INSIDE THIS WEEK... www.goalweekly.com $3 Q&A with Ross Alatsas Focus on Eastern Lioness Tash Haines Season 3: Issue 16 Monday 13th August 2007 Supporting all colours and reporting in black and white SUBURBS IN SEVENTH HEAVEN! Photo: Daniel Flis PLUS► ALL THE LATEST ACTION FROM THE FOXTEL CUP, STATE & PROVI LEAGUES, WPL, JUNIORS & MUCH, MUCH MORE! Goal! Weekly Goal! Weekly A-LEAGUE PRE-SEASON CUP 27 PLAY- OFF ROUND MELBOURNE VICTORY BROSQUE CONDEMNS 0 - 1 SYDNEY FC CHAMPS TO DEFEAT By Simon Chiarelli Photos by Therese Duffy Melbourne concludes Pre-season Cup winless Sydney FC has ensured Melbourne Vic- After Biddle was fouled on the right fl ank, tory complete their pre-season cam- Olyroo captain Mark Milligan sent in a paign winless by overcoming the reigning delicately whipped cross which found Ru- league champions 1-0 at Olympic Park. dan, who fl ashed a header inches high with Michael Theoklitos well beaten. Alex Brosque’s 34th minute goal proved to be the match winner, as he slammed home And after sustained period of pressure, Syd- the ball from the edge of the area to consign ney broke through for the opening goal in the Melbourne to last place in the pre-season cup 34th minute as Brosque pounced on a poor and secure Sydney a belated fi rst victory. Grant Brebner clearance before clinically angling a shot past a stationary Theoklitos. However, Victory coach Ernie Mer- rick remains optimistic about his side’s Commencing the second period in the prospects for the forthcoming season de- same fashion as they did the fi rst, Mel- spite the reigning champions slumping bourne almost snatched an equaliser on 50 to their fourth loss from fi ve matches. minutes when a clearance ricocheted just “We did great, I’m really happy with wide of the post off half-time introduction the performance in terms of the passing Kaz Patafta following a goalmouth scrim- and the confi dence of the team,” he said. mage, before fi ve minutes later Thompson “I don’t think we’ll ever play such a high scorned Victory’s best chance of the match. quality game and not score again. We were good in the fi rst half and even bet- Receiving the ball at the halfway mark, ter in the second, and I did take a lot from Muscat pushed forward before play- that. The worst thing that could have hap- ing a magnifi cent defence splitting pass pened is if we played badly and won 1-0.” which found Thompson, who cut in- side and drove across the face of goal. Seemingly intent to arrest their form slump, Melbourne grabbed the ascenden- Having been a non-factor throughout, Her- Match winner cy early, refusing to relinquish possession nandez was replaced mid-way through Alex Brosque as they attempted to stretch the Sydney the second half by Adrian Caceres. forces defence with their swift ball movement. It didn’t take long for the Argentinean-born Victory’s Archie Thompson signalled his intentions winger to make an impact as he ghosted past Daniel early as he embarked on a mazy run down one defender before directed his strike wide. Piorkowski to the park, claiming the scalp of Mark Milligan have eyes for in the process before running out of room. Caceres’ introduction injected much needed the ball only. But as the half progressed, undoubt- enthusiasm into a lethargic Victory line- 2008 edly hindered by the conditions, Victo- up, and coupled with the emergence of Pa- ry’s once slick interplay deteriorated as tafta, who staked his claim for a starting amateurish errors crept into the game. berth, Melbourne were a transformed outfi t. VICTORY PLAYER RATINGS Captain Kevin Muscat was the primary culprit, And in the 77th minute, the on-loan Ben- along with much-feted import Carlos Hernan- fi ca player almost conjured an equaliser Michael Theoklitos 7 – Made a few second half dez; constantly sending passes astray as Syd- for his side, playing a wondrous through- important saves in impressive perfor- Rodrigo Vargas 6 – Returning to form ney applied signifi cant pressure in the midfi eld. ball that sent Thompson in on goal, but the mance after disappointing against Wellington But while Melbourne’s midfi eld faltered, the Socceroo’s scoring woes continued, shoot- Kevin Muscat 5 – Struggled to fi nd Carlos Hernandez 5 – Uninspiring combination of Ufuk Talay and Adam Biddle ing wide with only Clint Bolton to beat. his passing range all night performance and still well short of match came to the fore and began to dominate pro- Daniel Piorkowski 6 – Solid contri- fi tness ceedings, stylishly distributing the ball and As the game approached injury time, Mel- bution in central defensive role Leigh Broxham 6 – Distributed the creating openings for