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Project Gombau has helped Adelaide to its first piece of silverware in eight years with a 1-0 win over Perth Glory in the FFA Cup Final – and purists will be hoping the success doesn’t stop there.
It’s curious to think that there were cries for the Spaniard’s head only a matter of months ago – his philosophy deemed unpractical, his methods seemingly futile.
Though football is a “reap what you sow” sort of game. The fruits might not be there right away to see, but plant the right seeds and give them time to grow, and you’ll get what you want in the end.
A hearty vision and a willing discipline will always produce something of worth – and in Adelaide’s case, last night it produced a trophy.
The tie itself was far from a mantelpiece spectacle, but it was one that the Reds controlled from the sun-soaked first-half right through to last call.
Sergio Cirio was ultimately the difference in the end, the number 9 receiving a scrumptious ball from Marcelo Carrusca before slotting past Danny Vukovic in the 67th minute.
It was the the striker’s sixth goal in the Cup, topping off an energetic performance that saw him awarded the fabulously named inaugural Mark Viduka Medal for man-of-the-match.
Granted, the Glory had found themselves reduced to 10 men some nine minutes before Cirio’s breakthrough – Asian Cup hopeful Josh Risdon receiving his marching orders with a schoolboy second yellow.
But it nonetheless seemed inevitable that Adelaide would draw first blood in front of a surging sold-out crowd of 16,000 at Coopers Stadium.
Perth looked a shadow of the side that sits three points clear at the top of the A-League; their normally steely spine and clinical final-third play reduced to nothingness by the Reds’ dominance with the ball.
Chances were limited in a sometimes sloppy opening hour, and when one did present itself, the finish left much to be desired – Awer Mabil in particular guilty on more than one occasion of spurning genuine promise in front of goal.
Yet Perth struggled to shake out of a stutter, showing scintillas of life in only punctuated intervals.
The A-League’s front-runners have suffered only one defeat so far this year and it’s perhaps telling that it was at the hands of Adelaide back in October.
The only difference between that Round 3 clash and last night’s tie was that this was an Adelaide side now fully comfortable with their sense of self.
There are gaps and deficiencies still, but Josep Gombau’s men are beginning to combine style with substance in a way that will make them very hard to stop.
It’s worth noting that Adelaide swept aside five A-League clubs on their way to lifting the Cup. Of course, the league is a different kettle of fish – last week’s 1-0 home defeat to Brisbane is testament to that – but the Reds’ FFA Cup journey has the hallmarks of the type of intrinsic mentality that wins Championships.
And make no mistake – this trophy, this success, is Gombau’s to savour.
In the face of the fickle Australian footballing fraternity, the Catalonian has been nothing but persistent from the day he arrived in South Australia last year.
He has always maintained that his influence would take time to be realised and so it’s remarkable what he’s managed to achieve in only his second year in charge.
Dressed last night in his casual-Friday best, this is a man who will do what he feels best, no matter the heresay.
Naturally, there’s still plenty of work to be done, but you’d imagine Gombau will be waking up today feeling somewhat vindicated – knowing full well that his philosophy is indeed practical, his methods certainly profitable.
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