2007–08 Adelaide United FC season

Adelaide United
2007–08 season
Chairman Mel Patzwald
Manager Aurelio Vidmar
A-League 6th
Pre-Season Cup Champions
AFC Champions League Group stages
Highest home attendance 25,039 (vs Sydney FC, 28 December 2007)
Lowest home attendance 10,256 (vs Newcastle Jets, 18 November 2007)
Average home league attendance 12,697
Home colours
Away colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 Adelaide United FC season was the clubs third season since the inception of the A-League. The club competed in the 2007–08 A-League and finished sixth on the ladder.

For the 2007–08 season Adelaide recruited ex-Socceroo Paul Agostino "marquee", Ivorian Jonas Salley and ex-Olyroo Kristian Sarkies.[1] They also signed Issy Erdogan of Preston Lions. One of the success stories of the season was the signing of former Flamengo FC player Cássio on a free transfer from Brazilian club. Cássio, who joined from Santa Cruz FC, won the Club Champion award in his first season. Shaun Ontong and Matthew Mullen from the AIS, were also signed to replenish their defensive stocks after the departure of Kristian Rees, Adam van Dommele and Aaron Goulding.

The 2007–08 season was a season to forget for Adelaide as they battled a huge amount of player injury throughout the season. This effectively ended their finals hopes and it was the first time Adelaide had failed to make the top two in A-League history.

Adelaide United participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League after finishing runner-up in the 2006–07 regular season and finals series to Melbourne Victory. Adelaide was drawn into Group E, along with V-League and Super Cup winners Bình Dương F.C., CSL champions Changchun Yatai, and K-League winners Pohang Steelers.

In their opening match of the 2008 campaign, Adelaide United defeated Pohang 2–0 in Korea. United drew against Changchun 0–0 in their second game, defeated Bình Dương 2–1 in Vietnam and followed this up with a 4–1 victory in the return leg. In their final group tie at home, Adelaide defeated Pohang 1–0, setting up a deciding away tie against Changchun to determine the Group E winner. In Changchun, Adelaide withstood considerable pressure to achieve an historic 0–0 draw, thus becoming the first Australian team to ever progress to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.

Adelaide drew J-League and Emperor's Cup champions Kashima Antlers in a two legged Quarter final starting in Japan, where they managed a 1–1 draw. Adelaide captain Travis Dodd scored first in the opening half, but right before halftime the score levelled when Robert Cornthwaite scored an own goal. In the return leg at the Hindmarsh Stadium a week later, Adelaide became the first Australian team to progress to the semifinals of the competition with a 1–0 win. Cornthwaite redeemed himself from his own goal in the first leg by scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.

Adelaide drew 2007 Uzbek League Runners-up FC Bunyodkor in the semi-final, after the Uzbeks knocked out Saipa F.C. in their quarter-final. In the first leg of the semi-final, Adelaide won 3–0 with Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano (via a penalty) scoring. The match was witnessed by 16,998 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium.[2]

In the second leg of the semi finals Adelaide United lost 1–0 to FC Bunyodkor but went through to the final 3–1 on aggregate.[3] Thus they became the first Australian team to make it to the final of Asia's premier club competition.[4] In the two legged final, they took on Japanese team Gamba Osaka who deposed 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semifinal.[5]

This result ensured that Adelaide would participate in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the AFC representatives or as the highest placed non-Japanese team – as the rules do not allow more than one Japanese team to participate.[6]

Adelaide lost heavily over two legs to Gamba Osaka. The score was 3–0 to Gamba Osaka away and 2–0 to Osaka at home in Adelaide, the Japanese club winning 5–0 on aggregate.[7]


Players

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Australia GK Daniel Beltrame
2 Australia DF Robert Cornthwaite
4 Australia DF Angelo Costanzo
5 Australia DF Michael Valkanis
6 Brazil DF Cássio
7 Australia MF Lucas Pantelis
8 Australia MF Kristian Sarkies
9 Australia FW Paul Agostino
13 Australia MF Travis Dodd (captain)
15 Ivory Coast MF Jonas Salley
17 Australia DF Isyan Erdoğan
18 Australia MF Fabian Barbiero
No. Position Player
20 Australia GK Eugene Galeković
21 Australia MF Jason Spagnuolo
22 Brazil MF Diego
28 Australia MF Rostyn Griffiths
Australia DF Richie Alagich
Australia FW Bruce Djite
Australia FW Nathan Burns
Australia MF Shaun Ontong
Australia DF Milan Susak
Netherlands MF Bobby Petta
Australia FW Dez Giraldi
Australia GK Robert Bajic

