With Adelaide United playing off in what will surely be a scintillating Semi-Final against Melbourne City on Friday night, Guillermo Amor and Iacopo La Rocca have given their thoughts ahead of the match.
Guillermo Amor has issued a statement of intent ahead of his squad’s Hyundai A-League 2016 Semi Final 1 against Melbourne City on Friday night. The Reds’ boss has said it is his side’s “moment” and will relish the opportunity to play in front of a packed home crowd at Coopers Stadium.
“This is a big game for us and it’s football,” Amor said. “This is a game for us to enjoy and if you suffer you’ll stay at home. If you come here to play the game it’s to enjoy, but to win.
“The pressure tomorrow is normal and the stadium will be full and for us this is a (boost) compared to City.
“This is our moment because we don’t want holidays now. We want to stay here until the last day.
“This is our job and we enjoy this, so tomorrow will be our day.”
Whilst Finals football to determine a domestic Champion is somewhat new for Amor, the process of do-or-die clashes isn’t. And although there is the possibility that the match will go into extra time, the Spaniard said his team is prepared to play their normal football, aiming to win the match in 90 minutes.
“For us, tomorrow we play at home and we need a good result. It’s better for us to attack because it’s normal if we press for other teams to (sit off).
“Sometimes you need times to (sit back) and recover your position and in other moments you play more in attack.
“We’re playing at home, so we need to go more (in attack). But the game is long and we respect the other team because they’re a good team with good players.
“It is possible for the game to go into extra time, but you prepare to win the game in the 90 minutes.
“We’ve prepared for the game to do the same job (as always).”
Meanwhile, Iacopo La Rocca said he and his teammates are aiming to approach the match in a similar fashion to the Reds’ last encounter with City from Round 27, recognising the potential for any of the remaining four Clubs to take out the Championship.
“We have players that can change the game and for us it’s important to stay calm and win the game,” La Rocca said.
“All four teams that are in the Semi-Finals deserve to play in the Grand Final. (Melbourne City) will give everything, but we have the home advantage and we know that if we play how we have been playing then we can win.”
La Rocca was instrumental to United winning their last encounter with Melbourne, the Italian defender cutting City striker and the competition’s leading goal scorer, Bruno Fornaroli, out from the match completely.
But La Rocca praised his teammates’ resilience in general, saying it will be key in Adelaide advancing from the Semi-Final.
“Bruno (Fornaroli) didn’t do much last (time we played City), but he can create something from nothing.
“You saw the last two goals he scored in the (Elimination Finals) and they were unbelievable.
“And it’s not just him, Aaron Mooy can do it as well, but last time we played them our defensive line did a good job and our midfield too – we were compact.
“We will stick together and stop them like we did the last game.”
Adelaide United will face Melbourne City in Hyundai A-League Semi Final 1 on Friday, 22 April at Coopers Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.15pm ACST.
