Ben Garuccio credits his fabulous strike to listening to his teammates’ advice as Adelaide United secured a comfortable 3-1 win over Wellington Phoenix on Friday night.
It was the left-back’s maiden goal for the Reds in his 57th match but it was worth the wait after doubling the lead with a thumping drive, on the angle, which arrowed into the top corner.
Johan Absalonsen had initially opened the scoring, expertly heading in Michael Marrone’s accurate delivery, while Nathan Konstandopoulos made it 3-0.
Garuccio admitted scoring his first goal for the Club was an incredible feeling, especially being a local boy.
“It was unbelievable, it’s the Club I grew up watching when I was a little kid and it’s taken me close to 60 games,” he said.
“But it was good to finally put one in the back of the net.”
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The 22-year-old was played through by Daniel Adlung before beating his man and opted to shoot instead of taking arguably the more conventional option of crossing the ball from that position.
However, his decision to unleash a blistering strike paid dividends and crucially it gave Marco Kurz’s men some breathing space.
“To be honest I don’t even really remember looking up,” he explained.
“The boys always tell me you’ve to shoot more, you’ve to shoot more.
“Ersan (Gülüm) kept telling me all game next one you get in the box just shoot.
“So once I finally got past him I just put my head down and tried to hit it somewhere near the back post and it came off not bad.”
Garuccio also said everything is starting to click towards the end of the regular season, with Adelaide bagging eight goals in two matches.
“I feel like when we’re out there we’re not really going to concede too many goals,” he said.
“We feel so tight defensively and we’re putting them away at the other end, so it’s really good.”
So proud of the boys tonight! Another good result and an amazing turn out at Coopers! What an atmosphere!!! Focus turns to next week, 2 more massive games to go!! @AdelaideUnited ⚽️😉
— Ben Garuccio (@Bengaruccio) March 30, 2018
The defender praised the crowd for their vociferous support and revealed when Coopers Stadium is full, little compares to the atmosphere generated.
“It was awesome, the biggest of the season,” he said.
“So it’s a credit to the fans, it’s so good playing at a packed Coopers Stadium – there’s no better feeling, it’s such a good atmosphere and it was really good last night.”
Adelaide now have two away matches in Sydney to finish the campaign, starting with Sydney FC next Sunday.
Garuccio fancied his side’s chances following a number of recent close encounters.
“There’s no reason why can’t we go to Sydney and take the game to them and beat them,” he insisted.
“Other teams have done it, Central Coast (Mariners) have done it, Brisbane (Roar) have done it.
“We’re on top of those teams on the ladder why can’t we go there and take all three points from this week.
“There’s no reason why we can’t we’ve matched it with them at home when we had so many young boys playing.
“We matched it with them in the FFA Cup Final, so there’s no way we’re going to go there and give them an easy game.”
Adelaide United face Sydney FC in Round 26 of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 season on Sunday, 8 April at Allianz Stadium. Kick-off is at 6.30pm ACDT.
