Former Reds boss Greg Griffin finally meets Argentine Gabriel Batistuta - three years after trying to bring him to the club
Argentine great Gabriel Batistuta has met the man who tried to lure him to Adelaide United, while a former Red may be returning to the club. All that and more in this week’s 90 Minutes.
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Imagine what life would have been like if Adelaide United had snared Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta as its new coach in 2017, before German Marco Kurz was announced as the new boss.
Former Reds principal shareholder and chairman Greg Griffin finally got to meet Batistuta, almost three years after the club had flagged interest in snaring the marquee coach once Barcelona legend Guillermo Amor signalled his intent not to renew his two-year Adelaide United contract.
The pair met at HBF Park in Perth where Glory smacked the Reds 3-0, and before new boss Gertjan Verbeek was brutal in his post match assessment of his men.
“He is a great man and we had a good chat about the time we were headhunting him and his good friend Diego Osella who also played for Argentina,’’ Griffin said.
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“Ante Kovacevic (former Adelaide United general manager of football) was behind all of this and Gabriel remembered the conversation and the links to Adelaide because that’s his wife’s middle name.
“He lived in Perth for a long time and loved it there, it was great to see him and we’re keeping in touch.
“After Gabriel said he wasn’t available for the coaching job we went hard in getting Marco and Ante flew twice to Germany to meet and in the end he was a very, very good choice.”
Batistuta was named in Pele’s ‘FIFA 100’ – the list of 100 greatest living footballers.
He held the record for Argentina’s top scorer with 54 goals in 77 appearances until Lionel Messi topped the feat in 2016.
INDIGENOUS MATCH ABOUT TO HIT SA’S NPL
Adelaide City’s long history of blooding indigenous players, including John Moriarty, Travis Dodd and Fred Agius, is destined to be celebrated in SA this NPL season.
The Black and White are understood to be in the midst of setting up an indigenous clash against MetroStars where both sides are set to unveil special kits for the occasion.
Former Adelaide United captain Dodd, now 40, is an assistant MetroStars coach.
Moriarty played soccer for the now defunct Port Thistle, Port Adelaide, Adelaide Croatia (Raiders) and Adelaide Juventus (Adelaide City).
Agius made his NSL debut for Adelaide City and recently coached Brahma Lodge in the SA Amateur League last year.
ELRICH RETURNING TO REDS?
Adelaide United football director Bruce Djite tweeted his own breaking news during a chat on the social media network last week.
The timing of his breaking tweet was impeccable, a coincidence that appeared too good to be true.
This all happened when Djite gave his explanation about the hot topic of Adelaide United calling for two volunteers after the axing of the club’s equipment manager Chris Kelly sent shudders across the playing group just before Christmas.
Speculation is now pointing to one of Djite's good friends and five-year Reds defender Tarek Elrich returning to the club.
Former Red Bruce Kamau is also off contract at Wanderers.
The now 33-year-old's two-year contract at Western Sydney comes to an end in May.
KEEPING IT INTERESTING
It’s been a hectic time for Adelaide United’s back-up goalkeepers, as one leaves the club and another fights to regain fitness.
The Reds announced earlier this week that Australian under-23 custodian Daniel Margush had been released, four years after making his A-League debut for his hometown team.
Raiders product Margush played seven first-team games for United, but has slipped behind fellow Croweater Isaac Richards in the goalkeeping pecking order this campaign.
But Richards himself has faced a challenging period since making his maiden A-League appearance for the Reds, deputising for No. 1 Paul Izzo away to Central Coast last month.
The 20-year-old sustained a knee injury in training, which kept him out of the road trips to face Sydney FC and Perth Glory over the past fortnight.
Youngster Dakota Ochsenham, at the time the club’s fourth-choice keeper, was instead on the bench for both fixtures, given Margush was on Olyroos duty in Thailand.
He was expected to miss Friday night’s home clash with traditional rival Melbourne Victory, as he continues his recovery.
