After ascending to the top of the A-League ladder last weekend with their biggest win in club history, Adelaide United arrived to see yet another summit towering before them.
The Reds barely had time to uncork the champagne from their 6 1 win over Wellington Phoenix in their Round 14 fixture last Friday before departing for Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup.
After ascending to the top of the A-League ladder last weekend with their biggest win in club history, Adelaide United arrived to see yet another summit towering before them.
The Reds barely had time to uncork the champagne from their 6 1 win over Wellington Phoenix in their Round 14 fixture last Friday before departing for Japan for the FIFA Club World Cup.
There they will join the best football clubs the FIFA confederations have to offer, including European Champions League victors Manchester United.
Adelaide United’s runner-up performance in the 2008 Asian Football Confederation Champions League ensured their qualification for this elite global club knock-out tournament that runs from December 11 to 21.
In another first for any of Australia’s domestic teams, all of Adelaide’s matches in the cup will be telecast live on SBS TV, starting with the event’s opening match against Waitakere United.
The Reds will be expected to win first up when they take on the Oceania representative club champions from New Zealand’s semi-professional O-League domestic competition.
Awaiting the winner is a match-up on Sunday evening (December 14) with the AFC Champions Gamba Osaka following their hugely impressive triumph over Adelaide United just last month.
The winner of that quarter-final match will battle the likes of Ronaldo, Rooney and the rest of the Red Devils for a place in the Final – most likely against LDU Quito from Equador although the South American representative will face tough competition in their half of the CWC draw from Mexico’s Pachuca and Egypt’s Al Ahly.
Results Round 14
Adelaide 6 Wellington 1
Central Coast 1 Queensland 1
Perth 3 Melbourne 1
Newcastle 1 Sydney 2
Ladder Round 14/21
Team GD Points
Adelaide 7 24
Melbourne 7 23
Sydney 5 20
Queensland 5 20
Central Coast 6 19
Wellington -8 18
Perth -12 15
Newcastle -10 12
GD = Goal Difference
Round 15
Saturday December 13, 2008
Wellington Phoenix FC
vs
Perth Glory FC
Westpac Stadium
Wellington, NZ, 7pm
Central Coast Mariners FC
vs
Sydney FC
Bluetongue Stadium
Central Coast, NSW, 7pm
Sunday December 14, 2008
Queensland Roar FC
vs
Newcastle Jets FC
Suncorp Stadium
Brisbane, QLD, 6pm
Tuesday January 6, 2009
Melbourne Victory FC
vs
Adelaide United FC
Telstra Dome
Melbourne, VIC, 7.30pm
(Match rescheduled from Friday December 13 due to Adelaide’s participation in FIFA Club World Cup)
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