Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick has no doubt Adelaide United can become the first Australian club to win the prestigious Asian Champions League and what’s more he is prepared to put aside usual Hyundai A-League rivalries to help the Reds achieve their goal.
Adelaide became the first Australian club ever to make the final of Asia’s biggest club competition on Wednesday night after beating Uzbekistan club Bunyodkor 3-1 on aggregate despite losing the second leg of the semi-final 1-0 away.
But now Adelaide will take on Japanese powerhouse Gamba Osaka over two legs in the final in November – the same Gamba Osaka that eliminated Melbourne from this year’s competition in the group stages.
Merrick, who saw his team lose 4-3 at home to Gamba back in April despite being without star strikers Archie Thompson and Carlos Hernandez, has no doubt Aurelio Vidmar’s team is capable of beating the powerful Japanese team, which will go into the match as hot favourites.
“I think what Adelaide has done so far has been fantastic for Aurelio Vidmar and his team and it’s great for the A-League,” Merrick said on Thursday.
“But now they are up against Gamba Osaka and we thoroughly enjoyed our combat against Gamba Osaka and if we’d had a full squad with Archie and Carlos in I think we would have had a chance of beating them.”
“So I think Adelaide with their full squad has a good chance of winning the ACL and that is great.”
Merrick said he would be happy to pass on his knowledge of Gamba Osaka to Adelaide if asked to by Vidmar.
“The Gamba team is slightly different (now compared to when Melbourne played them) but we are always willing to help because Adelaide helped us in our first season in the ACL this year,” he said.
“So if Aurelio wants any help … but the way he is go’ think he needs any help at this stage.”
Merrick said a win by Adelaide in the Asian Champions League final would be one of the biggest boosts ever for Australian football.
“It would make a fairly big statement in Asian Football that the A-League has come of age,” he said of the prospect of Adelaide becoming the champion club of Asia.
