“He's very strong, physically imposing and he got his body around and they worked off him quite well,” Vargas said of Bare after the 4-3 loss to Gamba Osaka in the Asian Champions League.

“And the boy when he came on [Lucas Severino], he changed the game for them. Again he had a lot of mobility.”

Lucas was a half-time substitute by wily coach Akira Nishino, and despite flitting in and out of the game, came up with a killer final minute header to sink Victory hopes.

Vargas described the difference between A-League and ACL football as one of concentration: “You've got to be switched on at all times in the ACL.

“To be fair I think the boys really struggled towards the end,” added Vargas, who once again used his head from a set piece to get on the scoresheet.

“Everyone gave it their all but it's pretty tough, three weeks between games. We can only give it 100%, it just wasn't enough on the day.

“We haven't thrown the towel in. We're still going to go out there [in Osaka in two weeks] and try to win the game.

"We showed plenty of ability and quality against a very good side, and we scored three goals against them."