The 2007–08 Adelaide United FC season was the club's third season since the inception of the A-League. The club competed in the 2007–08 A-League and finished sixth on the ladder.
For the 2007–08 season Adelaide recruited ex-Socceroo Paul Agostino "marquee", Ivorian Jonas Salley and ex-Olyroo Kristian Sarkies.Sarkies joins United , A-League Official News They also signed Issy Erdogan of Preston Lions. One of the success stories of the season was the signing of former Flamengo FC player Cássio on a free transfer from Brazilian club. Cássio, who joined from Santa Cruz FC, won the Club Champion award in his first season. Shaun Ontong and Matthew Mullen from the AIS, were also signed to replenish their defensive stocks after the departure of Kristian Rees, Adam van Dommele and Aaron Goulding.
The 2007–08 season was a season to forget for Adelaide as they battled a huge amount of player injury throughout the season. This effectively ended their finals hopes and it was the first time Adelaide had failed to make the top two in A-League history.
Adelaide United participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League after finishing runner-up in the 2006–07 regular season and finals series to Melbourne Victory. Adelaide was drawn into Group E, along with V-League and Super Cup winners Bình Dương F.C., CSL champions Changchun Yatai, and K-League winners Pohang Steelers.
In their opening match of the 2008 campaign, Adelaide United defeated Pohang 2–0 in Korea. United drew against Changchun 0–0 in their second game, defeated Bình Dương 2–1 in Vietnam and followed this up with a 4–1 victory in the return leg. In their final group tie at home, Adelaide defeated Pohang 1–0, setting up a deciding away tie against Changchun to determine the Group E winner. In Changchun, Adelaide withstood considerable pressure to achieve an historic 0–0 draw, thus becoming the first Australian team to ever progress to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League.
Adelaide drew J-League and Emperor's Cup champions Kashima Antlers in a two legged quarter-final starting in Japan, where they managed a 1–1 draw. Adelaide captain Travis Dodd scored first in the opening half, but right before halftime the score levelled when Robert Cornthwaite scored an own goal. In the return leg at the Hindmarsh Stadium a week later, Adelaide became the first Australian team to progress to the semi-finals of the competition with a 1–0 win. Cornthwaite redeemed himself from his own goal in the first leg by scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.
Adelaide drew 2007 Uzbek League Runners-up FC Bunyodkor in the semi-final, after the Uzbeks knocked out Saipa F.C. in their quarter-final. In the first leg of the semi-final, Adelaide won 3–0 with Diego, Barbiero, and Cristiano (via a penalty) scoring. The match was witnessed by 16,998 fans at Hindmarsh Stadium.Reds take giant leap towards AFC Champions League Final
In the second leg of the semi-finals Adelaide United lost 1–0 to FC Bunyodkor but went through to the final 3–1 on aggregate.Adelaide United into AFC Champions League Final Thus they became the first Australian team to make it to the final of Asia's premier club competition.Vidmar: ‘As big as the World Cup!’ In the two legged final, they took on Japanese team Gamba Osaka who deposed 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the other semi-final.Nishino: We won the mental battle
This result ensured that Adelaide would participate in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup either as the AFC representatives or as the highest placed non-Japanese team – as the rules do not allow more than one Japanese team to participate.Adelaide toasted by Oz media
Adelaide lost heavily over two legs to Gamba Osaka. The score was 3–0 to Gamba Osaka away and 2–0 to Osaka at home in Adelaide, the Japanese club winning 5–0 on aggregate.Gamba crowned kings of Asia
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Players
Transfers
Transfers in Name Position Moving from Paul Agostino Forward TSV 1860 München Jonas Salley Midfield New Zealand Knights Kristian Sarkies Forward Melbourne Victory Cássio Defender Santa Cruz Shaun Ontong Defender AIS Matthew Mullen Midfield AIS Isyan Erdogan Defender Preston Lions Milan Susak Defender FK Vojvodina Eugene Galekovic Goalkeeper Melbourne Victory