Transfers

In

Name Position Moving from
Australia Paul Agostino Forward TSV 1860 München
Ivory Coast Jonas Salley Midfield New Zealand Knights
Australia Kristian Sarkies Forward Melbourne Victory
Brazil Cássio Defender Santa Cruz
Australia Shaun Ontong Defender AIS
Australia Matthew Mullen Midfield AIS
Australia Isyan Erdogan Defender Preston Lions
Australia Milan Susak Defender FK Vojvodina
Australia Eugene Galekovic Goalkeeper Melbourne Victory

Out

Name Position Moving to
Australia Greg Owens Midfield Central Coast Mariners
Australia Ross Aloisi Midfield Wellington Phoenix
Australia Matthew Kemp Defender Melbourne Victory
China Shengqing Qu Forward released
Australia Carl Veart Forward retired
Brazil Fernando Forward released
Australia Kristian Rees Defender Whittlesea Zebras
Australia Aaron Goulding Defender released
Australia Adam van Dommele Defender South Melbourne

Goal scorers

Total Player Goals per Round
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
6 Australia Bruce Djite 1 1 2 1 1
5 Australia Travis Dodd 1 2 1 1
5 Australia Lucas Pantelis 1 1 1 1 1
4 Australia Nathan Burns 1 1 1 1
4 Australia Paul Agostino 1 2 1
2 Australia Richie Alagich 1 1
1 Brazil Diego 1
1 Australia Kristian Sarkies 1
A goal was scored from a penalty kick

Competitions

Pre-season

Round Date Home Team Score Away Team Crowd Stadium Match Details
1 15 July 2007 Melbourne Victory 1 - 1 Adelaide United 8,061 Aurora Stadium Report
2 20 July 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 1 Perth Glory 3,513 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
3 27 July 2007 Adelaide United 4 - 1 Newcastle Jets 3,800 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Playoff 5 August 2007 Adelaide United 3 - 2 Queensland Roar 5,221 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Grand Final 12 August 2007 Adelaide United 2 - 1 Perth Glory 9,606 Hindmarsh Stadium Report

A-League

League table

Pos
 Team Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Central Coast Mariners 21 10 4 7 30 25+5 34 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage
2 Newcastle Jets (C) 21 9 7 5 25 21+4 34
3 Sydney FC 21 8 8 5 28 24+4 32 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship
4 Queensland Roar 21 8 7 6 25 21+4 31 2008 A-League Finals Series
5 Melbourne Victory 21 6 9 6 29 290 27
6 Adelaide United 21 6 8 7 31 29+2 26
7 Perth Glory 21 4 8 9 27 34−7 20
8 Wellington Phoenix 21 5 5 11 25 37−12 20

Updated to games played on 20 January 2008
Source: theworldgame.sbs.com.au
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
1First place through to fourth place qualify for the 2008 A-League Finals Series.
2First place qualifies for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage.
3Winning the 2008 A-League Grand Final earns qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League Group stage, unless the Grand Final winners are also first place, in which case the Grand Final runner up qualifies.
4Wellington Phoenix cannot qualify for the 2009 AFC Champions League as they are not recognised as an AFC club.

