Defenders make timely return for Phoenix
Darije Kalezic took a long pause. He wanted to think carefully about how he answered the question.
The Wellington Phoenix coach was quizzed, at the team’s training session yesterday, on whether it was good or bad that New Zealand’s only professional football club contributed just two players to the All Whites squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Peru.
‘‘It’s the double’’, he said, meaning both good and bad.
With the Phoenix set to play Perth Glory just 24 hours after the All Whites take the field, and the Hyundai A-league not breaking for international windows, Kalezic will be without two of his best and most experienced players; Andrew Durante and Michael Mcglinchey, for two games.
Still searching for their first win of the season, now winless in five games and rooted at the bottom of the table, it is no shock that Kalezic would rather have the two All Whites available to face Perth at Westpac Stadium on Sunday than not.
‘‘Of course we want to represent with so much players [in] the All Whites. But, from the other side, the biggest disadvantage of this club is also that the club delivers so many players to the All Whites,’’ he said.
‘‘Two players is too much. They are the two most experienced players in the team. Durante is the captain and Mcglinchey is also one of the most important players in midfield.
‘‘I don’t want to make [an] issue about that because it happens every year and it’s going to happen this year and in the future, until someone from Fifa says that cannot happen anymore.
‘‘Other players have to take their position, take their chances and play.’’
Kalezic will at least be able to call upon defenders Marco Rossi and Scott Galloway, lessening the impact of his skipper’s absence, with the pair making a timely return from injury.
The Phoenix have conceded six goals since Galloway limped off after 25 minutes against Brisbane Roar a fortnight ago and Kalezic confirmed he and Rossi would both start on Sunday.
Matthew Ridenton, who was benched in their 3-0 defeat to Newcastle Jets last weekend, is the most logical replacement for Mcglinchey.
The Glory could be without star striker Adam Taggart for tomorrow’s game.
Although the fringe Socceroo has been included in their squad, he
suffered a hamstring injury at training on Thursday and is unlikely to make the trip across the ditch.
Kalezic said the team has moved on from their worst performance of the season, against Newcastle. It was their first half against Brisbane, where they raced out to an early 3-0 lead after just 20 minutes, that he urged his players to replicate. He said he wanted to dominate possession and, of course, the opposition. A clean sheet would also be nice.
‘‘I’m looking forward to playing a solid game,’’ he said. ‘‘Not to concede many goals, which is actually typically me and typically my vision; not to concede many goals. It’s very strange to have this situation to have three games with three goals against, so we are working really hard on that.’’
Meanwhile, Kalezic confirmed he will be in attendance when the All Whites face Peru, describing the match as ‘‘the game of the year’’.