Melbourne Heart FC’s Croatian striker Josip Tadic produced a wonder strike last Friday but that has only whetted his appetite for more goals.
Melbourne Heart FC-s Croatian striker Josip Tadic produced a wonder strike against the Western Sydney Wanderers last Friday, but that has only whetted his appetite for more goals against Brisbane Roar tomorrow night.
Keen to make his mark as Heart-s hit man, Tadic has signalled his intent to impress against the reigning champions at AAMI Park.
With Heart searching for its first home win of the campaign, Tadic will look to snatch the headlines from former teammate Besart Berisha who has been sidelined with an abdominal injury for the Roar.
The pair, who played together at Arminia Bielefeld in Germany, could have reunited tomorrow night, but Tadic will be focussed instead on making his chances count.
The 25-year-old former Croatian under-21 international has played a part in all of five of Heart-s games so far and looked the most lively against Western Sydney Wanderers last Friday.
He illustrated his potential with a superb volley to pull a goal back for Heart in the 57th minute against the Wanderers.
“It-s a nice thing for me to score and it gives me a lot of confidence,” Tadic said.
“But I wasn-t happy because we lost.”
Predicting tomorrow’s encounter to be a “very good game” against the Roar, Tadic hopes to add to his tally against a reigning champion reeling after a sluggish start.
“We have lost [the previous] three games in a row so for sure we need to win this game,” Tadic said.
“We [have] played very well [the last] three games; we had some chances but we didn-t score.
“But I hope this game will be different.”
Tadic believes Heart has played good football despite the Club-s recent results and is optimistic the team can change its fortunes with a win over the Roar tomorrow evening.
“We-re confident because we’ve played very well and that gives us confidence,” Tadic said.
“On the pitch we are looking good so we believe in ourselves.
“So we need to go over and play the same as we have played because we have created a lot of chances.”
Tadic understands Roar has been in the same boat, with the team having created a number of opportunities, despite being winless in three.
“They are a very good team, they also create a lot of chances and play very well.”
Hyundai A-League Round 6
Friday, 9 November 2012
Melbourne Heart v Brisbane Roar
Venue: AAMI Park
Kick-off: 7:30 PM
Referee: Shaun Evans
Assistant Ref 1: George Lakrindis
Assistant Ref 2: Patrick Chaplin
Fourth official: Alex Azcurra
Live and exclusive broadcast on FOX Sports 1HD and delayed broadcast on Sky Sport 3.
Radio broadcast: ABC Local Radio Victoria & Grandstand Digital & online
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #MHvROAR
To purchase tickets visit www.aleague.com.au/tickets
Melbourne Heart Squad:1. Clint Bolton (Gk), 2. Michael Marrone, 4. Simon Colosimo, 6. Patrick Gerhardt, 8. Matthew Thompson, 9. Dylan Macallister, 10. Josip Tadic,11. Richard Garcia, 15. David Williams, 16. Aziz Behich, 17. Jason Hoffman, 20. Andrew Redmayne (Gk), 21. Steven Gray, 22. Nick Kalmar, 23. Mate Dugandzic, 24. Sam Mitchinson
*one to be omitted*
Ins: Nil
Outs: 5. Fred (C) (Hamstring – One Week), 13. Jonatan Germano (Fitness – Undisclosed), 14. Golgol Mebrahtu, 18. David Vrankovic (International Duty – Qantas Young Socceroos), 19. Ben Garuccio (International Duty – Qantas Young Socceroos)
Unavailable: 31. Vince Grella
Brisbane Roar Squad: 1. Michael Theo (Gk), 2. Matt Smith (C), 3. Shane Stefanutto, 4. Matt Jurman, 5. Ivan Franjic, 6. Erik Paartalu, 8. Massimo Murdocca, 10. Henrique, 11. Ben Halloran, 14. Rocky Visconte, 17. Mitch Nichols, 18. Luke Brattan, 19. Jack Hingert, 20. Matt Acton (Gk), 22. Thomas Broich, 24. Nick Fitzgerald
*one to be omitted*
Ins: Rocky Visconte (Promoted)
Outs: Besart Berisha (Abdomen – One Week)
Unavailable: Nil
