two games, especially against Gamba Osaka, to suggest we are a good football side.”
“It still must remain about structure and maintaining discipline though. We can’t throw caution to the wind – we have to keep our shape.”
In four meetings between the two sides Adelaide has reigned supreme, winning on three occasions and drawing once.
Pohang is also struggling in their domestic league sitting mid-table with just one victory in four games and were beaten 2-0 by Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor in their ACL group fixture last week.
Kosmina refused to draw any attention on his opponent’s current shortcomings, preferring to focus on his own side snatching at least a valuable point.
“We must go into the game switched on, focus on what we know we can do well and do that, and then adapt to whatever they try and throw at us,” Kosmina said.
“Away from home we would be happy with a draw, but if we can get a win it’s better.”
“If we can maintain that three-point gap we have now by Wednesday morning then that’s fantastic.”
“But it’s a game at a time and you never know how the other results will turn out.”
Reds winger Iain Ramsay reiterated Kosmina’s confidence that the players would be more than capable without their head coach, but admitted it would be Adelaide’s toughest fixture yet.
“It will be a bit different travelling without Kossie but he’ll have a big input in the game with communication between him and Luciano, so we’ll be fine without him,” Ramsay said.
“It will be a tough game and a draw would be a great result against Pohang, but we are coming off a big win against Gamba and buzzing to go over there (South Korea) and try to get three points.”
Marquee star Dario Vidosic is under an injury cloud following tightness in his hamstring but the Reds will welcome back Fabian Barbiero and new signing Iain Fyfe while Evan Kostopoulos retains his place in the squad following his first start this season against Melbourne Heart last Friday night.
