A-League All Stars 2.0 proves a big hit

Last week I wrote an article in defence of the A-League All Stars concept. Having attended Sunday night’s game against Italian giants Juventus, it seems clear to me that the concept is moving forward.

The crowd of 56,000 was down on the sellout for last year’s game against Manchester United, but part of that can be attributed to the Juventus name (with all due respect to my Italian friends it does not have the pulling power of Manchester United).

It is also due to the fact that the Juve squad only arrived in Sydney 48 hours prior to the game. In comparison, Manchester United were in the harbour city a full week before the match, giving the game a whole raft of publicity and promotion opportunities.

Having said that, the game last year was already sold out by then but I’m sure more tickets would have been moved had the Turin club spent a while longer here promoting it, rather than shellacking the Indonesian All Stars during the week. But that’s just a wee bit selfish on my part.

The game itself was a cracker, and while the atmosphere generated by the crowd was more carnival than intense, the game was a carnival – so the mood matched the entertainment.

What was evident was that the All Stars won a lot of admirers and seem to have the beginnings of a following. While black and white stripes were the predominant fashion accessory at Homebush, there were gratifying numbers of blue and yellow All Star shirts among the crowd, as well as shirts from many of the A-League clubs. A group sitting close to me had travelled up from Adelaide, resplendent in their Reds jerseys, happy to claim the All Stars great showing was down to their coach Josep Gombau.

They may have had a point. On the brink of being discarded midway through last season, Gombau has proved himself both a personality and a shrewd tactical mind, and given only 10 days to prepare the All Stars, did a fine job indeed. It was the A-League players who started the game with poise and purpose, playing a close passing game that more than matched their vaunted opposition. When Marcelo Carrusca slotted home past Gianlugi Buffon early in the first half, it was not nearly the shock it might have seemed on paper.

Inevitably, the goal woke the “Old Lady” and with Andrea Pirlo’s every touch being treated with reverence by the crowd, Juventus began to threaten the All Stars defence, which gratifyingly held firm to take the locals into half time holding a 1-0 lead.

The second half was a wonderful showcase. Despite the inevitable slew of substitutes given the “friendly” nature of the fixture, both teams played open flowing football and brought the crowd right into the festivities. The carnival came to a temporary halt just after an hour when Alessandro Del Piero took his leave, to a thunderous standing ovation. The greatest player to grace the A-League stage made his exit and he did not look at all out of place on the park, even given the exhibition nature of the event. It will take someone of enormous class and talent to surpass the mark Alessandro Del Piero has made on the local game.

Of course, Juventus scored two late goals to win 3-2 but there was hardly dejection on the part of the A-League players and fans. They had seen the likes of Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Fernando Llorente, Buffon and Carlos Tevez. Perhaps more importantly, they had seen what a REAL All Stars team could do in the face of such opposition; rather than the frankly disappointing and watered-down version that took on Manchester United.

Without doubt, my expectations on attending the game were easily exceeded. Yes, the atmosphere is very different to a red-hot A-League derby, but that doesn’t make it a bad atmosphere. It helped that the All Stars were competitive and took the game to their vaunted opponents right up to the last moments. As a showpiece, the game delivered, and a lot of the post-match talk was how local fans now can’t wait for the start of the A-League’s tenth campaign.

That is publicity that can’t be easily bought.