The whirlwind continues for State League club South Springvale (Aris). The third tier team has proven itself one of the best in Victoria after its Dockerty Cup semi-final fight, and now it takes on a national opponent.

Making it to the FFA Cup round of 32 is no easy feat. They beat out hundreds of local teams to be put in a pot that included A-League teams.
Now, the club has the honour of playing the only local Victorian match and welcomes South Cardiff to Bentleigh Green’s home ground.

Coach Bill Lambropoulos says he’s been in contact with the club and has assured it Aris will offer all it can to make the team’s stay more comfortable.

Lambropoulos, who came to Aris three years ago, taking the club from just two junior teams to a fully fledged club says his team is still coming to terms with the fact that they are up against a national NPL team.

“I don’t think we’ve understood what it means yet,” he said to Neos Kosmos after the Dockerty Cup.

“These aren’t premier league boys, they don’t train four times a week, we train twice a week.”

The team has been training for this, if not directly, indirectly, for weeks, with Lambropoulos resting and playing players to really get the feel of what team would work best against their NSW opponents.

Last week the club managed to draw 2-2 with Diamond Valley United, a positive step to making a big impact on the pitch tonight.

Their opponents might have the competitive upper hand being in the NSW NPL tier and training more often, but their results aren’t on par with Aris’.

In their league, they have only lost two games and are top three in the league ladder.

Coach Lambropoulos says the team isn’t nervous, it’s in fact excited, and as the underdogs, they feel the pressure is definitely on the travelling team to keep their reputation.

The FFV assured the club that they would be doing everything in their power to get local fans to the pitch tonight.

The game will be broadcast live on 3XY radio and tickets for the match at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex will be available at the gate.

Also playing for Cup glory tonight will be fellow Greek sponsored club, Olympic FC. Melbourne Knights will be travelling up to Queensland to take on the NPL team.

Olympic have a huge competitive edge over Melbourne Knights, only failing to score two or more goals once all season, and it has outscored most of its opponents all season.

South Springvale (VIC) v South Cardiff (NNSW)
7:30pm, Tuesday July 29
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex

Olympic FC v Melbourne Knights
7:30pm, Tuesday July 29
Goodwin Park

For more information, visit www.theffacup.com.au