Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar has paid tribute to his battle-weary but lion-hearted charges following the Reds’ 2-1 triumph over Perth Glory on Sunday.
Trailing 1-0 entering the 80-minute mark and staring defeat in the face, Adelaide summoned a remarkable second-wind to clinch two quick goals and the points.
It was a remarkable effort given United’s unorthodox preparation, which saw the Reds confront Perth barely 24 hours after arriving in Australia following their AFC clash with Bunyodkor in Uzbekistan, a scenario which would have seen a lesser outfit jaded, wilting or even physically exhausted in the dying stages.
“Today (Sunday) was a huge, huge effort by the boys,” Vidmar said.
“To come back after that flight (from Uzbekistan) and for them to go out and perform like they did, you couldn’t ask for anymore.”
“They’ve got absolutely huge hearts and I know the supporters love and appreciate what we do.”
“Certainly after today there should never be any sign or any word of them (players) not giving their all because they give their all every game.”
“It doesn’t matter what is happening during the course of a game – they keep pushing and pushing. It was a real tough battle for us out there.”
Winning aside, Vidmar was equally pleased with his players’ attitudes leading into the Glory encounter.
“They wanted to play and that’s the pleasing thing,” he said.
“On the way back I spoke to every individual on the plane and everyone wanted to play and that’s a real positive sign.”
Vidmar revealed he would have been content to share a point apiece with Perth given the lead-up, but his men refused to settle for a draw.
“You would have thought that the longer the game went on that we would be fatigued,” Vidmar said.
“But I thought we probably pushed more in that last 10-15 minutes than we did in the first half.”
“That shows that there’s a lot of heart and a lot of character out there and they’ll push right to the end.”
“At the end, they got exactly what they deserved.”
“After what we’ve been through, the last six weeks/couple of months, and certainly travelling all that way to Uzbekistan and back, I would have been pleased with a point tonight to be honest.”
“The boys, as they’ve done for quite a number of months now, just rolled up their sleeves and got the job done.”
