Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar refused to give up on Asian Champions League glory despite seeing his side go down 3-0 to Gamba Osaka in the first-leg on Wednesday.
First-half goals from Lucas and Yasuhito Endo put Gamba firmly in control at Expo ’70 Commemorative Stadium before a Michihiro Yasuda volley midway through the second-half set the seal on an impressive performance from the hosts.
Adelaide now faces an extremely tough task in the return leg at Hindmarsh Stadium next week if it is to become the first Australian side to win the competition.
“It’s a 3-0 deficit and it will be difficult but stranger things have happened,” he said.
“It’s a very big mountain to climb – Mount Fuji probably – but we’ll go out there and do everything we can. That’s all we can really ask for.”
The margin of victory was a fair reflection of a game dominated by Gambia and Vidmar conceded Adelaide was second best to the J.League side for the majority of the encounter.
“They were really quick and the interchange and passing between their players was extremely good and as for us, we were a bit little timid in that first half,” he added.
“Obviously they created holes in our defence with their passes and that proved very costly for us.”
Delighted Gamba coach Akira Nishino felt the result vindicated his tactical decision to employ Lucas in a lone role up front, although he also underlined the crucial role Endo played in the victory.
“Many people were concerned that we only played with only one striker but we played very well with the 4-2-3-1 strategy,” he said.
“Adelaide defend very well and in numbers but we were effective against them with our good movement and quick passing which caused a lot of confusion for their defence.”
“Endo was our key man with that strategy and he played very well, as did Hideo Hashimoto.”
