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Coach Aurelio Vidmar declared Adelaide United’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign was invaluable, believing it had increased the club’s profile on the global stage.
The Reds clinched fifth spot in the seven-team tournament with a 1-0 victory over Egyptian club Al Ahly in Yokohama, Japan on Thursday night.
The performance equalled Sydney FC’s performance in 2005, when that team defeated Al Ahly at a similar stage of the tournament.
However, Adelaide became the first Australian club to win two matches in the tournament, as they had to overcome New Zealand’s Waitakere United 2-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals.
While Adelaide lost 1-0 to their Asian Champions League conqueror Gamba Osaka, a depleted United lineup then showed great resilience to overcome the 33-time Egyptian champions.
A stunning seventh-minute strike from Brazilian Cristiano earned Adelaide $2.6 million prizemoney, some of which they will share with the other seven A-League clubs and Football Federation Australia.
The victory capped off a hectic schedule of three games in eight days and was achieved despite the absence through injury or illness of Travis Dodd, Cassio and Fabian Barbiero.
“I think it’s extremely invaluable,” said Vidmar.
“It’s been a tremendous experience for our club.
“We certainly learnt a lot in terms of playing in a tournament which we haven’t done before.
“It’s lifted the profile and the name of Adelaide United, it’s certainly a very good one here in Asian football and with the people around FIFA.
“We’re very pleased in terms of what we’ve achieved so far.”
Vidmar said Dodd, Cassio and Barbiero should all be fit for Adelaide’s next A-League game away to Perth on Boxing Day.
However, he wasn’t sure about the extent of the hip injury suffered by Diego.
Adelaide was still top of the A-League table despite not playing last weekend and while they are likely to lose the spot over this weekend, they will have two games in hand over most of their domestic rivals heading into the Boxing Day game.
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