Adelaide beat Nagoya in ACL knockout
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Defender Jon McKain scored as Adelaide United downed Japan’s Nagoya Grampus 1-0 on Tuesday night to advance into the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League.
McKain’s lucky opening half goal ensured Adelaide moved into the final eight of the lucrative Asian competition – just weeks after failing to reach the finals of the domestic A-League.
McKain scored in the 41st minute of the knockout Hindmarsh Stadium fixture through good fortune more than good planning.
A Dario Vidosic curler bobbled in the box with Nagoya defenders scrambling for control, when the ball deflected towards McKain near the goal line.
The defender, who was deposed midseason as Adelaide captain in favour of Eugene Galekovic, appeared to luckily shin the ball, with little control, over the line to delight the 9,758-strong Adelaide crowd.
The breakthrough came after an earlier miracle save by Galekovic denied the highly-rated J-League outfit an opener.
The Adelaide skipper appeared to be beaten by a header from Josh Kennedy in the 33rd minute when the Socceroo striker found a slither of space a metre out.
His header was angled into goal, only for Galekovic to thrust out his left glove, which was behind his diving body when he deflected the ball from danger.
Galekovic, who kept four clean sheets as Adelaide topped their group in the rich Asian competition, produced another reflex top shelf save in the 63rd minute to maintain Adelaide’s lead.
Some 20 minutes later, Reds midfielder Fabian Barbiero blew a gilt-edged chance to double Adelaide’s advantage when he chipped over the bar with only the ‘keeper to beat.
And striker Sergio van Dijk belted a 20 metre blast into the cross bar in the 87th minute.
Adelaide, superbly served by left winger Iain Ramsay and playmaker Vidosic, booked a quarter-final berth against an as-yet undetermined opponent.
Adelaide United assistant coach Luciano Trani said making the quarter-finals was an “undescribable” (sic) achievement for the club.
“The team is coming together very well and now that we continue on, it’s about having that little bit more depth in our play,” Trani said.
Nagoya Grampus coach Dragan Stojkovic said his team failed to capitalise on their scoring chances.
“We were not good enough … we don’t know how to score the goal and we paid the price,” he said.
© AAP 2013
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May 30th 2012 @ 7:24am
Titus said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:24am | Report comment
Great result!
Does anyone know who their possible QF opponents are?
May 30th 2012 @ 7:45am
Roger said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:45am | Report comment
Amazing result!
AU once again shows their class in the ACL.
May 30th 2012 @ 7:49am
Kasey said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:49am | Report comment
Haterz will just write it off as negative or worse call it luck but IMO the tactics of AU were perfect last night and the players played a great game across the park. Super Hugene was Huge, McKain showed why we signed him and Boogers worked well as McKains CB partner -McKain has really stepped up since Kossie gave Eugene the captaincy – he could have sulked, but he has done the opposite. Caravella played the best I’ve seen him play. Ian Ramsay was very fast and caused havoc down the Left wing, gave Nagoya lots of trouble. We were great when we went forward. in the 2nd half we took off 3 midfielders and brought on 3 attacking players, didn’t try to close the game down and sit on 1-0. I’m absolutely buggered if I know how Barbiero missed that opportunity in front with only the Grampus keeper to beat:( Serge almost broke the cross bar with a thunderous shot. Luck goes both ways. they hit our upright having beaten Eugene once, 1-0 could so easily been 2-1 or 1-2 or even 2-2 and into extra time.
Winners are grinners:)
It was a very exciting game to watch for a Reds fan, definitely Squeaky bum time from about 70min onwards, Had positive reports of many neutrals also enjoying the game.
May 30th 2012 @ 8:27am
jbinnie said | May 30th 2012 @ 8:27am | Report comment
Kasey – Don’t worry about the “haters”,not only were the tactics last night perfect,the tactics from the start of Adelaide’s journey in this comp.have been perfect,after all, they have reached the quarter finals & a look at their stats for their 7 matches so far show a shrewd approach to the comp. by JK. They have played 7,won 5,drawn 1, & lost 1, the goals for & against telling the whole story, they having scored 8 goals & conceded 2 in 7 games.Defensive approach to the games? So what?. All’s fair in love &war so JK simply threw down the gauntlet & said,”Here we are,beat us”.
