Football Federation Australia says all A-League and W-League matches to go ahead despite coronavirus pandemic
Adelaide United veteran James Troisi says the Reds need to shut out the noise surrounding coronavirus when they face-off against Newcastle on Sunday. But he concedes it’s “inevitable” the disease will impact the league at some point.
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Adelaide United’s James Troisi says the global health crisis really hit home when his parents sought self-isolation as the coronavirus was declared a pandemic.
Troisi’s mother Stacia and father Alby returned from Rome just before the Italian government ordered extreme measures, ordering people to stay home and seek permission for essential travel.
“The AFL is talking about whether they postpone the competition or play it behind closed doors and that’s what happened in Italian football at the start of the crisis over there,’’ Troisi said.
“I think it’s inevitable and it will happen here, the hard thing is the common cold is going around.
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“We’ve ramped it up a bit at training, no-one is shaking hands, but in terms of postponing or cancelling games nothing has really been said.
“But I can only see this going one way.
“My main concern is my little one (first child Izea Wolf) and the elderly.
“In our environment if someone in the team gets it, a family member or a mate, whatever, it can spread.
“Mum and dad did the right thing, they left Rome before it got really bad, we have family in Rome and it’s very serious now.
“It’s crazy out there, but we have to be smart about it.”
Halloran is battling an infection – not coronavirus – and will miss the clash against Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium on Sunday.
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The clash won’t have any restrictions after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said all gatherings attended by more than 500 people – including football matches – should be cancelled from Monday.
A Football Federation Australia spokesman on Friday afternoon said all A-League and W-League games will go ahead as planned this weekend “at this stage”.
Troisi, 31, says the Reds have to put coronavirus fears behind them before their season threatens to spiral out of control.
He said bouncing back from the 1-5 drubbing to Western United last weekend would, mentally, be the biggest challenge after the Reds were punted from the top six for the first time since round five.
The poor result was in spite of Opta Stats proving Troisi became the first player to create 11 goal scoring chances in an A-League clash since Opta started recording data in 2012.
“I don’t think this season we’ve had an issue with scoring goals or creating chances, but it’s not just the defence, it’s the whole team,’’ Troisi said.
“If you’re open and isolated, the structure, it’s not individuals doing bad things.
“But at the start of the season those chances we created, they were going into the back of the net – at the moment it’s not happening and then we cop a goal and get nervous.
“That changes the whole atmosphere and environment.”
Troisi helped the Reds earn three valuable points at Hindmarsh the last time United faced the Jets in a 2-1 win in December, when Adelaide was flying and was just a point adrift of second spot.
“It’s tough being in a bubble like this, we have to get out of it,’’ Troisi said.
“Ultimately, we want to make the playoffs, we can still do it, we have to get out of this lull and go for it.”