It’s been a fortnight of firsts for Melbourne midfielder Billy Celeski. Having earned his first Socceroo cap against Indonesia last week, the 23-year-old now can’t wait to play his first Hyundai A-League final against Adelaide this week.
It’s been a fortnight of firsts for Melbourne midfielder Billy Celeski. Having earned his first Socceroo cap against Indonesia last week, the 23-year-old now can’t wait to play his first Hyundai A-League final against Adelaide this week.
The 53-game veteran did not taste any finals action in his time at Perth Glory, but gets his chance when Victory travels to Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday, and he can’t wait.
“There’s plenty of emotions there,” he told melbournevictory.com.au this week.
“I think excitement is the main one. I’m really looking forward to getting out there.”
Celeski said running out for the Socceroos on to the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the second half of last Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Indonesia was one of the highlights of his career.
“First cap, it was a really big honour for myself. I really wanted to get out there, and I got the last 20 minutes. I was just happy to be a part of it all, it was a good experience,” he said.
But having experienced a taste of international football, his focus is firmly back on winning further honours for the Victory.
“I’ve had a few sessions since I’ve been back. I’ve been concentrating back here in Melbourne. It’s finals football, how can you not be motivated? I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be a tough game,” he said.
If Celeski’s attitude is any guide, Melbourne fans can expect anything but a rearguard action from the 2008/09 Hyundai A-League Premiers.
“We are going over there to try and win. We’re going to try and play attacking football. We’ve won five of the last six games, we’re looking to start strong,” he said.
“I’d like to play an attacking game, and the team will as well. We’ve got a lot of great players when we take off and go forward and hopefully they can do well.”
Adelaide’s success this season has been built on a rock-solid defence which conceded just 19 goals in 21 games. But Celeski expects the home side to come out and attack in the first leg and try and put Melbourne under-pressure.
“I say they will. They are the home team. They want to impress the home crowd. We’ve built quite a rivalry now over the years. We know each other’s game fairly well and it should be a good clash,” he said.
History says Melbourne should go into this match as favourite given it has only lost one of its past ten matches against the Reds. Celeski said Victory has taken a certain confidence from its three wins over Adelaide this season, but that will count for little on Saturday.
“We’re obviously going to take the confidence going into it, three games we’ve beaten them, but finals football is different. It’s even par once you play the finals. Anything goes,” he said.
He even warned that the Reds could use the poor head-to-head record as a motivating factor for this match.
“It’s a good incentive for them. We have beaten them three times and they are going to look to get on top of us and try to get one back,” he said.
