2007–08 Adelaide United FC season explained

Club:Adelaide United
Season:2007–08
Manager:Aurelio Vidmar
Chairman:Mel Patzwald
League:A-League
League Result:6th
Cup1:Pre-Season Cup
Cup1 Result:Champions
Cup2:AFC Champions League
Cup2 Result:Group stages
Biggest Win:4–1 (Melbourne Victory)
Biggest Loss:2–0 (Central Coast Mariners)
Highest Attendance:25,039 (vs Sydney FC, 28 December 2007)
Lowest Attendance:10,256 (vs Newcastle Jets, 18 November 2007)
Average Attendance:12,697
Pattern B1:_Kit_frount_AU_reebok_spikes
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Body1:FF0000
Rightarm1:FF0000
Shorts1:FF0000
Socks1:FF0000
Leftarm2:FF0000
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Prevseason:2006–07
Nextseason:2008–09

The 2007–08 Adelaide United FC season was the club's third season since the inception of the A-League. The club competed in the 2007–08 A-League and finished sixth on the ladder.

For the 2007–08 season Adelaide recruited ex-Socceroo Paul Agostino "marquee", Ivorian Jonas Salley and ex-Olyroo Kristian Sarkies.[1] They also signed Issy Erdogan of Preston Lions. One of the success stories of the season was the signing of former Flamengo FC player Cássio on a free transfer from Brazilian club. Cássio, who joined from Santa Cruz FC, won the Club Champion award in his first season. Shaun Ontong and Matthew Mullen from the AIS, were also signed to replenish their defensive stocks after the departure of Kristian Rees, Adam van Dommele and Aaron Goulding.

The 2007–08 season was a season to forget for Adelaide as they battled a huge amount of player injury throughout the season. This effectively ended their finals hopes and it was the first time Adelaide had failed to make the top two in A-League history.

Adelaide United participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League after finishing runner-up in the 2006–07 regular season and finals series to Melbourne Victory. Adelaide was drawn into Group E, along with V-League and Super Cup winners Bình Dương F.C., CSL champions Changchun Yatai, and K-League winners Pohang Steelers.

In their opening match of the 2008 campaign, Adelaide United defeated Pohang 2–0 in Korea. United drew against Changchun 0–0 in their second game, defeated Bình Dương 2–1 in Vietnam and followed this up with a 4–1 victory in the return leg. In their final group tie at home, Adelaide defeated Pohang 1–0, setting up a deciding away tie against Changchun to determine the Group E winner. In Changchun, Adelaide withstood considerable pressure to achieve an historic 0–0 draw, thus becoming the first Australian team to ever progress to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.

Adelaide drew J-League and Emperor's Cup champions Kashima Antlers in a two legged quarter-final starting in Japan, where they managed a 1–1 draw. Adelaide captain Travis Dodd scored first in the opening half, but right before halftime the score levelled when Robert Cornthwaite scored an own goal. In the return leg at the Hindmarsh Stadium a week later, Adelaide became the first Australian team to progress to the semi-finals of the competition with a 1–0 win. Cornthwaite redeemed himself from his own goal in the first leg by scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.

Adelaide drew 2007 Uzbek League Runners-up FC Bunyodkor in the semi-final, after the Uzbeks knocked out Saipa F.C. in their quarter-final. In the first leg of the semi-final, Adelaide won 3–0 with Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano (via a penalty) scoring. The match was witnessed by 16,998 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium.[2]

In the second leg of the semi-finals Adelaide United lost 1–0 to FC Bunyodkor but went through to the final 3–1 on aggregate.[3] Thus they became the first Australian team to make it to the final of Asia's premier club competition.[4] In the two legged final, they took on Japanese team Gamba Osaka who deposed 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semi-final.[5]

This result ensured that Adelaide would participate in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the AFC representatives or as the highest placed non-Japanese team – as the rules do not allow more than one Japanese team to participate.[6]

Adelaide lost heavily over two legs to Gamba Osaka. The score was 3–0 to Gamba Osaka away and 2–0 to Osaka at home in Adelaide, the Japanese club winning 5–0 on aggregate.[7]