As a side issue, have you noted that 4 of their 8 goals were scored by “back four” players,that says something about their “set piece” organisation. Hope they keep up the good work for, as you hinted, they were always potentially a better team than their table position indicated & this run will do their confidence no harm at all. jb
May 30th 2012 @ 9:23am
Kasey said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
its alright, winners are grinners, the rest can please themselves:)
What I did notice is that the team with the worst defensive record in the HAL season has turned that aspect around sharply. Since being stripped of the captaincy, Jon McKain has come on in leaps and bounds and the CB pairing of McKain and Boogard actually looks solid:) Really happy for McKain. He could have sulked as I said, but he has shown his true character. He’ll be like a new player signing for us this season.
May 30th 2012 @ 10:24am
Midfielder said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:24am | Report comment
Kasey
Was on the edge of my seat last night watching the stream… tho JK played a very smart game and like AP & GA before him is starting to come of age as a coach….
What a save off Kennedy even Nagoya fans clapped ….
You guys played so well at times and under pressure was proud that an A-League side could play that well…
May 30th 2012 @ 3:02pm
Griffo said | May 30th 2012 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
Kasey, great game from what I saw – at no point did Adelaide sit back and just stabbed the ball out. Talk of Hernadez goal that never was, Sergio’s shot off the crossbar was an injustice to have not gone in.
The posts had a great night – sign up the post that saved Adelaide in the 93rd.
May 30th 2012 @ 7:50am
Bondy said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:50am | Report comment
Very tense game last night Galekovic’s save in the first half was a magic reflex moment , van Dijk’s strike in the second half went that quick I thought it hit the side boarding not the crossbar.
The Reds were lucky to escape a late scare with a penalty about 26 yards out only to skim the right upright and bobble away in additional time, overall on points I would give it to Adelaide 2-1 over Nagoya .
May 30th 2012 @ 8:20am
Kasey said | May 30th 2012 @ 8:20am | Report comment
Penalty? do you mean the free kick that Eugene left (thinking it was going wide) only for the ball to to hit the upright? Nagoya also rode their luck. Barbiero’s criminal miss right in front and SvD hitting the cross bar with the NGE keeper well beaten.
May 30th 2012 @ 8:55am
Ben of Phnom Penh said | May 30th 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
Barb’s did miss a sitter. A great night from Eugene though; superb.
May 30th 2012 @ 9:08am
Rob Gremio said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:08am | Report comment
Agree. Wonderful result for Adelaide.
Did anyone else think Nagoya should have had a penalty for a foul on Tulio Tanaka late in the second half? It looked like Djite gave him a good nudge in the back when he was lining up what was pretty much a tap-in header at the far post.
Anyway, Adelaide showed how important good defensive organisation is in Asia. If only the Roar had managed to plug the gaps at the back…
May 30th 2012 @ 9:48am
Andyroo said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:48am | Report comment
I remember that and it easily could have been given.
Djite got fouled about a 1000 times before the ref finally gave the defender a yellow card so I wouldn’t say it ruined the result.
Great entertainment.
May 30th 2012 @ 11:30am
Kasey said | May 30th 2012 @ 11:30am | Report comment
The number 22 for NGE was all over Djite all night, was that Tulio? Playing the lone striker is generally a thankless task, but IIRC the crowd gave Broooce a Standing ovation when he was subbed off late in the game. He held the ball up very well and brought a lot of players into attacks while he had his back to the goal. WD Brucie!
May 30th 2012 @ 7:08pm
Rob Gremio said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:08pm | Report comment
Agree it didn’t ruin the result – never said it did – but I have not seen anyone mention it anywhere.
The guy you are talking about was the Brazilian defender, not Tulio.
