Scottish giants Celtic handed the Brisbane Roar a footballing lesson in clinical finishing with a thumping 3-0 defeat at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
In front of a joyous crowd of 31,340, the Roar had a stack of gilt-edged scoring chances, including two in the first 10 minutes, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Glaswegians ruthlessly showed the A-Leaguers how it was done with New Zealand international Chris Killen breaking the pre-season friendly open in the first half with two quality goals in three minutes.
Brisbane’s premier football arena was coloured in Celtic’s green and white and the Scottish fans, who came from far and wide, whooped up an uplifting 11-minute period either side of halftime which reaped all three goals.
Second to Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premier League last season, the Bhoys’ victory puts them on the right track as they gear up for revenge and an imminent Champions League qualifying period.
Adding extra satisfaction to the successful start of their 2009-10 campaign was a victory over an orange-clad Roar outfit that contained three former Rangers stars in Craig Moore, Charlie Miller and Bob Malcolm.
Roar coach Frank Farina, otherwise pleased with his side’s competitive performance, bemoaned the “bad choices” and “silly mistakes” which led to the turnovers for the goals.
“For us a lot of positives came out of the match,” he said. “I’m disappointed we lost the game but I thought we were our own worst enemies in the first half.
“We started very well and probably could have been 2-0 up.
“The last 25 (minutes), the turnover in possession was just terrible and that’s what killed us.
“We were giving a team like Celtic possession of the ball on half way and good teams punish you and that’s what they did.
“It was a good lesson.”
It was wayward young gun Robbie Kruse, a first-half standout, who most pressured the defence of the rusty visitors but his two dangerous shots were expertly blocked by under-pressure Polish keeper Artur Boruc.
“Artur’s a great keeper and he made a couple of great saves today,” man-of-the-match Killen said.
“If he didn’t we would have been one or two down and it would have been a totally different game.”
Killen started the pro-Celtic crowd’s celebrations with a crisp header from a perfect Lee Naylor cross in the 39th minute.
The All Whites striker, a late inclusion in the Celtic squad, found the back of the net again moments later by finishing a beautiful one-two with Shaun Maloney.
But it was Japanese international Koki Mizuno who produced the goal of the match with a diving header from replacement Georgios Samaras’s sharp, curling cross.
Socceroos striker Scott McDonald, captaining Celtic, couldn’t poach a goal on Australian soil but did have his chances before being replaced to raucous applause in the 61st minute.
McDonald had a free shot just inside the box after the break but rifled it at keeper Liam Reddy. Two more attempts came in the next eight minutes but again the No.7 hit them straight at Reddy’s head.
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
- Explore:
- A-League, Brisbane Roar, Celtic, football
July 13th 2009 @ 11:30am
BigAl said | July 13th 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Isn’t ‘You’ll never walk alone’ Liverpool’s song ?
July 13th 2009 @ 12:51pm
Finno said | July 13th 2009 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Im amazed that a team like Sydney didnt play any big names I would have thought that getting a big team over from the UK was a opportunity. Even Celtic would probably play a match down the road in Sydeny and the supporters follow them. It could be a real tourist thing as well 3 weeks 3 games Roar, Sydney, Victory.
The 31,000 odd crowd was good I never seen and Australian crowd let alone a Roar crowd support thier team like that. They songs and the chants are great im glad now I sat at the Celtic end.
July 13th 2009 @ 12:51pm
Slippery Jim said | July 13th 2009 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
Unbelievably, Aloisi has scored a brace against the Jets! A good sign for the season to come…
July 13th 2009 @ 1:20pm
Cpaaa said | July 13th 2009 @ 1:20pm | Report comment
BigAl, i think your right, but then again depends who you ask.
heres a link that helps with how it became..
http://www.thebesteleven.com/2009/01/youll-never-walk-alone.html
July 13th 2009 @ 3:16pm
BigAl said | July 13th 2009 @ 3:16pm | Report comment
Thanks Cpaaa . . . and all these years I’ve been thinking it was a Gerry & The Pacemakers original !
July 13th 2009 @ 9:47pm
BrisbaneBhoy said | July 13th 2009 @ 9:47pm | Report comment
“Koala Bear said – 31,340 at Suncorp proves that the Brisbane Roar FC could be the best supported HAL team in the comp… The fans are there; they only need to be convinced that the ROAR are a team worthy of their support in every home game at Suncorp…”
KB, were you even at the game?? The reason I ask is because 2/3′s of the crowd were Celtic fans. About 10k-12k were Brisbane fans. In saying that, I do agree with you that there is potential in Brisbane. The club (or should I say franchise) needs to start bridging the gap that they have created with the footballing community in Brisbane. Not until that happens, Brisbane won’t reach her full potential. Also a little advertisement wouldn’t hurt either.
