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Adelaide are out to claim both a $2 million prize and another slice of respect for Australian football in Thursday night’s Club World Cup playoff against Egypt’s Al Ahly.
The sides meet in a fifth-place playoff at the Yokohama International Stadium after failing to progress to the semi-finals of the prestigious club tournament.
Adelaide missed a dream match up with Manchester United after losing 1-0 to rivals Gamba Osaka, while Ahly surrendered a two goal lead in their 4-2 loss to Mexican powerhouse Pachuca.
Aurelio Vidmar’s side has already earned plaudits on the international stage with its stunning run to the Asian Champions League final before losing 5-0 on aggregate to Gamba.
But the coach said the chance to play a team outside of Asia gave United another opportunity to show Australian football’s quality to the rest of the world.
“It does give us that opportunity,” Vidmar told AAP from Japan.
“What’s been good about this tournament is we’ve played the Oceania champions (New Zealand’s Waitakere United), the Asian Champions, and now this gives us a totally different type of football opponent as well with an Egyptian side.”
The winner of the game secures $US1.5 million ($A2.16 million) in prize money with the loser taking home $US1 million ($A1.44 million) for finishing sixth.
Vidmar said money was not the major motivation for his side, with as much emphasis being placed on “finishing off the job” before they returned home to defend their A-League lead.
“What we want to do is go out there and put out a team that is going to be committed and give everything they possibly can,” Vidmar said.
“If we do that then there’s the opportunity of winning the game and earning that money.
“It’s very important that we finish off on a positive note and get a win.”
Vidmar will not be able to field a full-strength line-up against the Egyptians, with Cassio (fever) and Fabian Barbiero (calf) already ruled out.
Captain Travis Dodd (groin) and Sasa Ognenovski (back) are also in doubt for the game.
Ahly have a proud history, having won four African champions League titles and 33 domestic championships.
Such was the pressure placed on the Cairo-based side prior to the tournament, coach Manuel Jose sees the match against Adelaide as a chance to silence the side’s critics back home.
“The Egyptian media started to give us a bashing (about the loss to Pachuca) after making a big fuss that we would be able to become the world club champions,” Jose said.
“Most of their critics are ill-intentioned.
“I respect (Adelaide) but we must play our usual game… If we can do that, we will have a chance to win. The best way to silence the critics is to win.”
The match will be played as a curtain raiser to the semi-final between Manchester and Gamba in Yokohama.
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