Western Sydney flyer Romeo Castelen insists Sunday’s A-League decider is not an opportunity for the club to disclose ‘unfinished business’ and dispel demons from grand finals past.
The Wanderers have reached two grand finals previously in their young yet decorated history, but emerged on the wrong end of the scoreline either time after defeats at the hands of Central Coast Mariners (2-0) followed by Brisbane Roar (2-1).
Now, a third opportunity at clinching glory in the decider has presented itself for the Red and Black against white-hot premiers Adelaide United. The Wanderers squad has been swept by change since grand finals of yesteryear, with only four members of the 2014 showpiece’s matchday squad (Shannon Cole, Mark Bridge, Brendan Santalab and Nikolai Topor-Stanley) still on the books.
Dutchman Castelen is one of many whom was not apart of that team, and says the club is not drawing on past failures for motivation.
“It’s a different squad, a few players from then (2014) were in the squad,” Castelen said.
“But it’s a totally new playing group that’s going to face Adelaide now, and it’s a different game.
“You cannot take things from the past into this game. We played different football to what we played now, and we have to go in there without these emotions.
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“It’s a different game, you have to approach it like a one-off game.”
The Wanderers qualified for the league’s showpiece event via a thrilling 5-4 comeback win against Brisbane Roar after finding themselves 3-0 behind inside just 25 minutes.
But Western Sydney rallied and eventually overran the Roar thanks largely to Castelen’s hat-trick to secure a physically and mentally taxing win. It is just another emotion Castelen says the Wanderers must shut out ahead of Sunday.
“That (5-4 win) is something you physically have to recover from, we have to put this game behind us and take the great emotions but we have to focus on the next game.
“You go to finals to win them and you have to be prepared, so that’s on the coaching staff and the boys to get ready for a massive game.”
UPDATE | 40,000 tickets sold. Only restricted view seating left. https://t.co/KEkXoq7hae
— Daily Football Show (@DFS_AUS) April 26, 2016
Sunday’s game is edging closer toward a full sellout, with reports suggesting that only restricted viewing seating remains available.
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