The target on Brisbane's head only got bigger after grand final hero Erik Paartalu dubbed the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC underachievers and claimed the Roar would take the pressure of being A-League defending champions "in their stride".
Roar coach Ange Postecoglou had made it clear ahead of this weekend's A-League season kick-off he wanted his champion team to reclaim the headlines after Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton's stunning return.
And Paartalu did his best to do just that when asked what impact the Socceroos' signings would have on their title defence.
"It's great for the game having those two profile players back," he said on Thursday at the Roar's season launch in Brisbane.
"They (Victory, Sydney FC) have probably been two of the most dominant teams in A-League history and in recent years they have underperformed - it's up to them to lift their profile.
"We will just keep going about our business and hopefully go under the radar - but let's not forget we are the champions.
"A lot of pressure goes with that but we take it in our stride.
"We are very proud of what we did last season but from Saturday it is a clean slate."
Paartalu also tried to get into Central Coast heads ahead of their grand final re-match at Lang Park on Saturday night - a match overshadowed by Kewell's Victory taking on Emerton's Sydney FC on the same evening.
Central Coast squandered a 2-0 lead deep into extra-time before losing last season's championship decider on penalties to the Roar - extending Brisbane's record 28-game unbeaten run.
And Paartalu was a major reason Central Coast's hearts were broken in front of a sold-out Lang Park way back in March.
His towering header sealed a last gasp equaliser to send the decider into a penalty shootout.
Asked if Central Coast would still have "scars" over the result, Paartalu said: "Absolutely - they will want some revenge on us.
"But for us it's about taking the emotion out of the game for the first game of the season.
"(Because) everyone is going to try and knock us off.
"We have a 28-game unbeaten streak, it's hard to do.
"While we don't think about it too much, it is still in the back of our minds and something we want to honour and keep it going for as long as possible."
Paartalu dismissed a back complaint that troubled captain Matt Smith at training on Thursday.
"He has told me he is ready to go," he said.
AAP
Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia First posted October 06, 2011 19:20:24
No comments:
Post a Comment