Victory in Melbourne 

Archie was right, Etihad Stadium was like a paddock last night and here’s irrefutable proof!

So after the euphoria of making it to a second successive Grand Final, of which I will talk about at a later date, it is again time to turn our attention to the Asian Champions League and Tuesday night’s clash against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. It is a must win game as the Victory look to keep in touch with the rest of the group.

Being that I know even less about the team from Korea than I do about Beijing Guoan it was again time to ask Mike Tuckerman, regular The World Game and FourFourTwo contributor and Australian Football Weekly’s Asian football expert the questions to which we all want answers.

What style of play can we expect?

In the past, a fairly direct style – however the addition of instrumental Colombian playmaker Maurico Molina means that they now play more to feet than they used to. Nevertheless there will still be plenty of long balls forward from Sasa Ognenovski to giant striker Dzenan Radoncic, the latter of whom has been around the Asian scene for several years now.

Who are the dangermen?

Striker Namkung Do was part of the Pohang squad that won last year’s Asian Champions League, while Brazilian midfielder Fabrizio Sousa is an experienced campaigner at this level. On the whole though, Seongnam are not quite as laden with talent as they once were, so they will rely heavily on talisman Molina in the midfield.

Where do you think Melbourne has the advantage?

Compared to their group rivals, Seongnam don’t necessarily possess the most experienced of squads, so Victory’s veterans could come to the fore – particularly at home.

How did they qualify?

Seongnam finished the regular season in fourth, before embarking on a gruelling finals campaign.They saw off Incheon United on penalties, before following up with narrow 1-0 wins at home to Chunnam Dragons and away at Pohang Steelers, with Mauricio Molina scoring both goals.Their run ended in the championship playoff, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors after the first leg had ended scoreless.

How are they faring in the K-League?

Seongnam kicked off the latest K-League in style with a 3-0 win over Gangwon FC on the opening weekend  with the aforementioned Molina getting on the scoreboard with a brace and Brazilian Fabricio Souza scoring the other. They enjoyed a bye before this clash but a tougher task awaits in their Round 3 clash with Incheon United, but overall Seongnam may be expected to concentrate on the Champions League over the early weeks of the season.