The Roar – Treading a Finals Line

 

It’s the last round of this A League season and this game in particular already has a finals feel about it, probably because for either club failure is not an option! 90 minutes of drama and excitement is what awaits the A League fans watching this clash between the Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC, and a win at the end of this game is what the Brisbane Roar wants most of all this Easter to guarantee themselves a spot in the finals.

Everything about this game is BIG, Qld vs NSW for that state of origin feel, Frank Farina returning to his old club, both sides on equal points going into the last round, win and a place in the finals is yours, a loss for either team means they will be nervously depending on other fixtures to go their way, a draw may or may not be enough, this scenario will depend on goal difference.

The Roar playing at home in front of their loyal supporters could play a huge factor in this game, as every sporting fan knows, the packed cauldron that is Suncorp Stadium is not a nice place to play when you are the visiting team no matter what the code, and with everything on the line an intimidating reception awaits the Sydney FC team when it walks out onto the field this eve.

Brisbane are clear favourites for this encounter  with the public and bookies alike and rightfully so, with just one loss in their last 5 games and a full strength team to choose from they will only have themselves to blame if they fall short. Sydney FC will be missing the likes of Emerton and Neill and with their poor away record of only having 2 away wins all season everything is falling in place nicely for the Roar.

What the Roar does not have is a certain player by the name of Alessandro Del Piero, as all of the A League public know he is capable of winning this game on his own with his experience, skills, vision and craft and he is the danger man the Roar must be wary of.  This “wizard” of a player can produce goals out of nowhere and has done so on a regular basis this season. If he or any other Sky Blue player was to score all the pressure would be on the Roar and this is something I am sure they have discussed this week in training.

I am expecting an open attacking style game from both teams going from start to end to ensure that once one of them score they will know the pressure is then on the other to respond. This will come down which team is capable of handling pressure the best. The Brisbane Roar the defending champions, in front of their home crowd, not wanting to give up their title, and Sydney FC, a team packed with stars that for so long has underachieved in the eyes of many!

I am predicting a win to the Roar as many of the players have played A League finals football and have been under pressure like this before and I feel over the last couple of weeks they have started to gel together better then Sydney FC have.  I am also expecting a few goals in this game as both teams will want to go for the win!

One thing for sure it should be a fantastic atmosphere and hopefully a great game, hope to see you there.

follow Andrew Chapman on twitter @Andycee007

Google+