Adelaide United captain Eugene Galekovic is determined to seize the moment against the Pohang Steelers.
Adelaide United expect nothing less than victory when they clash with South Korean giants Pohang Steelers in the AFC Champions League fixture at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The two sides will meet for the second time in two weeks following Pohang’s industrious 1-0 victory at home over the Reds on April 3.
It was the first time in five meetings that the 2009 AFC Champions League winners had defeated Adelaide.
The win came courtesy of an uncharacteristic blunder from captain Eugene Galekovic.
The Reds gloveman dropped a seemingly tame free-kick into the path of Pohang attacking full-back Kim Dae-Ho who made no mistake from close range on a tight angle.
Pohang held on for a gutsy victory as they joined Adelaide atop Group E equal on six points and goal difference.
Galekovic assured there would be no lingering ghosts of his uncanny error as the Reds aim to go clear at the top with conditions expected to swelter in Adelaide close to 30 degrees.
“It’s one of those things you need to get out of the system straight away and forget about. It’s time to make amends. Wednesday night in a massive home game,” Galekovic said.
“A point would keep both teams alive, but for us we want to win … we are after six points from our next two games to qualify.
“They are coming from temperatures of 10 to 15 degrees, so we think they may sit back a little bit otherwise they might tire early.
“If they do press we know they will run out of steam and in these conditions it will be tough on them.
“They are very good team and we respect them, but we are playing on our turf and hope things will be to our advantage.”
Assistant coach Luciano Trani will once again take the reigns for Adelaide while coach John Kosmina awaits confirmation of his mandatory FIFA A coaching licence – which he studied for in Canberra two weeks ago – needed to manage the Reds in Asia.
Trani shared his captain’s belief and admitted he would not be happy with a draw at home.
“We want to go for the win. We are playing at home and need to take full advantage of this opportunity,” Trani said.
“It’s important that if we get three points now we can go to nine and with two games left set up the possibility to look for a draw in the remaining two games to get 10 points, which in a number of competitions, has shown to be sufficient.”
Adelaide received a blow on Sunday with marquee star Dario Vidosic ruled out after failing to recover from a hamstring injury sustained in the 1-0 loss to Pohang.
Talented attacker Evan Kostopoulos, who signed a one year contract with the club late last week, will start in place of the former FC Nuremberg midfielder.
Trani was confident 21-year-old Kostopoulos could shoulder the burden as Adelaide’s creative spark.
“Evan will provide that attacking and penetrable spark especially out wide which can allow for Rambo (Iain Ramsay) to get even a little higher up,” Trani said.
“That will give us a little bit of width and more opportunities to get in behind Pohang.
“It’s important though we remain calm but also in control of the opportunities we make going forward.
“I think the key for us is to make sure we get our ball movement and player movement working really well.”