July 14th 2009 @ 10:40am
Koala Bear said | July 14th 2009 @ 10:40am | Report comment
BrisbaneBhoy,
I was not at the game (other commitments), but yes, I had no doubt that 2/3s of the crowd were supporting Celtic and not the Roar… However, I would be surprised that the 2/3s of the Celtic supporters were travelling with the Celtic team for trail matches… I would suggest to you, nearly all would be Queensland residents… That was my point..!
That these supporters could be transformed to support the Brisbane Roar or GCU FC… I am suggesting that these poor souls who have turned out in numbers are genuine football attics looking for a club to identify with in Australia; if given a good reason to do so… How many of these Scots could fly back to Glasgow on a regular basis to support Celtic…? Nay zilch I would imagine…
Our good friend “Towser” is a UK Sheffield boy and supporter of the Owls or Blades (both I think) but has openly stated he has adopted the Brisbane ROAR as his Australian club; as he is also a Queenslander… Many who have come to Australia from Europe, love football, but believe the Australian Club scene is not good enough, or for what ever reason don’t come to HAL matches…
I hope we can change this as demonstrated that the football numbers are out there… However, they have to be won over, with good Australian, attractive, full time, professional football… That is the challenge… I believe we are winning them over, or will win them over eventually with preseason tours such as this to show that the football the gap is not that big…
~~~~~~~
KB
July 14th 2009 @ 12:54pm
Andrew said | July 14th 2009 @ 12:54pm | Report comment
I think Queensland roar should have looked to organise some joint training sessions. Perhaps not appropriate since they will play against each other but perhaps int he future whatever overseas club is playing the Gold Coast, they could have a few sessions with the Roar.
Nearly every aussie that goes overseas talks about how intense training is. I think largely due to the competition fo slots and it would be great for the young players to get a taste of what is required to be a top pro.
There was an article in the paper how Moore and Miller were telling the roar boys they will get thrashed unless they train harder… this would open the kids eyes a bit.
July 14th 2009 @ 1:10pm
Finno said | July 14th 2009 @ 1:10pm | Report comment
I am constantly amazed at the amount of people who follow football in Brisbane but dont follow the Roar. Have a look at the football result in the paper in Brisbane and there must be thousands of game played every weekend in brisbane at all levels. At least 50,000 + people must play each weekend. It by far the most played code in Brisbane. Most of those travelling to watch Celtic play were from interstate not from Scotland, back packer on hoildays. I will watch with interest as the GCU game arrives to see the numbers i think 20,000 would be realistic.
I have a couple of mates from work who i convinced to come along, they never wanted to watch the Roar because they watch Arsenal play and why watch a lower level off football. After they came along, they agreed that the level isnt high but they enjoyed the game and will probably watch another game. If they get the number to come along once the return of those people coming back should be alot better. I hope that the preseaon friendlies continue they are a great PR exercise get the pages of the paper to give fair warning about the upcoming season. I would like to see the average numbers this year, I would hope a small growth could be possible.
I think that the Roar need to have a free ticket to the game day, register your name and get a free ticket. Once you are registered you get a reminder to upcoming games on the mailing list.
July 14th 2009 @ 1:23pm
Towser said | July 14th 2009 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
KB
Everything you stated was correct expect for one momumental point, supporting the Blades. Nothing worse than choking on your cornflakes.
Andrew
This business about the intensity of overseas training continues to puzzle me. If it is related to competition for spots why cant we replicate it here ? It seems from all reports about SFC’s training this year that it has been intense due to their Czech coach. He monitors every move & players are required to reach a certain standard across the board of football training. Are we saying that Aussie coaches like Frank Farina are too laid back to drive equally laid back Aussie players & it needs a “Non Aussie” with a ruthless approach to do this. Do Aussie players in Australia then need a “Bunger up the bum” to make them train harder. In Europe I agree that given the importance of football in most countries that players will drive themselves not only against their own countrymen but the influx of “hungry” foreigners many from third world countries.
When I read that article about Moore & Miller I thought why do they have to say that?. To me playing against a big club like Celtic is motivation in itself. If not what is Frankie doing then in the way of motivation.