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Aurelio Vidmar
Adelaide United Coach Aurelio Vidmar: The Man Upstairs
Marc Fox reports on the latest A-League News
It seems as though Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar - like everyone else - has given up trying to rationalise his side's contrasting A-League and AFC Champions League form and instead started reckoning on other worldly influences.
"The man upstairs was on our side," Vidmar smiled after this week's scoreless draw against the Pohang Steelers at the Steelyard guaranteed Adelaide a place in the knockout stages of the 2010 ACL competition.
Vidmar was too far off the mark in wondering about a helpful dose of divine inspiration (at least I don't think he was talking about the backing from the club's board?) after Adelaide somehow kept the reigning ACL champions at bay to book a spot in the round of 16 next month.
The Reds constant pursuit of continental silverware is one of the perplexing mysteries in Australian football at the moment, not least because the rookie coach guided United to last place in the just-completed A-League season following a dismal record of seven wins in 27 tries.
Since then, Adelaide have won three of their five ACL clashes against supposedly superior opposition in Group H and, more bafflingly, have even managed to extend their remarkable unbeaten record against the Steelers (three wins and a draw in four meetings).
Adelaide defied all the odds when they reached the 2008 Champions League final, beating Kashima Antlers and Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor in the knockout phase before losing to Gamba Osaka in a one-sided final.
And they're at it again this season despite a squad of few genuine match-winners and with Vidmar forced to watch the action from the sidelines after being banned from leading his side on matchdays by the AFC because he does not yet possess the requisite AFC 'A' coaching licence.
To put their achievement in some context, former A-League champions Newcastle were thumped 6-0 by the Steelers in the round of 16 last year.
Furthermore, Adelaide booked their onward passage with a match to spare 24 hours before 2010 A-League grand finalists Melbourne Victory - the other Aussie representatives in this season's ACL - crashed out following a 0-0 home draw against Beijing Guoan.
Melbourne's management team were quick to link their early elimination to a series of extenuating factors, with coach Ernie Merrick saying, "We're certainly unhappy with the results but I think our players did a fantastic under very difficult circumstances".
The former domestic champions certainly suffered because of illness and injury with several key players, including Billy Celeski, Socceroos striker Archie Thompson and Matthew Kemp, all missing for a chunk of the campaign.
Scheduling and suspensions also hampered their chances in contrast to Adelaide, who of course played no part in the A-League finals series.
But they have been shown up in this campaign with expat striker Joel Griffiths again causing Merrick's side a host of problems on Wednesday.
The former Newcastle Jets striker placed a second-half header just wide for Beijing, and created a gilt-edged first-half opportunity for midfielder Huang Bowen in another impressive outing for the Chinese Super League champions.
Griffiths, who left Newcastle under a cloud before the CSL season started after a long-running contractual saga with this hometown club, scored the only goal of the game when Beijing beat Melbourne in the Champions League opener in February and has again been a goalscoring revelation in the Chinese capital.
However, his quick fuse, penchant for long suspensions and outspoken criticism of the Socceroos set-up, of which he has been an infrequent member, seem to have put pay to any World Cup hopes.
The in-form Griffiths does not appear to be on Pim Verbeek's radar despite the absence of Mark Viduka (retired), Thompson (injured) and Scott McDonald (form), and might now be hoping a change of national team management come July offers him a fresh start.
Copyright © Marc Fox and Soccerphile.com
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