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Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar warned his players not to underestimate New Zealand minnows Waitakere on the eve of a tournament that could see the Reds set up a dream date with Manchester United.
Vidmar’s men, who qualified by finishing runners-up in the Asian Champions League (ACL), play the Oceania champions at the national stadium in Tokyo on Thursday night in the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup.
They should be confident of success after leaving Australia with a 6-1 thumping of Kiwi A-League team, Wellington Phoenix.
Waitakere coach Chris Milicic was under no illusions about United’s capability.
“If you allow the game to turn into an end-to-end situation like the Phoenix did, you’ll get smacked, because they’re probably the best counter-attacking side in the league,” he said.
“If it gets ragged like it did against the Phoenix, they’ll whack us for six too.”
However Vidmar is a taciturn character at the best of times, and counselled his players not to get ahead of themselves.
A victory over Waitakere would give the Reds a re-match with their ACL final conquerors Gamba Osaka on December 14, with the winner of that fixture to play the Red Devils in Yokohama on December 18 for a place in the final.
“A lot of people have already started thinking a little bit further than that first game, but they’re going to be tough,” Vidmar said.
“They’ve had a fair bit of experience playing in that competition last year, this is the first time we’re actually going into the tournament.
“Every team in our situation dreams of playing Manchester United, but our sole focus now is on playing Waitakere.”
Adelaide captain Travis Dodd said United’s ACL odyssey, which took them as far as Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent on the way to the final, had forged a hardened and tight-knit team well versed in travel.
“It’s been a hectic couple of months, been a challenge for everyone, and the players have definitely grown closer,” he said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time away and been in each other’s back pockets for a while, so I think the team atmosphere has definitely brought the players together a lot more, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
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