Adelaide United interim coach Aurelio Vidmar was left a frustrated man after the exciting encounter with South Korea's Seongnam Chunma Ilhwa in the Asian Champions League which ended 2-2 at Hindmarsh stadium.
“It may’ve been a great game for the fans, but this was two points dropped for us,” he told www.au.fourfourtwo.com after the game.
“We were really timid in the first half," he said of a match that exploded into life in the second 45.
"Their first goal of theirs put the knife in our heart. When you’re 2-0 up at home, you want the game killed off.”
After a bright second half – where United raced to a 2-0 lead through Djite and Fernando – the classy Koreans got themselves back into the contest with two strikes, one of which was an absolute peach from the dangerous Mota.
“We’ve got two kids in [Nathan] Burns and [Bruce] Djite and we can’t rely on them all the time but it was good to see Fernando pop up and score," added Vidmar.
“There was some good movement for us in our final third… we just needed a bit more class in our finishing.”
As for the return fixture in Korea, Vidmar isn’t talking up the Reds’ chances. “It’s going to be very, very difficult. They’re going to be a completely different kettle of fish in front of their home fans and in their familiar conditions. But of course, we’ll be looking to progress.”
Adelaide leaves for South Korea on April 22 ahead of their April 25 return match against Seongnam.
In the night's other ACL game for an Aussie side, Sydney FC's tie with Persik Kediri in Indonesia was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. It will be replayed tomorrow (Thursday) at 1.30pm AEST.
“We were really timid in the first half," he said of a match that exploded into life in the second 45.
"Their first goal of theirs put the knife in our heart. When you’re 2-0 up at home, you want the game killed off.”
After a bright second half – where United raced to a 2-0 lead through Djite and Fernando – the classy Koreans got themselves back into the contest with two strikes, one of which was an absolute peach from the dangerous Mota.
“We’ve got two kids in [Nathan] Burns and [Bruce] Djite and we can’t rely on them all the time but it was good to see Fernando pop up and score," added Vidmar.
“There was some good movement for us in our final third… we just needed a bit more class in our finishing.”
As for the return fixture in Korea, Vidmar isn’t talking up the Reds’ chances. “It’s going to be very, very difficult. They’re going to be a completely different kettle of fish in front of their home fans and in their familiar conditions. But of course, we’ll be looking to progress.”
Adelaide leaves for South Korea on April 22 ahead of their April 25 return match against Seongnam.
In the night's other ACL game for an Aussie side, Sydney FC's tie with Persik Kediri in Indonesia was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. It will be replayed tomorrow (Thursday) at 1.30pm AEST.
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