Qantas Socceroo in waiting Danny Vukovic knows that a solid performance against Adelaide United at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday is elementary to his chances of earning a first senior international cap against Indonesia next Wednesday.
Qantas Socceroo in waiting Danny Vukovic knows that a solid performance against Adelaide United at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday is elementary to his chances of earning a first senior international cap against Indonesia next Wednesday.
Vukovic is one of four Mariners squad members called up to Qantas Socceroo coach Pim Verbeek-s 21-man squad that will take on Indonesia at the 100,000 capacity Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta – Australia-s first 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifying fixture.
Along with team-mates Dean Heffernan, Dylan Macallister and Matt Simon, Vukovic will depart Sydney bound for the Indonesian capital on Monday morning before linking with a cast of Hyundai A-League standouts that will fly the Australian flag later that week.
Vukovic is aiming for the top job between the posts along with Adelaide United-s Eugene Galekovic and Michael Theoklitos of the Melbourne Victory, and with each involved in crucial fixtures this weekend, a stellar showing in yellow and navy could well pave the way for Vukovic to earn the much coveted starting spot.
“I-m very pleased with the news, I knew that the team was being selected and thought that I had a chance and low and behold I got picked, so I-m very happy,” said Vukovic.
“It-s always great for your confidence to be selected in a national team, especially being with the boys and training with the coaches over there, you always come back full of confidence.
“It-ll be good to go over and come back with that confidence coming into the Finals Series.”
Spearheading the Mariners- quest for a fifth clean sheet of the Hyundai A-League season on Sunday will be outstanding young goalkeeper Vukovic.
Vukovic pulled off one of the stops of the season at the Telstra Dome last Friday, where the Mariners conceded three quick fire goals in the space of seven devastating second half minutes to suffer a 3-0 defeat at the hands of their Victorian-based counterparts.
Vukovic-s stunning reflex stop against Nick Ward aside, last Friday-s match up was a largely forgettable experience for the yellow and navy, who have only managed four clean sheets throughout the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season.
It was against Sunday-s opponents, Adelaide United, that the Mariners kept one of their clean sheets of the campaign after recording a comprehensive 3-0 triumph at Bluetongue Stadium in November.
“Everyone is really excited, we always look forward to playing against Adelaide and we always seem to do pretty well against them at home – we-re hoping that we can do the same again on Sunday,” said Vukovic.
“They-re a great side and they-ve done well this year and we-ll have to be on our game on Sunday – hopefully we can get the points and go into the Finals Series full of confidence.”
The Mariners will be back at their Bluetongue Stadium home on Sunday, 25 January to host AFC Champions League finalists Adelaide United in the final regular season round of the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 campaign. Kick off is at 7pm.
Tickets for this match are on sale from Ticketek outlets, from the Ticketek website – www.ticketek.com.au, or via phone on 132 849.
