Day: September 21, 2006

Thursday, 21 September 2006 4:01 PM

By Michael Tsoukalis

The climax to a long season finally arrives this Sunday when a new Champion of the Vodafone Cup will be crowned. Both participants South Melbourne and Altona not only go into the encounter carrying great belief and confidence of the required result, but are also extremely worthy of finding themselves in the most prestigious fixture of the season.

South of course swept into the final after defeating Green Gully and the Magic in consecutive weeks to earn a week off, whilst Altona overcame minor premiers Oakleigh and Heidelberg on their journey towards Vodafone Cup glory.

Interesting for South will be how John Anastasiadis’s men respond to having a week off. A match last Saturday against State 2 outfit Clifton Hill was organized to help maintain match sharpness with all players having a decent hit-out.

Altona of course will have the extra motive of defeating South after loosing 1-2 a couple of weeks ago in their semi-final showdown.

On that day, South youngster Gianni De Nittis grabbed a double with veteran custodian Dean Anastasiadis producing two critical saves to ensure the Albert Park-based club were first to secure a place in Sunday’s finale.

South are no doubt aware of the need to minimize the influence of Gold Medal winner Saso Becvinovski who with his 18 goals so far this season remains major source of goals for the western suburbs based club.

Becvinovski was held relatively quiet in the semi final between both sides, but was still granted a glorious opportunity to score after a static South defence let the striker in. On that occasion Dean Anastasiadis produced a superb one-on-one save but it these sorts of defensive lapses that South cannot afford if it is to lift the Vodafone Cup.

Becvinoski aside, Altona have dangerous players all over the park. The Delev brothers Kole and Koce along with the Razov brothers Ivan and Tomi plus the exciting Daniel Vasilevski, bring quality and youthful exuberance to a side that is sprinkled with seasoned performers such as ex-South defender Levent Osman and ex-Morwell Falcons keeper Bojo Jevdjevic.

Injury wise, South has a full squad to choose from, excluding the season ending injuries suffered by Arthur Tsonis and Vasilios Natsioulas whilst colossal defender Con Blatsis has succumbed to the culmination of a few niggling injuries which have ruled him out.

South will therefore pretty much rely on the same starting 11 that got the job done against Altona last time, as well as Green Gully with the injuries and departures experienced by the club throughout the season limiting the depth at South’s disposal.

Crucial to South winning will be the ability to find the back of the net. Since the departure of club Captain Vaughn Coveny and Trinidad and Tobago native Kevin Nelson, South hasn’t had the attacking depth it did earlier in the season. However, the emergence of young striker Gianni De Nittis who has chipped in with 7 goals this season sees the young striker carry an immense responsibility in Sunday’s encounter.

With South on the verge of re-claiming a place a-top football in the state, all South Melbourne faithful are encouraged to show up in support of John Anastasiadis’s men who over the course of the season, have written yet another worthy chapter in the famous history of the blue and whites.

Thursday, 21 September 2006 11:34 AM

Two years ago South Melbourne was on the brink of extinction.

Having been told that their chances of National League re-admittance were next to none, the club went into administration.

Through the loyal support and passion of its faithful supporters, the club was able to re-emerge and now two years later, finds itself in the Grand Final of the state’s premier football competition – the Vodafone Cup.

The South Board, coaching staff, players and supporters should all be commended for sticking by the club in its hour of need.

Through all stakeholders’ collective effort, the club now has a base to continue its legacy of winning trophies and continuing to add to the aura and tradition of the South Melbourne name.

The squad that Coach John Anastasiadis has put together embodies the South Melbourne spirit. A talented mix of experienced and youthful players who have shown over the last two years a level of commitment and effort that makes South Melbourne supporters immensely proud.

This Sunday the South Melbourne family asks for your support.

A solid attendance will propel the players to that next level and help ensure that the club adds another trophy to the nation’s most coveted trophy cabinet. Furthermore, it will cap off a remarkable recovery from only 2 years ago, when the future direction and existence of the club was highly doubtful.

Together we will prosper.

Thursday, 21 September 2006 11:33 AM

On the 17 of September South Melbourne Football Club will embark on an ambitious project when they sent fourteen young men from their Championship winning Super League team on a twelve-day tour of France but this trip is far from being a sightseeing junket. The aim is to give these young men, aged between thirteen and fourteen, a taste of the full-time European football environment and some experience in comparing their skills with their French counterparts. This is the second trip for the group. Last year they had a very successful trip to Italy training at AC Milan and Juventus. They learn a great deal and their technique and ball mastery improved significantly.

Led by South Melbourne coach Jean-Marc Imbert, the young men will play four games against Paris St Germain and the world renowned French academy team at Clairefontaine. Instead of entering one of the many tournaments organised across Europe, South Melbourne Football Club has organised the matches against Paris St Germain and the French Academy at the training venues because they feel that doing so would have a greater overall benefit for the players. Next year, when most of the squad will be in Under 15’s, the intention would be to apply the lesson learnt on the trips to AC Milan, Juventus, Paris St Germain and the French Academy to compete in an European tournament and face the pressure of needing to win every match they played.

The schedule is extremely demanding with players having to train twice a day and play games at night. They will also have the opportunity to visit the stadiums, watch two Ligue 1 games and one UEFA Champion League game. During the week they will also get the opportunity to watch the stars of Paris St Germain and the French Espoir team train. You are welcomed to follow the progress of the touring party by logging on our website.