Urawa Red Diamonds coach Holger Osiek has named Sydney flyer Dave Carney as the danger man ahead tonight's crunch Asian Champions League match at Aussie Stadium.
"They have a number of players in midfield and upfront and it is a team game... but I would say Carney on the wing is very good. I saw him play in 2005 at the Club World Championship in Japan and was impressed with him," said Osiek at yesterday's media conference at Star City Casino.
The German coach also described himself as "typical conservative German coach" hinting at a more circumspect Reds side tonight.
Osiek was also keen to play down any revenge factor given Australia had soundly beaten Japan in the World Cup last year. "This is the champions league and that is all we're concentrating on, there is no relationship between the two," he said.
Earlier, when Sydney FC coach Branko Culina was asked if he knew much about the Urawa Reds, he proceeded to name the entire first X1, in their positions plus possible substitutes. It received a round of applause from the large number of visiting Japanese journalists clearly impressed by Culina.
“Urawa Reds are a quality side but so are we,” said Culina. “We must focus on what we’re doing though. Be mindful of the opposition and respect them but not to fear them. In my opinion, the team we play tomorrow night at Aussie stadium will be a better team than the side we played in China.”
Culina added that he has seen “a number” of videos of his opposition. He also studied them last year when they had a pre-season training camp at Sydney’s Valentine Park (ironically where Culina was working as a technical director at Soccer NSW).
“But it’s more important that we are fully prepared ourselves and we don’t concentrate too much on them. We’ve been working hard over the last month.”
Sydney will be strengthened by selection availability of both Ruben Zadkovich and midfield enforcer Terry McFlynn after injury spells.
"We hope to be able to show that despite being a young club playing in a young league like the A-League, that we can show that we are quality. If we are behind the J-League, we’re not far behind.”
When asked about the importance of the game for Culina’s long-term prospects of winning a long-term gig with FC, he replied, “You’re always on probation."
The surface at Aussie stadium has also been a matter of speculation following an NRL game played there on Monday night. “Yes” was Culina’s reply to a question about being worried that the surface may not be up to scratch.
“But I have every confidence in the ground staff to get the ground in good condition by the time we play.”
The German coach also described himself as "typical conservative German coach" hinting at a more circumspect Reds side tonight.
Osiek was also keen to play down any revenge factor given Australia had soundly beaten Japan in the World Cup last year. "This is the champions league and that is all we're concentrating on, there is no relationship between the two," he said.
Earlier, when Sydney FC coach Branko Culina was asked if he knew much about the Urawa Reds, he proceeded to name the entire first X1, in their positions plus possible substitutes. It received a round of applause from the large number of visiting Japanese journalists clearly impressed by Culina.
“Urawa Reds are a quality side but so are we,” said Culina. “We must focus on what we’re doing though. Be mindful of the opposition and respect them but not to fear them. In my opinion, the team we play tomorrow night at Aussie stadium will be a better team than the side we played in China.”
Culina added that he has seen “a number” of videos of his opposition. He also studied them last year when they had a pre-season training camp at Sydney’s Valentine Park (ironically where Culina was working as a technical director at Soccer NSW).
“But it’s more important that we are fully prepared ourselves and we don’t concentrate too much on them. We’ve been working hard over the last month.”
Sydney will be strengthened by selection availability of both Ruben Zadkovich and midfield enforcer Terry McFlynn after injury spells.
"We hope to be able to show that despite being a young club playing in a young league like the A-League, that we can show that we are quality. If we are behind the J-League, we’re not far behind.”
When asked about the importance of the game for Culina’s long-term prospects of winning a long-term gig with FC, he replied, “You’re always on probation."
The surface at Aussie stadium has also been a matter of speculation following an NRL game played there on Monday night. “Yes” was Culina’s reply to a question about being worried that the surface may not be up to scratch.
“But I have every confidence in the ground staff to get the ground in good condition by the time we play.”
Related Articles
Socceroos Abroad: ACL kicks off as European seasons start coming to a close
Sydney FC exit Asian Champions League after another loss
