Adelaide United captain Eugene Galekovic has praise his sides collective improvement as a major catalyst after securing the A-League premiers plate.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Football Show, the 34-year-old said: “Everyone played a part. It’s not just one or two boys, everyone had to turn the corner.”
Due to games not being played simultaneously, the goalkeeper, along with the rest of the squad watched the Melbourne Victory-Brisbane Roar clash at a local pub.
With the scoreline tied at 0-0, Victory’s raucous home support sung the name of Lawrence Thomas after a string of impressive saves late in the match to deny Brisbane, thus handing the premiers plate to Adelaide.
“We watched the game, it was pretty tense. I think we counted down every minute in the end, and like you said, Lawrence Thomas had a great game and in the end he helped us achieve something.”
“In saying that, it was 27 rounds that proves that you are the premiers and over 20 of those rounds, we deserved it. We would have made life easier if we did start well, but in the end we got there.
When asked by panelist Adrian Houghton whether he and the squad enjoyed a drink or two at the post-home-and-away season outing, Galekovic revealed: “We had a couple of quiet ones!”
While the FFA opted against simultaneous coverage of the penultimate round, Galekovic hopes that in future this can be changed.
“I agree. I think that all players would probably think the same,” he said.
“It would make the game so much more entertaining especially with the year we’ve had this year with 4-5 potential premiers.
“Hopefully that can change, like all the other countries, but you know, that will come down to the FFA and Fox Sports and how they want to do things.”
Guillermo Amor’s squad have now earned a week off, and while that could be seen as something that could rob the side of momentum, the veteran is adamant that his side will be a stronger outfit for the first semi-final on the 22nd of April.
“I think it’s [a week off] a benefit. This time of the year there’s a lot of sore bodies, and it gives us that time to rest.
“It’s just about managing the boys and managing their load and we’ll be ready the week after for sure.”
While Adelaide have enjoyed a renaissance, Stefan Mauk’s emergence as a solid contributor since his arrival in January has helped toward this landmark team accolade.
“He [Mauk] has been sensational,” Galekovic said.
“Ossie [Osama Malik] was a big loss, but Stef [Mauk] adds that different dynamic. He can create, score goals and he’s box to box. Probably a perfect replacement for Jimmy Jeggo.”
Galekovic and the squad will face the lower placed winner out of Brisbane Roar vs Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory.
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