And I’m not saying that because I expect you to support the code or our city’s only A-League club – those things would just be a bonus.

Go for your own benefit. Go because you never know when you’ll have the chance again.

Adelaide may host another grand final next year. But equally, we may not see one here again for decades.

Pablo S‡anchez Alberto celebrates victory. Photo: David Mariuz, AAP.

I know I’ve mentioned it more than once before but Adelaide United was within minutes of earning the right to host the 2007 grand final. Unfortunately the Reds were denied by a late Melbourne Victory goal and it’s taken another nine years for the competition’s showpiece to find its way to South Australia.

Along with sport’s uncertainties, the A-League’s structure also makes sustained success difficult to achieve.

The salary cap and squad limits are tight but there are few restrictions on player movement. And these things combine to make every team a season-to-season proposition.

You can even see drastic changes within a season – just look at Perth Glory’s campaign.

With just three wins from the first 15 rounds, the Western Australian team seemed to have little chance of making the finals. But the club did some terrific business in the mid-season transfer window and then won nine of its next ten to threaten for honours.

Before next season begins, players will leave Adelaide United; others will arrive. I’m confident the club will still be competitive but to remain a frontrunner it may need to match (or better) its rivals’ wheeling and dealing.

The Reds will also play in next year’s Asian Champions League and that will give them a workload in the second half of the domestic season that A-League clubs are increasingly struggling with.

The grand final offers few certainties – as you’d expect.

Legendary manager Sepp Herberger once said: “Die Leute gehen zum Fußball, weil sie nicht wissen wie es ausgeht.”

Which more or less means that people go to the football because they don’t know how it will end.

Wanderers supporters celebrate their team’s win over the Roar. Photo: Dan Himbrechts, AAP.

He knew this better than most having led West Germany to victory over Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final – one of the greatest and most dramatic upsets the sport has known. (Yes, as bizarre as it may sound to those not familiar with soccer’s history, at that time the Germans beating the Hungarians was a huge shock.)

Herberger’s delightfully uncomplicated words remain as true now as they did then and Sunday night’s extraordinary semi-final in Parramatta underlined them once again.

Western Sydney Wanderers defeating Brisbane Roar was no surprise. But everything else was: Roar taking a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes; Wanderers scoring four by the hour mark to complete a remarkable turnaround; and Brisbane equalising to force extra time… in which Western Sydney got the winning goal.

While watching the match, I realised that caring about the team you support and caring about the sport can be conflicting.

For Adelaide United, a Brisbane triumph would have been better. The Roar have been a disaster on their travels this season winning just three of their 14 away games.

And some of their performances on the road have been humiliating. There was a 4-0 capitulation against Victory in Melbourne in January and the following month saw nine away goals conceded in a week thanks to a 6-3 loss in Perth and a 3-0 loss in Adelaide.

Even in the final round of the home-and-away season in Melbourne, against Victory’s B team, Roar couldn’t come up with the win they needed to secure the premier’s plate.

Yet I found that I was a little relieved when Western Sydney Wanderers, who can do the business away from home, qualified for the grand final. They’ll bring more fans (more than 10,000 have bought tickets already) which will make a sold out stadium a genuine possibility.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley of the Wanderers gestures to the crowd after Romeo Castelen scored his third goal. Photo: Dan Himbrechts, AAP.

It’s four days since United’s semi-final win over Melbourne City but the match and the occasion remain worthy of mention.

Comparing the atmosphere between games played years apart is somewhat difficult but I’ve maintained that, at Hindmarsh Stadium, nothing has surpassed the 2003-4 semi-final between Adelaide United and South Melbourne in the final season of the National Soccer League.

Now I’m not so sure. Friday night was truly electric and for that much credit should go to the Red Army. Led by its dynamic capo Glenn Clissold, Adelaide United’s active supporters provided 90 minutes of pure energy and got the rest of the (normally staid) crowd involved several times.

On the pitch the Reds certainly rose to the occasion. In the post-match media conference, coach Guillermo

Adelaide’s Dylan McGowan celebrates his goal. Photo: David Mariuz, AAP.

Amor noted that they played “very well” in the first half. This is despite the second half being the one in which Adelaide scored all its goals. Two of them may have come in the final minutes but make no mistake, United was worthy of the 4-1 scoreline.

Sunday will be different. It has to be – Adelaide Oval offers less intimacy but a much higher capacity. The playing conditions won’t be the same either. But the game and the atmosphere might be even better.

There will be no distractions from other popular sports. Even the AFL obligingly scheduled matches that mostly include lesser clubs such as Carlton, Essendon and Collingwood.

So make sure you don’t miss a chance to see what could be a famous day in South Australian sporting history.

And come on you Reds!

Paul Marcuccitti’s soccer column is usually published in InDaily on Mondays. He is a co-presenter of 5RTI’s Soccer on 531 program which can be heard from 10am on Saturdays.