Matches

Round Date Home Team Score Away Team Crowd Stadium Match Details
1 25 August 2007 Queensland Roar 2 - 2 Adelaide United 16,828 Suncorp Stadium Report
Summary
2 1 September 2007 Sydney FC 2 - 2 Adelaide United 14,233 Sydney Football Stadium Report
Summary
3 7 September 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 1 Melbourne Victory 12,231 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
4 15 September 2007 Newcastle Jets 1 - 0 Adelaide United 13,627 EnergyAustralia Stadium Report
Summary
5 22 September 2007 Wellington Phoenix 2 - 2 Adelaide United 12,127 Westpac Stadium Report
Summary
6 30 September 2007 Adelaide United 2 - 1 Central Coast Mariners 11,019 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
7 7 October 2007 Perth Glory 0 - 0 Adelaide United 6,252 Members Equity Stadium Report
Summary
8 12 October 2007 Adelaide United 4 - 1 Melbourne Victory 13,372 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
9 20 October 2007 Sydney FC 0 - 1 Adelaide United 12,922 Sydney Football Stadium Report
Summary
10 28 October 2007 Adelaide United 4 - 1 Wellington Phoenix 11,740 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
11 2 November 2007 Adelaide United 0 - 1 Queensland Roar 10,705 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
12 10 November 2007 Central Coast Mariners 2 - 0 Adelaide United 11,680 Bluetongue Stadium Report
Summary
13 18 November 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 1 Newcastle Jets 10,256 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
14 23 November 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 1 Perth Glory 10,678 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
15 30 November 2007 Wellington Phoenix 1 - 2 Adelaide United 18,345 Westpac Stadium Report
Summary
16 8 December 2007 Melbourne Victory 2 - 2 Adelaide United 22,466 Telstra Dome Report
Summary
17 14 December 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 2 Central Coast Mariners 11,123 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary
18 28 December 2007 Adelaide United 1 - 3 Sydney FC 25,039 Adelaide Oval Report
Summary
19 4 January 2008 Newcastle Jets 2 - 1 Adelaide United 13,047 EnergyAustralia Stadium Report
Summary
20 13 January 2008 Perth Glory 3 - 2 Adelaide United 8,025 Members Equity Stadium Report
Summary
21 20 January 2008 Adelaide United 2 - 0 Queensland Roar 10,803 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
Summary

AFC Champions League

Group stage

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Australia Adelaide United 642092714
China Changchun Yatai 6330103712
South Korea Pohang Steelers 612367−15
Vietnam Bình Dương 6015417−131
Round Date Home Team Score Away Team Attendance Stadium
1 12 March 2008 Pohang Steelers 0 - 2
Cornthwaite  3'
Djite  59'
Adelaide United 8,436 Steelyard Stadium
2 19 March 2008 Adelaide United 0 - 0 Changchun Yatai 10,510 Hindmarsh Stadium
3 9 April 2008 Bình Dương 1 - 2
Diego  10'
Alagich  78' 		Adelaide United 15,000 Gò Đậu Stadium
4 23 April 2008 Adelaide United 4 - 1
Pantelis  56'
Dodd  58',  62'
Diego  77' 		Bình Dương 13,802 Hindmarsh Stadium
5 7 May 2008 Adelaide United 1 - 0
Diego  63' 		Pohang Steelers 11,805 Hindmarsh Stadium
6 22 May 2008 Changchun Yatai 0 - 0 Adelaide United 20,000 Changchun City Stadium

Knockout stage

Final Date Home Team Score Away Team Attendance Stadium
Quarter (1) 17 September 2008 Kashima Antlers 1 - 1
Dodd  38'
Adelaide United 7,004 Kashima Soccer Stadium
Quarter (2) 24 September 2008 Adelaide United 1 - 0
Cornthwaite  73' 		Kashima Antlers 16,965 Hindmarsh Stadium
Semi (1) 8 October 2008 Adelaide United 3 - 0
Diego  57'
Barbiero  70'
Cristiano  89' (pen) 		Bunyodkor 16,998 Hindmarsh Stadium
Semi (2) 22 October 2008 Bunyodkor 1 - 0 Adelaide United 17,000 MHSK Stadium
Grand (1) 5 November 2008 Gamba Osaka 3 - 0 Adelaide United 20,639 Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Grand (2) 12 November 2008 Adelaide United 0 - 2 Gamba Osaka 17,000 Hindmarsh Stadium

References

  1. ↑ Sarkies joins United, A-League Official News
  2. ↑ Reds take giant leap towards AFC Champions League Final
  3. ↑ Adelaide United into AFC Champions League Final
  4. ↑ Vidmar: ‘As big as the World Cup!’ Archived 27 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Nishino: We won the mental battle Archived 25 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Adelaide toasted by Oz media Archived 28 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Gamba crowned kings of Asia Archived 25 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine.

External links

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