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Transfers

Transfers in

width=140 Namewidth=70 Positionwidth=160 Moving from
Forward TSV 1860 München
Midfield New Zealand Knights
Forward Melbourne Victory
Defender Santa Cruz
Defender AIS
Midfield AIS
Defender Preston Lions
Defender FK Vojvodina
Goalkeeper Melbourne Victory

Transfers out

width=140 Namewidth=70 Positionwidth=160 Moving to
Midfield Central Coast Mariners
Midfield Wellington Phoenix
Defender Melbourne Victory
Forward released
Forward retired
FernandoForward released
Defender Whittlesea Zebras
Defender released
Defender South Melbourne

Goal scorers

TotalPlayerGoals per Round
 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
6 1 1 2 1 1
5 1 2 1 1
5 1 1 1 1 1
4 1 1 1 1
4 1 2 1
2 1 1
1 1
1 1

Competitions

Pre-season

Round Date Home team Score Away team Crowd Stadium Match Details
115 July 2007 1–1 8,061 Report
220 July 2007 1–1 3,513 Report
327 July 2007 4–1 3,800 Report
Playoff5 August 2007 3–2 5,221 Report
Grand Final12 August 2007 2–1 9,606 Report

A-League

Matches

Round Date Home team Score Away team Crowd Stadium Match Details
125 August 2007 2–2 16,828 Report
Summary
21 September 2007 2–2 14,233 Report
Summary
37 September 2007 1–1 12,231 Report
Summary
415 September 2007 1–0 13,627 Report
Summary
522 September 2007 2–2 12,127 Report
Summary
630 September 2007 2–1 11,019 Report
Summary
77 October 2007 0–0 6,252 Report
Summary
812 October 2007 4–1 13,372 Report
Summary
920 October 2007 0–1 12,922 Report
Summary
1028 October 2007 4–1 11,740 Report
Summary
112 November 2007 0–1 10,705 Report
Summary
1210 November 2007 2–0 11,680 Report
Summary
1318 November 2007 1–1 10,256 Report
Summary
1423 November 2007 1–1 10,678 Report
Summary
1530 November 2007 1–2 18,345 Report
Summary
168 December 2007 2–2 22,466 Report
Summary
1714 December 2007 1–2 11,123 Report
Summary
1828 December 2007 1–3 25,039 Report
Summary
194 January 2008 2–1 13,047 Report
Summary
2013 January 2008 3–2 8,025 Report
Summary
2120 January 2008 2–0 10,803 Report
Summary

AFC Champions League

See main article: 2008 AFC Champions League.

Group stage

Round Date Home team Score Away team Attendance Stadium
112 March 2008 0 – 2
Cornthwaite
Djite
8,436 Steelyard Stadium
219 March 2008 0–0 10,510 Hindmarsh Stadium
39 April 2008 15,000 Gò Đậu Stadium
423 April 2008 13,802 Hindmarsh Stadium
57 May 2008 11,805 Hindmarsh Stadium
622 May 2008 0–0 20,000 Changchun City Stadium

Knockout stage

Final Date Home team Score Away team Attendance Stadium
Quarter (1)17 September 2008 1 – 1
Dodd
7,004 Kashima Soccer Stadium
Quarter (2)24 September 2008 16,965 Hindmarsh Stadium
Semi (1)8 October 2008 16,998 Hindmarsh Stadium
Semi (2)22 October 2008 1–0 17,000 MHSK Stadium
Grand (1)5 November 2008 3–0 20,639 Osaka Expo '70 Stadium
Grand (2)12 November 2008 0–2 17,000 Hindmarsh Stadium

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=7349&pageid=11 Sarkies joins United
  2. http://adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=24107 Reds take giant leap towards AFC Champions League Final
  3. http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=aleague_newsdisplay&id=24357 Adelaide United into AFC Champions League Final
  4. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168297218.html Vidmar: ‘As big as the World Cup!’
  5. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168297215.html Nishino: We won the mental battle
  6. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168297273.html Adelaide toasted by Oz media
  7. http://www.the-afc.com/eng/articles/viewArticle.jsp_168330702.html Gamba crowned kings of Asia