VALE GEORGE MCMILLAN
Born: March 15, 1930 | Died: December 25, 2019
Former Aberdeen of Scotland 1960s forward, ex Adelaide Juventus, Adelaide Croatia, Salisbury United, Beograd Woodville and Campbelltown City coach George McMillan passed away on Christmas Day after a battle with pneumonia and dementia.
McMillan moved to South Australia in the 1960s, becoming one of the state’s most successful coaches.
In 1969, McMillan was credited with the resurgence of Adelaide Juventus recruiting the hugely popular Eric Norman from Melbourne.
A year later Juventus claimed the SA premiership and the Federation Cup.
He also led Campbelltown City back to the first division in 1977 before owning a soccer show on local radio 5EBI.
McMillan lived in Campbelltown before moving to the United Kingdom to be closer to his son Graham McMillan in 2012.
Graham moved to the UK to work in horse racing as an assistant trainer to the legendary David Elsworth in 2004 and has lived there since.
George’s funeral was held at Peterborough crematorium on January 10.
Graham has set up a Go Fund Me page, with proceeds going to the Bushfire Appeal in lieu of flowers at the funeral.
BUSHFIRE ALL STARS MATCH TOUTED
Lawyer Mark Quaglia has devised a concept to help Australia’s bushfire ravaged population, which would unite South Australia’s soccer community for a great cause.
Quaglia suggested Adelaide United plays an All Stars South Australian National Premier League side in a bid to raise money for the people affected by the recent bushfires.
He identified the Reds’ third bye of the season, on the weekend of March 20, as being the ideal date to host the clash at Marden Sports Complex.
The NPL round should be postponed as a mark of respect that weekend, too.
“We should all be sticking together, we’re all Australians and everybody is affected by this and we have a big football community who can help these people,’’ Quaglia said.
Over to you, chief soccer officials.
BLACK AND WHITE SEAL ON REDS GOAL
Adelaide United youngster Chelsie Dawber celebrated her first W-League goal this month, following a four-year health and injury battle.
Dawber got on the end of a through ball from midfielder Dylan Holmes, before driving into the box and steering a composed finish into the far corner of the net.
It was a familiar move for the United duo, given they are also teammates in the local competition for the three-time reigning champion Black and Whites.
“To get on the end of the ball put through by Dylan and then score, I was very excited,” Dawber, 20, said.
“It’s a typical training goal for Dylan and I working together at Adelaide City.
“I scored a few goals like that there.
“Hopefully the first goal opens the floodgates for the rest of them to come (at W-League level).”
Dawber scored 33 goals this past winter campaign for City, as it claimed a minor premiership, championship and cup treble.
Her breakthrough W-League strike followed a run of physical setbacks, including post-concussion syndrome and shin splints, which had sidelined her for extended periods.
YONGBIN CHEN WATCH
Adelaide United’s fifth visa signing for the 2019/20 season Yongbin Chen played for eight minutes in the club’s youth league team at Adelaide City Park on Sunday.
Adelaide beat Brisbane Roar 3-1.
After earning a reported 10 seconds off the bench the week before, the Chinese has now added more game time to his 25-minute debut with the youth team.
SA PLAYERS ABROAD
Brandon Borrello – Freiburg (Bundesliga): Winter break.
Alex Chidiac – Atletico Madrid (women’s Spanish Primera Division): Not in the match day squad in a 1-0 win over Sporting De Huelva.
Ben Garuccio – Hearts (Scottish Premier League): Winter break.
Meni Haralampopoulos – Acharnaikos (Greek Gamma Ethniki): Winter break.
Awer Mabil – Midtjylland (Danish Super League): Winter break.
Craig Goodwin – Al-Wehda (Saudi Arabia Pro League): Played 90 minutes in a 3-1 away loss to Al Hilal.
Andrew Marveggio – Macva Sabac (Serbian Super League): Winter break.