“In this game, anything can happen”: Reds pumped for Cup tilt
Adelaide United will throw the playbook out the window as they bid to become the first club to win a second FFA Cup.
Adelaide United players train at Coopers stadium yesterday. Photo: David Mariuz / AAP
The Reds travel to Campbelltown Stadium in Sydney’s south-west to play Western Sydney Wanderers tonight in a semi-final.
Waiting for the winner in the final is all-conquering Sydney FC, looking to add this trophy to their A-League premiership and championship claimed earlier this year.
And as Adelaide’s Algerian midfielder Karim Matmour knows, the only way to get to the decider is to fight.
“The target is to go into the final. It’s not to play well, it’s only to win,” he said.
“With my experience in Cup games I know it will be totally different.
“It will be harder.
“In this game, anything can happen. We are confident. We go there to win and go to the final.”
Both sides will be close to full strength for the clash.
The Wanderers are unlikely to risk Michael Thwaite, who missed the Sydney derby with a hamstring issue.
Hayden Foxe also has Jerrad Tyson and Steven Lustica on the long-term injury list.
Taylor Regan and Tarek Elrich are still missing for Adelaide, with international signing Ersan Gulum joining the pair in the recovery room.
Gulum punctured a lung in a clash with Melbourne Victory captain Carl Valeri in their 2-2 A-League draw on Friday night.
He soldiered on at Adelaide Oval but now isn’t expected to return for a month.
United hosted and won the inaugural FFA Cup competition in 2014.
Last year’s triumph by City came at Sydney FC’s expense – denying them a perfect treble inside a single season.
But the Sky Blues can still unite the three trophies – just as Victory did in 2015 – by claiming the final on November 21.
-AAP