Transfers out Name Position Moving to Greg Owens Midfield Central Coast Mariners Ross Aloisi Midfield Wellington Phoenix Matthew Kemp Defender Melbourne Victory Shengqing Qu Forward released Carl Veart Forward retired Fernando Forward released Kristian Rees Defender Whittlesea Zebras Aaron Goulding Defender released Adam van Dommele Defender South Melbourne
Goal scorers TotalPlayerGoals per Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 6 Bruce Djite 1 1 2 1 1 5 Travis Dodd 1 2 1 1 5 Lucas Pantelis 1 1 1 1 1 4 Nathan Burns 1 1 1 1 4 Paul Agostino 1 2 1 2 Richie Alagich 1 1 1 Diego 1 1 Kristian Sarkies 1 A goal was scored from a penalty kick
Competitions
Pre-season Round Date Home team Score Away team Crowd Stadium Match Details 1 15 July 2007 Melbourne Victory 1–1 Adelaide United 8,061 Aurora Stadium Report 2 20 July 2007 Adelaide United 1–1 Perth Glory 3,513 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 3 27 July 2007 Adelaide United 4–1 Newcastle Jets 3,800 Hindmarsh Stadium Report Playoff 5 August 2007 Adelaide United 3–2 Queensland Roar 5,221 Hindmarsh Stadium Report Grand Final 12 August 2007 Adelaide United 2–1 Perth Glory 9,606 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
A-League
League table
Matches Round Date Home team Score Away team Crowd Stadium Match Details 1 25 August 2007 Queensland Roar 2–2 Adelaide United 16,828 Suncorp Stadium Report 2 1 September 2007 Sydney FC 2–2 Adelaide United 14,233 Sydney Football Stadium Report 3 7 September 2007 Adelaide United 1–1 Melbourne Victory 12,231 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 4 15 September 2007 Newcastle Jets 1–0 Adelaide United 13,627 EnergyAustralia Stadium Report 5 22 September 2007 Wellington Phoenix 2–2 Adelaide United 12,127 Westpac Stadium Report 6 30 September 2007 Adelaide United 2–1 Central Coast Mariners 11,019 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 7 7 October 2007 Perth Glory 0–0 Adelaide United 6,252 Members Equity Stadium Report 8 12 October 2007 Adelaide United 4–1 Melbourne Victory 13,372 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 9 20 October 2007 Sydney FC 0–1 Adelaide United 12,922 Sydney Football Stadium Report 10 28 October 2007 Adelaide United 4–1 Wellington Phoenix 11,740 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 11 2 November 2007 Adelaide United 0–1 Queensland Roar 10,705 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 12 10 November 2007 Central Coast Mariners 2–0 Adelaide United 11,680 Bluetongue Stadium Report 13 18 November 2007 Adelaide United 1–1 Newcastle Jets 10,256 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 14 23 November 2007 Adelaide United 1–1 Perth Glory 10,678 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 15 30 November 2007 Wellington Phoenix 1–2 Adelaide United 18,345 Westpac Stadium Report 16 8 December 2007 Melbourne Victory 2–2 Adelaide United 22,466 Telstra Dome Report 17 14 December 2007 Adelaide United 1–2 Central Coast Mariners 11,123 Hindmarsh Stadium Report 18 28 December 2007 Adelaide United 1–3 Sydney FC 25,039 Adelaide Oval Report 19 4 January 2008 Newcastle Jets 2–1 Adelaide United 13,047 EnergyAustralia Stadium Report 20 13 January 2008 Perth Glory 3–2 Adelaide United 8,025 Members Equity Stadium Report 21 20 January 2008 Adelaide United 2–0 Queensland Roar 10,803 Hindmarsh Stadium Report
AFC Champions League
Group stage
Round Date Home team Score Away team Attendance Stadium 1 12 March 2008 Pohang Steelers 0 – 2Cornthwaite Djite Adelaide United 8,436 Steelyard Stadium 2 19 March 2008 Adelaide United 0–0 Changchun Yatai 10,510 Hindmarsh Stadium 3 9 April 2008 Bình Dương 1 – 2Diego Alagich Adelaide United 15,000 Gò Đậu Stadium 4 23 April 2008 Adelaide United 4 – 1Pantelis Dodd , Diego Bình Dương 13,802 Hindmarsh Stadium 5 7 May 2008 Adelaide United 1 – 0Diego Pohang Steelers 11,805 Hindmarsh Stadium 6 22 May 2008 Changchun Yatai 0–0 Adelaide United 20,000 Changchun City Stadium
Knockout stage Final Date Home team Score Away team Attendance Stadium Quarter (1) 17 September 2008 Kashima Antlers 1 – 1Dodd Adelaide United 7,004 Kashima Soccer Stadium Quarter (2) 24 September 2008 Adelaide United 1 – 0Cornthwaite Kashima Antlers 16,965 Hindmarsh Stadium Semi (1) 8 October 2008 Adelaide United 3 – 0Diego Barbiero Cristiano Bunyodkor 16,998 Hindmarsh Stadium Semi (2) 22 October 2008 Bunyodkor 1–0 Adelaide United 17,000 MHSK Stadium Grand (1) 5 November 2008 Gamba Osaka 3–0 Adelaide United 20,639 Osaka Expo '70 Stadium Grand (2) 12 November 2008 Adelaide United 0–2 Gamba Osaka 17,000 Hindmarsh Stadium
References
External links Official website