Post by admin on Nov 26, 2006 11:48:07 GMT 10
Kosi pleased with Romario
Despite losing 2-0, Adelaide United coach John Kosmina has said he was pleased with the debut Hyundai A-League performance of Brazilian legend Romario and the way his team played against the Mariners on Saturday night.
Undoubtedly the biggest superstar to lace up the boots in the competition's short history, Romario played 80 minutes in the round 14 fixture at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, the first of his four-game guest stint with Adelaide.
And while he was a bit slower than in his prime, he still showed glimpses of the indomitable talent that saw him awarded the Golden Boot for best player at the 1994 World Cup.
Playing up front as the lone striker, the 40-year-old manoeuvred his way into two clear goal-scoring opportunities plus a handful of half-chances and looked dangerous on the edge of the penalty area, working some clever passes with his United team-mates.
"I think he did quite well because he caused problems for people. Look at the positions he got himself into," said Kosmina.
"He only got here Monday and you look at the whole adjustment situation and we did quite well with it. We played well and we created some good chances and you can't complain about that."
"He copped a bit of a knock just before he came off so I thought I'd save him for the last 10 and put a bit of brute force up front and put Carl (Veart) up there."
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna also rated Romario's performance positively, indicating he was glad for his side to have met the diminutive Brazilian legend at the beginning of his guest appearance rather than at the end.
"He's just off the plane and just in the team, so fitness-wise he's a bit behind the boys but we all expected that. But having said that he could have scored two goals against us," McKinna said after the game.
"He had a chance in the first half and he had a couple of one-on-ones in the second half and he could have hurt us there at that time. So I think he will only get better as he goes on."
The appearance of the Brazilian maestro, who is second on the all-time goal-scorers' list with an incredible 986 first-class goals, also boosted the crowd at the Central Coast, with the venue breaking its highest regular season attendance ever as 13,119 fans packed the stands to see the match.
"It was good for the Central Coast," Kosmina said wryly.
"It was good to play against him," added Mariners captain and defender Alex Wilkinson.
"We have had Dwight Yorke, Benito Carbone and now Romario, so I think it is great for the league in general."
"We didn't expect him to beat us for pace, but we thought he would be sharp in the 18-yard box and he was. He played some good one-twos."
"But I think myself and Viddy (Tony Vidmar) limited him to just a few chances and one of those was from a mistake, so I think we handled him quite well."
Romario will play his final three matches of his guest stint at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium over the next three weeks against the Melbourne Victory (December 1), the New Zealand Knights (December 10) and the Newcastle Jets (December 15).
Despite losing 2-0, Adelaide United coach John Kosmina has said he was pleased with the debut Hyundai A-League performance of Brazilian legend Romario and the way his team played against the Mariners on Saturday night.
Undoubtedly the biggest superstar to lace up the boots in the competition's short history, Romario played 80 minutes in the round 14 fixture at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium, the first of his four-game guest stint with Adelaide.
And while he was a bit slower than in his prime, he still showed glimpses of the indomitable talent that saw him awarded the Golden Boot for best player at the 1994 World Cup.
Playing up front as the lone striker, the 40-year-old manoeuvred his way into two clear goal-scoring opportunities plus a handful of half-chances and looked dangerous on the edge of the penalty area, working some clever passes with his United team-mates.
"I think he did quite well because he caused problems for people. Look at the positions he got himself into," said Kosmina.
"He only got here Monday and you look at the whole adjustment situation and we did quite well with it. We played well and we created some good chances and you can't complain about that."
"He copped a bit of a knock just before he came off so I thought I'd save him for the last 10 and put a bit of brute force up front and put Carl (Veart) up there."
Mariners coach Lawrie McKinna also rated Romario's performance positively, indicating he was glad for his side to have met the diminutive Brazilian legend at the beginning of his guest appearance rather than at the end.
"He's just off the plane and just in the team, so fitness-wise he's a bit behind the boys but we all expected that. But having said that he could have scored two goals against us," McKinna said after the game.
"He had a chance in the first half and he had a couple of one-on-ones in the second half and he could have hurt us there at that time. So I think he will only get better as he goes on."
The appearance of the Brazilian maestro, who is second on the all-time goal-scorers' list with an incredible 986 first-class goals, also boosted the crowd at the Central Coast, with the venue breaking its highest regular season attendance ever as 13,119 fans packed the stands to see the match.
"It was good for the Central Coast," Kosmina said wryly.
"It was good to play against him," added Mariners captain and defender Alex Wilkinson.
"We have had Dwight Yorke, Benito Carbone and now Romario, so I think it is great for the league in general."
"We didn't expect him to beat us for pace, but we thought he would be sharp in the 18-yard box and he was. He played some good one-twos."
"But I think myself and Viddy (Tony Vidmar) limited him to just a few chances and one of those was from a mistake, so I think we handled him quite well."
Romario will play his final three matches of his guest stint at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium over the next three weeks against the Melbourne Victory (December 1), the New Zealand Knights (December 10) and the Newcastle Jets (December 15).
