Brisbane Roar kicked off their Orange Sunday II campaign today in Queen Street Mall, a week ahead of the Hyundai A-League Grand Final, with Head Coach Ange Postecoglou urging all involved to make the most of hype around town.
Brisbane Roar kicked off their Orange Sunday II campaign today in Queen Street Mall, a week ahead of the Hyundai A-League Grand Final, with Head Coach Ange Postecoglou urging all involved to make the most of hype around town.
This is the second year in a row the Roar will host the competition decider after last season-s memorable last-gasp equaliser and resultant penalty shootout victory over Central Coast Mariners – one of the most dramatic days in Australian football history.
After qualifying straight through to the final with a 5-2 aggregate win over the same opponents over two legs of the major semi-final, Postecoglou said he was encouraging his players – and the club-s faithful fans – to relish in the Grand Final buzz.
“It-s an exciting time of the year and obviously with us progressing straight to the grand final, it gives you a bit of time to take it all in,” he said.
“I guess we do have the ACL game on Tuesday but aside from that, the players I think are looking forward to the build-up.
“I said to them last year, it-s important to enjoy the whole thing.
“Don-t try to resist too much and be ready for the big game.”
Orange-clad supporters packed Queen Street Mall this afternoon for the Orange Sunday II launch, hoping to grab a glimpse and even a photograph or autograph from Roar players Matt Smith and Erik Paartalu along with Postecoglou himself.
More than 50,000 people packed the stands of Suncorp Stadium for last year-s March 13 decider and the Brisbane coach was predicting a similarly exhilarating reception on Sunday week.
“I know people say it-s the second one but it doesn-t make it any less exciting” he said.
“You can really feel it and the people who were there last year want to come back and those who weren-t there, want to be there.
“It-ll be a memorable occasion, that-s the way we do things at Brisbane Roar.”
The Roar will face the winner of tomorrow night-s preliminary final between the Mariners and in-form Perth Glory.
If you haven-t yet secured tickets for the Grand Final on Sunday 22 April, visit the Ticketek website ASAP as sales have been strong. Kick-off is at 4pm at Suncorp Stadium.