Djite did a great job throughout the match, all I’m saying is he was lucky his moment of madness went unnoticed by the ref.
May 31st 2012 @ 9:52am
Andyroo said | May 31st 2012 @ 9:52am | Report comment
Sorry, wasn’t trying to put words in your mouth.
Was just moving on to the next line of thought because we both agreed it could have been given so the natural thing to talk about was whether Nagoya were hard done by.
May 30th 2012 @ 9:02am
Bondy said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:02am | Report comment
Kasey,
Where is the next game is it at Hindmarsh or away .
May 30th 2012 @ 9:26am
Kasey said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Bondy Next phase: the Quarter Finals are H+A away Legs, so we’ll get one at Hindmarsh. The draw is on June 14th I believe. With the games to be played right before the HAL season kicks off(Sept19 and Oct2/3) season kickoff is about Oct 5-7.
May 30th 2012 @ 8:29am
jamesb said | May 30th 2012 @ 8:29am | Report comment
Well done Adelaide, another QF appearance in the ACL.
Why is it that Adelaide is the only A-League club that has consistent success in the ACL, while other, more fancied clubs like Victory, Roar and Sydney have struggled.
If other A-league clubs want to succeed, they need to look closely at why Adelaide continues to be successful.
Down to the last 8, anything can happen!
May 30th 2012 @ 8:58am
Bondy said | May 30th 2012 @ 8:58am | Report comment
jamesb,
I think it’s the reputation Adelaide have gained throughout asia, I think they got to the final in their first year ,they had a poor season domestically though .
May 30th 2012 @ 9:09am
Fussball ist unser leben said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Can’t believe all the love for AUFC – from MVFC fans – last night on Twitter as the game reached its climax. There I was screaming at the TV – riding every tackle, cheering every clearance, screaming for Daniel to be given a YC & shaking my head in disbelief when Barbiero missed the unmissable.
Fantastic theatre – it’s obvious to me that the ACL needs to be a knock-out competition right from Round 1 but will the greedy AFC open their eyes to reality?
Anyway, congrats to AUFC … take it all the way. Imagine Chelsea v AUFC at the FIFA World Cup Cup – 2 teams parking the bus waiting for the conductor!
Come on Eddie McGuire & Rebecca Wilson … how about you give us your ignorant views of how HAL teams are competing in Asia?
May 30th 2012 @ 9:45am
Punter said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:45am | Report comment
Well done Adelaide. how is the best teams in the A-league cannot perform in the ACL while Adelaide who came last performs so well.
May 30th 2012 @ 10:45am
nordster said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Cup specialists, we need a domestic cup just to give AU another route to Asia in those lean league years
But really it does demonstrate to local fans here the tactical differences between league and cup football. Something we are not so much exposed to.
May 30th 2012 @ 9:58am
Andyroo said | May 30th 2012 @ 9:58am | Report comment
Great result for Adelaide.
Tulio Tanaka really impressed me and I enjoyed watching him play.
So tough yet great on the ball.
Along with Honda, Kagawa and Endo the Japanese team is looking pretty exciting.
May 30th 2012 @ 10:05am
Qantas supports Australian Football said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Only pleased for Kossie the club treated him disgracefully in the past (sacking him for his post GF comment) now he is their hero..
May 30th 2012 @ 10:09am
Futbanous said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Whilst lauding AU’s results in the ACL,can’t help as a Roar fan being somewhat miffed at Ange & his tactics. Or more to the point his lack of flexibility in changing the way the Roar played to suit the opposition,something obviously Kossie has done very well.
I wouldn’t have minded his philosophy of the more we play this style the better we get at it if he stayed, but he left.
So we’ll never know the truth,although I was dubious about his claim with the quality of players at his disposal anyway.
It raises the question then of balance between style & results. What do we as fans want.
Bottom line is would I as a fan with a team in the ACL ,prefer Kossies approach or Ange’s.
No brainer Kossie beats Ange hands down. Why because as a fan I want my team to win above all else.
