Goal! Weekly Article 17: Asian Champions League Coverage

MELBOURNE GAIN VICTORY IN ASIAN SWANSONG
By Julius Ross

Melbourne Victory finished its final Asian Champions League match on a high last week when they defeated Chonburi FC 3-1 to finish second on the Group G table.

It was one of the few positives which has emerged from the Victory’s inaugural foray into Asian’s top club competition; the A-League side amassing a disappointing total of seven points in the group from a possible 18.

Two wins and a draw were all the Victory could muster from their Asian outings and the side finished well behind unbeaten Group G winners Gamba Osaka who progressed with 14 points.

Drawn in the ACL ‘Group of Death’, the Victory were expected to struggle throughout the campaign, with Thai champions Chonburi FC, J-League giants Gamba and Korean F.A. winners Chunnam Dragons proving tough opposition throughout the group stage.

Victory made a dream start to the campaign when they downed Chunnam 2-0 on home soil in the opening fixture, but the 2006-7 A-League champions’ season quickly spiralled downhill; the side losing three matches in a row.

Rooted to the bottom of the table after four matches and out of knock-out stage contention, the Victory were determined to regain pride heading into their final two fixtures, but second place looked unlikely with the side struggling to find form when it counted.

But a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Chunnam in match day five and the 3-1 defeat of Chonburi last Wednesday left the Victory in a more respectable position.

Victory manager Ernie Merrick highlighted the fact that whilst the Champions League had been a tough and gruelling assignment for his players, his side had learned much from their first experience against quality Asian opposition.

Merrick admitted that the Victory now fully understands and appreciates the standard, discipline and quality of football on Australia’s neighbouring continent.

Merrick further underlined that his side’s recovery in the later stages of the competition had gone a long way in making the final result more rewarding and it was great to finish on a high note.

Although Merrick conceded Gamba Osaka were the deserved Group G winners, he was consigned to thinking what might have been if the Victory had had their full strength side out on the park for every match of the campaign.

Both marquee player Archie Thompson and Costa Rican striker Carlos Hernandez missed four and three games respectively, and both were absent for the decisive clashes with Gamba after they suffered injuries early in the tournament.

They both returned to action in the final match against Chonburi, and they highlighted Merrick’s lament at not having them available throughout the campaign, by scoring a goal apiece.

Socceroo Archie Thompson stole the show for the Victory, scoring one and setting up another for Costa Rican team-mate Carlos Hernandez, with a fine 30 minute display.

Making his first appearance since March when a nasty tackle in the Socceroos’ match against China left him sidelined with damaged knee ligaments, Thompson would have pleased national coach Pim Verbeek who was watching from the stands.

A second-half substitute, Thompson played a pivotal role in the Victory’s second and third goals and the game’s overall outcome.

His diagonal run onto Danny Allsop’s superb through ball saw the Australian international round Chonburi ‘keeper Kosin Hathairattanakool to finish into an empty net, after just four minutes on the pitch.

The Victory had the ball in the back of the net for a third time just 5 minutes later, but Rodrigo Vargas’ effort was disallowed by Jordanian referee Salem Mujghef after the Victory defender was deemed to have fouled his marker.

But there were no doubts about Carlos Hernandez’ finish 14 minutes from time, when he powered home a inch-perfect cut-back from Thompson after a neat counter-attack from the Victory.

A calamitous mistake by Melbourne skipper Kevin Muscat had seen his side go 1-0 down in the 54th minute; the defender uncharacteristically failing to clear his lines in the 18-yard box, gifting possession to Chonburi’s Ney Fabiano who rifled home.

The goal came against the run of play, but the Victory were back level within two minutes, when who else but Muscat popped up to cancel out his mistake by slotting home from a scrappy Victory corner.

Muscat’s muted celebration showed his hidden relief of turning from villain to hero.

The final score line was an identical reverse of the 3-1 loss the Victory suffered against Chonburi in Thailand on match day two left the Victory in one point clear of third placed Chunnam Dragons and three points above bottom-placed Chonburi.

Victory will hope its ACL momentum will carry over into this week’s much anticipated friendly against Italy’s Serie A giant Juventus at the Telstra Dome.