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Brisbane Roar’s 2-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua was as good as any since Australia joined the AFC – and it has catapulted the club back into the Asian spotlight.
Not since Western Sydney’s triumphant 2014 title-run has an Australian side so comprehensively outclassed an Asian opponent, with the Roar turning in one of the most impressive first-half performances ever seen by an A-League club.
Forget Carlos Tevez – who barely touched the ball – the real story of the night was the outstanding performance of the Roar, who simply played their high-profile opponents off the park.
When Brandon Borrello smashed home a sumptuous volley with less than two minutes on the clock, he signalled the visitors’ intentions to treat the tie with the utmost seriousness – and showcased some serious tekkers in the process.
Then when Tommy Oar slotted home a second five minutes before half-time, the Roar shattered the resolve of their shell-shocked Chinese hosts.
They could have won by more – Matty McKay should have buried that sitter in stoppage time, although to be fair the pass was slightly behind him – however Roar goalkeeper Jamie Young was anything but a spectator.
And having been written off by plenty of pundits going into the clash, the Roar could have been forgiven for knocking back a few celebratory Tsingtaos in the wake of their hugely impressive win.
Instead, they already had one eye on Melbourne City, with managing director Mark Kingsman texting me from the dressing room at full-time to tell me the team was solely focused on recovery and the long flight back to Australia.
But Kingsman did have one request – that the Queensland Government give Brisbane Roar a hand when it comes to staging the club’s three AFC Champions League group-stage games.
With Wednesday’s encounter beamed into millions of Chinese homes, the Roar were savvy enough to sign up the Shanghai Overseas Chinese Exit-Entry Service as their front-of-shirt ACL sponsor.
Yet there wasn’t even so much as an acknowledgement from anyone in Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office – or Tourism Events Queensland, or Brisbane Marketing – that the city’s solitary A-League club was representing Brisbane in a vital international fixture watched by millions of potential tourists.
I reckon I know why. I suspect none of these departments has ever heard of the AFC Champions League, let alone has the first clue of its significance, and – terrified of looking ignorant to the public – they find it easier to simply pretend that football doesn’t exist.
Thus you end up with the surreal situation of local councillors showing up for photo opportunities to promote rugby’s Global 10s, but ignoring the chance to promote Brisbane to a Filipino audience when Global FC are in town – right when the city is on the verge of hosting a Manny Pacquiao fight!
It’s madness, and you can understand why Kingsman has asked the Queensland government to cover the cost of the transport levy to ferry Roar supporters to a venue run by Stadiums Queensland, as Marco Monteverde revealed in The Courier-Mail yesterday.
The Roar’s ACL fixtures will see them take on Thai champions Muangthong United, South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai – who took advantage of their counterpart Jeonbuk’s expulsion – and the most successful Japanese side of them all, Kashima Antlers.
It’s hardly a pushover group, but having stunned Shanghai Shenhua on their own turf, there’s no reason to think the Roar can’t make a serious statement in Asia and qualify for the knockout stages.
About the only thing that will hinder them is a congested fixture list, and to that end it would help if Football Federation Australia showed a modicum of flexibility.
If they can move Newcastle’s home clash with Melbourne Victory back more than 48 hours because they’re worried about player welfare in the predicted heat, why couldn’t they do the same for the Roar’s trip to face City at AAMI Park?
But that’s a discussion for another day.
Brisbane Roar deserve praise for their win over Shanghai Shenhua. Now all they need is fans to turn up for their ACL fixtures.