The possession game has IMO several levels so if Barca plays Bilbao,Barca wins. Why simply because they play a similar game & Barca has players with higher technique
The Roar then were exposed when we played the Asian teams,particularly FC Tokyo.
So we can laud Ange on one hand for setting a standard.We did win 2 titles after all, but that was the A-League,the ACL is a step up, a different kettle of fish,
IMO he knew that to step up & play the same style he needed better quality players ,therefore as a coach he should have adjusted his style & tactics like Kossie.
I can’t believe he didn’t realise that.
Do others with a more objective perspective feel that Kossies way is the correct path ,or am I being a little tough on Ange?
May 30th 2012 @ 10:25am
Midfielder said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:25am | Report comment
Fut
Agree
May 30th 2012 @ 10:33am
Qantas supports Australian Football said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
You are being tough on Ange.. Ange said he wanted to see where Australian Football stands in style and approach in regard with Asia … He found that out.. It falls well short of the J-League.. I give him credit for it.. Not taking away from what Kossie did, but we would not have known how to approach the ACL in all future campaigns if Ange did not go out on a limb.. The ACL is more of a tactical battle then the HAL, because of the different constraints and hurdles you are faced with.. ACL demands well considered tactics for results—whereas the HAL is all about football entertainment.. Now we definitely know what we must do for future ACL campaigns and what we must continually do for the best interests in the HAL..
May 30th 2012 @ 10:48am
nordster said | May 30th 2012 @ 10:48am | Report comment
Good post, I’d hate to see all A-L clubs approach Asia the same way. Ange’s attempt was a good marker of where we are …not that high tbf but a worthwhile exercise none the less.
May 30th 2012 @ 11:16am
Futbanous said | May 30th 2012 @ 11:16am | Report comment
QsAF
I see your point,just wish it was another club he practiced on.
May 30th 2012 @ 11:32am
Windsor said | May 30th 2012 @ 11:32am | Report comment
J-League lalala fact is McKain was by himself infront of goal and shinned the winner.
Was that us breaking their defense down or a mistake. A-League team didn’t concede. We have 5 clean sheets from 7 games. Keep your caviar, AUFC is in the last 8. Australia is in the last 8. 19 ACL games at Hindmarsh 12 wins. Boom!
May 30th 2012 @ 2:40pm
Punter said | May 30th 2012 @ 2:40pm | Report comment
Good post QSAF.
May 30th 2012 @ 3:21pm
Griffo said | May 30th 2012 @ 3:21pm | Report comment
A hard question: I think we were all hoping the Roar would make it through the group, although to be fair Tokyo were a few rungs higher – their passing and movement even in the wet was just class.
Not that it is any consolation but apparently the Japanese football fans were praising the Roar for playing football the ‘right’ way – better that than condemnation for loosing with hack ‘n’ slash and overly defensive tactics?
Adelaide are playing defensive counter attack well, but not too much hack ‘n’ slash at all. It is working for them. I think there is danger in changing what has worked for you, as Pim showed for Socceroos vs Germany in WC2010. The Roar for the most part were two years under a particular style of Ange’s, and between the current A-League season they were trying to be Premieres for and the ACL, mixing tactics at that stage could have been disastrous for both campaigns.
I think overall it was a learning curve for Ange as well as the team and club. The Roar are in it next year so will be interesting to see what they do. Ange is a couple seasons away from a second crack at least.
May 30th 2012 @ 7:16pm
Rob Gremio said | May 30th 2012 @ 7:16pm | Report comment
Bear in mind also that the roar dominated at least 3 of their 6 group games but couldn’t get that winning goal, mostly due to poor finishing. Roar should have won at least both the games against Beijing, and the game against the Korean side in Korea. Moot point now, of course, and all the shoulda coulda woulda in the world won’t give us those points.
All in all, while disappointed with the results, I was pleased with the performances of the Roar in Asia. A little more savvy when the ball was lost (something Adelaide has in spades) and I think Brisbane would have escaped from their group.
Oh well, next time.