Reid draws on past experience
By Guy Hand
November 10, 2008
AUSTRALIAN football's biggest ever club match has turned into its biggest salvage operation.
But Adelaide United midfielder Paul Reid insists the wreckage of their 3-0 Asian Champions League grand final first leg defeat to Japan's Gamba Osaka is fixable.
He's been there before.
The Reds are likely to have just 14 available players and no reserve goalkeeper for Wednesday night's second leg - a match they must win by at least four clear goals to become Asia's club champions.
But Reid knows exactly what it takes to conjure grand final miracles from 3-0 deficits.
He scored the Wollongong Wolves' last-minute equaliser to turn the 1999-2000 National Soccer League grand final on its head, as his side fought back from a three-goal halftime deficit to force Perth Glory into extra-time.
The Wolves then went on to win on penalties in one of most memorable club matches ever played in Australia.
It's going back a long time,'' Reid said when asked to remember what triggered the remarkable comeback.
But the biggest thing we thought was we had nothing to lose.
At halftime, our coach Nick Theodorakopoulos said 'if we've going to do this, we've got to believe'.
And we did. That was a great achievement.
To come back this time, that would be a monumental task but the boys are up to it. As I said, we have nothing to lose.'' Reid said his side's effort to score three goals at home in the semi-final against Uzkebistan's Bunyodkor showed United were capable of finding the net, and there was no reason they could not repeat the feat at Hindmarsh Stadium this time around.
People probably forget we scored three in the last half-hour against the Uzbek team,'' said Reid, who has been instrumental in Adelaide's ACL campaign.
We can only do what we can do, and if we've got enough belief, we can win.'' Reid missed the first leg loss with a groin injury, but trained strongly with his team-mates today and declared himself fit to play.
Coach Aurelio Vidmar is likely to bring him into Adelaide's starting side at the expense of Lucas Pantelis in one of three changes.
Defender Angelo Costanzo and first-choice goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic are suspended for Wednesday night's match.
Experienced centre-half Mike Valkanis will slot in for Costanzo, while Pantelis and Fabian Barbiero, who has also recovered from injury, look likely to be among the scant options on Adelaide's bench.
Teenage keeper Mark Birighitti is set to replace Galekovic, and the Reds will have to battle Gamba without a reserve goalkeeper as they have no other fit keepers in their squad.
It would leave them in a dire predicament if the 17-year-old was to be injured - Valkanis and beanpole defender Robbie Cornthwaite are looked at as emergency keepers if needed.
Gamba Osaka flew into Adelaide on Monday - their plane descending ominously over the Reds' training venue towards the nearby airport as the Reds went through their paces.
The match at the 17,000-capacity Hindmarsh Stadium is already a sell out.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24629426-5012708,00.html