the likes of Brosque and bourne pushed numbers forward in attempt to Steve Pantelidis 7 – Was a threat on ball well in the fi rst half former LA Galaxy player Michael Enfi eld. force the game to extra time, and they almost the right fl ank for much of the fi rst half did so through Patafta, but the youngster’s Grant Brebner 6 – Solid and begin- Substitutes And in their fi rst genuine foray for- long-range strike rocketed off the crossbar. ning to regain peak fi tness following in- Matthew Kemp 5 – Non-factor in ward, the sky blues came agonisingly jury second half close to taking the lead through for- Daniel Allsopp 6 – Marked out of the Adrian Caceres 7 - Made instant im- mer captain Mark Rudan on 27 minutes. contest pact after his introduction Archie Thompson 7 – Poor fi nishing Kaz Patafta 7 – Stunning perfor- marred an otherwise dazzling display mance, staked his claims for starting Joseph Keenan 6 – Faded in the berth in round one. Melbourne Victory 0 Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne Sydney FC 1 (Brosque 34’) Referee: Simon PRZYDACZ Saturday, 11 August, 2007 Crowd: 3400 Melbourne Victory: 1.Michael THEOKLITOS Sydney FC: 1.Clint BOLTON (gk), 4.Mark (gk), 2.Kevin MUSCAT (Captain), 3.Dan- RUDAN, 6.Tony POPOVIC (Captain), iel PIORKOWSKI, 6.Steve PANTELIDIS, 8.Ruben ZADKOVICH, 9.David ZDRILIC 8.Grant BREBNER, 9.Danny ALLSOPP, (3.Nikolas TSATTALIOS 90’+), 14.Alex 10.Archie THOMPSON (7.Matthew KEMP BROSQUE, 15.Terry McFLYNN, 16.Mark 84’), 11.Joseph KEENAN, 12.Rodrigo VAR- MILLIGAN, 19.Michael ENFIELD, 23.Ufuk GAS, 16.Carlos HERNANDEZ (14.Adrian TALAY (28.Shannon COLE 46’), 25.Adam CACERES 65’), 18.Leigh BROXHAM (13. BIDDLE Kaz PATAFTA 46’) After the 1-0 result, Sydney FC coach Branko Culina can afford Yellow cards: Brosque 47’, Biddle 58’, Cole 79’, McFlynn 87’ to do his own version of “Singing In The Rain”. Issue # 14 Monday 13 August 2007 Goal! Weekly SOCCERSOCCER HOTLINES HOTLINES 3 [email protected] FAWKNER FIRES TRANI This week’s line-up Soccer Hotlines 3 Seventh VPL coach to go this year Laciano Trani became the latest coaching was very thin in terms of experience and I other potential coaches, I wasn’t surprised, Foxtel Cup Details Page 4 casualty in the Foxtel Cup last Monday couldn’t see the logic of a senior player but you would think the board would remain Eagles v Lions 5 night when he was told his services would being unavailable for selection. We needed loyal to the current coach, but obviously that no longer be required by the struggling every senior player we could get to stand a wasn’t the case.” Kingston v Zebras 6 Fawkner Blues. chance of winning games. If they stop that Vlado Vanis has been appointed to take over South v Blues 7 Trani is the seventh coach this season to be from happening, then I see that as stopping from Trani and was in charge of his fi rst shown the door in the VPL. Asked what us from maximising every opportunity to game in the 0-0 draw with South Melbourne Suburbs v SWE 8 actually happened, Trani told Goal! Weekly, win a game. If a committee member wants on Friday night. Georgies v AIS 9 “Basically the club has decided to change the to say who can and who can’t play, well coach and decided to take action on Monday. then, maybe they should be running the team Q&A with Ross Alatsas 10 They wanted a particular player to be on the instead.” Tsigan 11 bench for this week’s game and I disagreed. Trani continued to add, “The disappointment I felt the senior player in question was well actually came about a month ago when Boo’s World 11 enough to be selected to play and we had a another coach rang to inform me that Bergers v Magic 12 difference of opinion.” there’s been talk of other people enquiring Asked if he was feeling the pressure over the of the position at Fawkner, and if they were Royals v Knights 14 last few weeks considering the predicament interested to take the position on. It’s a small Cavaliers v Cannons 15 the club fi nds themselves in, Trani said, world out there and when I found out the “No, no there’s been no pressure. Our squad club was already voicing their options to Division One 16 State & Provi Leagues 17 Juniors 21-23 VANIS ANSWERS SOS Succeroo: Pom’s Home View 25 A-League 26-27 Race against time to beat drop Vlado Vanis is the new coach of the Fawkner Blues. Only ditched a Goal! Weekly is published every Monday by matter of a few weeks ago by State Alimental Enterprises Pty Ltd League First Division outfi t Bentleigh PO Box 142 Greens, Vanis now fi nds himself back Port Melbourne, VIC, 3207 Phone: 9645-1440 in Victoria’s top fl ight competition with a major relegation battle on his Printed by hands.