Melbourne Victory keeper Michael Theoklitos has a word of warning for Adelaide United if the Reds believe that attempting to play for a 0-0 draw and then win the game on penalties is their best way of upsetting the Victory in Saturday night’s Hyundai A-League Grand Final at Telstra Dome.
Theoklitos says while he would prefer Victory to win the premiership decider in style – as they did two years ago when Adelaide was on the receiving end of a 6-0 thumping in the 2006/07 grand final, also at Telstra Dome – he will be equally unfazed if he is forced to win the game for Melbourne via a penalty shoot-out.
Melbourne goes into Saturday night’s game as the hottest favourites in grand final history during the A-League’s brief history with the Victory not only having beaten Adelaide in all five meetings this season but also having won their past seven matches at home, seven of their past eight overall while Melbourne has also scored at least one goal in each of its past 14 matches.
But after copping a 6-0 aggregate hammering off Melbourne in the major semi-final a fortnight ago, Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar is talking about parking ‘a double decker bus’ in front of the Melbourne goal on Saturday night in an attempt to force a stalemate.
However Theoklitos says he is more than prepared to step up for Melbourne in a penalty shoot-out should it be needed on Saturday night.
“I personally enjoy penalty shoot-outs,” the Melbourne keeper told Sportal on Friday.
“I have got a decent record in penalty shoot-outs – in the (Victorian) Premier League we won a penalty shoot-out (with his former club Bulleen) and I saved three penalties in that one and I quite fancy myself as a shot stopper in penalty shoot-outs.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t go that way but if it does then I will enjoy it.”
Theoklitos says the Victory has been ‘practising penalties just in case it goes that way’ this week but said keepers have nothing to lose in penalty shoot-outs.
“Players are expected to score but if you (the keeper) save it, you are a hero,” he said.
While Theoklitos is hoping Melbourne will wrap Saturday night’s game up well before the need for a penalty shoot-out, he is expecting a much tougher grand final than when Melbourne crushed the Reds two years ago.
“I reckon it will be a tight game,” he said of Saturday night’s premiership decider.
“Obviously our last result against Adelaide was a 4-0 win (in the second leg of the major semi-final) but I reckon this will be a much tighter game and 1-0 might be the difference tomorrow night.”
