Melbourne Victory Head Coach Tony Popovic is targeting silverware after reaching the FFA Cup Final on Saturday.
Victory came from behind to beat the Wellington Phoenix 4-1 in their Semi Final at GMHBA Stadium.
Nick D’Agostino scored a brace to go with goals from Josh Brillante and Ben Folami as Victory set up a decider against the Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park on Saturday, February 5.
Speaking to media after the game, Popovic is targeting a trophy after the impressive win over Wellington.
on the game…
“It’s a Semi Final and you expect it to be a difficult and tough encounter. I thought we actually played good in the first half, we controlled most of the first half, it’s just the final third we were lacking. We were entering their box quite easily, but it was really just the final decision, we were maybe rushing the final ball in the final third and they had that one moment in transition on the break and they took it well. I thought in the second half we again kept our composure, kept patient and really came home strong and overall it’s a win that we deserved.”
on half-time message…
“They sat back and just waited throughout the match really, but once they scored they had something to hold onto and they do that well because they can get you on the break once they’ve scored, which they’ve shown recently against Western United in the league. It was really just to have a bit more patience once we got in the final third and not to rush the final ball and that we would continue to get there and just the calmness and belief that once we were in that area we would create chances, we knew we would, just about taking them. Once we got the first goal I think it was clear that we really looked like we would go on with it and obviously scoring four goals is fantastic.”
on reaching the Final…
“Tonight’s a great night for everyone involved with the Club, from the Chairman all the way down, the board, they’ve invested so much into this Club for a long period of time and after the last few years, this is a special moment for everyone but we’re in a Final, we don’t just want to participate in the Final, we want to win it and next week we’ve got a big week, a nice week of build-up, fantastic for our fans who came to Geelong tonight and they’ll go home happy and know that they’ve got a special game to look forward to at AAMI Park and we want to win the final.”
on D’Agostino and substitutes…
“Very happy. We’ve seen all the players that have come on for us have always made an impact. We saw it with Robbie (Kruse) scoring last week, I thought Robbie was outstanding when he came on today, young Birkan Kirdar came on .. in such a big game. He’s played the FFA Cup games but he stepped up today and got a reward for the way he’s trained for the last couple of weeks and Nick was excellent, he did what strikers do and he came on and scored a couple of great goals. Chris Ikonomidis came on and set up a goal so all our players that came on the park made a real difference and the foundation was laid by the players that started so we’re in this cup Final because of the squad. We even have Jerrad Tyson who played the first games for us as a goalkeeper and helped us get through so, so many players and young players have helped to get to this point and next week we want to be celebrating with everyone after the game. It’s a Final we’re very determined to win. We don’t want to just participate as I said earlier, this is about winning the Final and it would be reward for everyone.”
