Melbourne Victory are intent on taking part in the function of New Year’s Eve social gathering poopers to disclaim Central Coast Mariners prodigy Garang Kuol a becoming A-League farewell.
Teenage sensation Kuol will play his last sport for the Mariners on Saturday evening earlier than shifting to English Premier League membership Newcastle.
And whereas Victory coach Tony Popovic is a big admirer of Kuol, his aspect received’t let sentiment get in the best way of securing a much-needed win at Central Coast Stadium.
“He’s a wonderful talent, with so much potential,” Popovic mentioned.
“(But) we want to pay our part and put in a top performance, and try to spoil the party.”
Regardless of whether or not Kuol begins or comes off the bench, the Victory will probably be cautious of the influence the 18-year-old Socceroo could make.
“His mindset is very good,” Popovic mentioned of Kuol.
“He’s a confident young man, but you can see that his feet are firmly on the ground. It looks clear to me that he has a lot of good support around him.
“There are a lot of talented players out there, a lot of players with potential and very, very few make it to the very top, and very few play professionally, but he seems to be taking the right steps with a very good support network, (and) I’m sure he’ll have one overseas as well.
“If he continues this way … it’s an exciting future for him. It’ll be exciting to watch his progress.”
Sanctions in opposition to the Victory – enacted following the latest Melbourne derby pitch invasion which resulted in 10 folks being banned, together with two for all times, from all football-related exercise in Australia – will proceed in Gosford on Saturday evening.
The away energetic bays will probably be closed and cordoned off, and Victory followers will probably be banned from attending the match.
The Victory are additionally out to make amends on the sector after a 1-0 Boxing Day loss to a 10-man Western United, who had defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley despatched off within the first half.
“For the first 30 minutes we were very good … (but) it’s never easy to play against 10 men,” Popovic mentioned.
“You need that first goal to break the pattern of the match. We have to accept that we weren’t good enough to break them down on the day.”
The Victory have misplaced Paul Izzo for the journey to Gosford, with the previous Mariners goalkeeper having injured his thumb at coaching.
“It looks like he’ll be out for a little while,” Popovic mentioned.
Matt Acton looms are Izzo’s possible alternative.
