Whatever result arises from Adelaide's ACL game against Shandong Luneng tonight, the Reds - and all of Australian football - will be the winner.

There has been copious discussion about the respective A-League and ACL form of Adelaide and Victory.  With the addition of a few new players, the Reds' appalling A-League form has transformed itself into giant-killing bravado and flair.

Victory, having lost a few key players, have done the reverse, changing from the Incredible Blue Hulk into mild-mannered (and easy to beat) Bruce Banner.

The respective celebrations, euphoria, one-upmanship - or -  teeth-grinding, excuse-making and paranoia will no doubt go on indefinitely. Or at least until next season starts or some bigger and better news takes over. C'est la vie.

What shouldn't be missed in all the internecine machinations enjoyed by fans of the respective and on-looking clubs (your group is easier than ours/we had it harder than you/we had to stay up past our bedtime) is the immense value of Adelaide making it through to the round of 16.

As an Adelaide fan I am of course hoping we smash Shandong and get a home game. Even if we don't we're still there. In the top 16 clubs in Asia. Battling for the right to say we're the best.

Last time we made the final, a feat occasionally belittled by fools who think that getting beaten by Gamba was somehow an embarrassment. Sure, it's an embarrassment to knock off every team but one in a competition where your whole team budget would buy one player in your opponents team - and not always the most expensive player at that.

The point is that just being there tells a story. It says that Australian football, hamstrung as we may be by a fledgling competition, a low salary cap, meagre TV revenues and three competing football codes, is the dangerous young-gun who deserves respect.

It's sensible not to be fooled by our own self-importance. We might think of ourselves a big players in the region but I don't think Japan and Korea spend too much time thinking about Australian football. Or about Australia at all. They have established competitions with big money and (some) big crowds. When the A-League teams entered the ACL I doubt they lost much sleep. Any sleep.

The Adelaide popped up and won a couple of games. And kept winning. All of a sudden, coaches and players who had assumed the Australian teams would be cannon-fodder, started swapping information about how to beat these newcomers. As a result other Australian teams also started to be thought about. Even to the extent of coming in with big bucks to steal our players.

Sure, most of our ACL teams have failed to go far. That's not surprising when you consider the uneven nature of the playing field. We might hate to see it - and decide that our teams are weak and pathetic - but an A-League side in the ACL is in the same position as a League One team in the F.A. Cup. No-one really should expect them to succeed. They sometimes do but....well...money talks.

What talks louder is success. Adelaide continue to put an Australian face on Asian football at the highest level. Aurelio and Phil (should that be the other way around?) are leading another campaign that is causing sleepless nights for football men who know that this bloody Red team from Adelaide is performing far too well.

Respect - the major currency of many Asian nations - is accumulating in the account of Australian football. Australia has a contender. This time it's Adelaide. Another time it'll be one of our other teams. One who takes it seriously enough to crack the ACL code.

What matters is that we have the eyes of Asia on our league one more time. That we're the surprise packet - the misfits made good.

What matters is that Australian football deserves its place, is being talked about, can perform with credibility on the biggest stage.

That's the beginning of a future in which there will be no surprise packet coming from the A-League. Only real and dangerous threats of success.

Don't be fooled by the doomsayers and death-wishers. We're on our way up. Football is an international language and we're getting more fluent every year.

C'mon you Reds!