Following his man-of-the-match performance against Sydney FC, Eugene Galekovic has praised his teammates’ “desperation” after a scrappy performance by the Reds only just secured the win.
After making nine outstanding saves and notching up an assist for Awer Mabil’s 82nd minute winner, Eugene Galekovic admitted although United‘s performance was undoubtedly below par, the determination and “desperation” that the Reds showed is definitely encouraging.
“We know we didn’t play good football and we know we have to get better if we want to get more points, but it was a massive three points,” Galekovic said.
“But if we play that (type of) football in the finals, we know we won’t get very far.
“The good signs are our desperation and the way we defended. I think over the last two weeks we haven’t played good football, but we’ve done those things really well.”
Reflecting on his personal performance, Galekovic was typically modest, claiming that during a match he never realises how good, or bad, he’s playing until after the game when he has time to truly dissect his goalkeeping.
“I saw him (Mabil) make a run and I just went for it,” Galekovic said when explaining his assist.
“You don’t know during the game (just how well you’re playing). You’re in a zone of focus and you just try and stop everything coming at you and try and do all the right things.
“You realise after the game that you’ve made a few good saves when you look back on it, but I haven’t even looked at the highlights yet.”
The match itself was played in very testing conditions with heavy rain pouring down onto the field throughout the 90 minutes. However, Galekovic said the conditions weren’t as bad as they seemed and, if anything, the wet surface was in United’s advantage considering the way they like to pass the ball.
Galekovic finished by praising the team effort from the Reds and said the team is now focussed on their next match against Brisbane Roar at Coopers Stadium.
Adelaide United next host Brisbane Roar in Round 25 of the Hyundai 2014/15 A-League season on Saturday, 11 April at Coopers Stadium. Kick off at 4:30pm ACST. To purchase tickets, click here.
