He has not been officially cleared for his A-League debut yet but Dutch striker Maceo Rigters is already talking up Gold Coast's chances of halting Brisbane's 30-match unbeaten streak on Friday night.
Paperwork is the only thing standing between the 27-year-old Amsterdam-born Rigters and his debut against the Roar and he edged a step closer on Tuesday with news his visa clearance had finally arrived from the United Kingdom.
A strong, powerful striker, Rigters celebrated his good news by warning the ladder-topping Roar his side had the "attacking quality" to bring the A-League's best unbeaten streak to a screaming halt at Lang Park.
"We have many weapons in the front line, different players who have different qualities, so that's good for us in terms of the variety of attacks we can put together," said Rigters, the golden boot winner at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships.
"Any time you play a neighbour, the game has an added incentive.
"Nobody on the Gold Coast will want to lose this game and we will all be giving everything to make sure we come away with the points."
The one-time Blackburn Rovers signing said he was looking forward to making his A-League debut in such a big local derby.
"It's always nice to play in these big games," he said, confident Football Federation Australia would issue his clearance in time to play on Friday night.
"They (Roar) haven't lost in 30 games and we want to be the ones who break that record."
The Roar had a glimpse of Rigters when he was trialing for an A-League contract with Wellington Phoenix before Gold Coast swooped to pick him up.
He scored Wellington's only goal in the 5-1 loss and word is he is a lot fitter and faster after losing a fair amount of weight under United coach Miron Bleiberg.
Brisbane central defender Ivan Franjic, who did a tremendous job smothering star Sydney FC recruit Brett Emerton last weekend, said whether or not Rigters made his A-League debut would not worry the Roar.
"We played him when he was trialing pre-season with Wellington and he's very strong," said Franjic.
"If he plays, he plays. We'll just have to beat what's in front of us."
Gold Coast has opened the season with two draws but again the confident Rigters believes it should have already notched a win.
"I just want to be on the pitch and do my best to help the team get some more points," he said about the possibility he could finally contribute this weekend.
"We've played well in the two games but we should have at least four points instead of two so, hopefully, I can be a factor in the games coming up."
It would be a memorable debut if he could help United end the most successful streak in A-League history.
AAP
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, brisbane-4000, robina-4226, qld, australia First posted October 18, 2011 17:11:21
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