David Villa is poised to have his Australian debut today if he’s proven his fitness after his arrival in town just four days ago.
Melbourne City coach John van ‘t Schip is confident the Spanish champion is ready for the A-League challenge, and said the player was already looking “very sharp” at the club’s Monday training session.
Villa also stepped into full training on Thursday and Friday, and looks set to start in City’s first match of the season against Sydney FC.
“I feel good, I feel prepared,” Villa said early this week.
“I’ve been working hard. I obviously had a break [after the World Cup], my last game was the Spain-Australia game but then I took the usual summer break that every player takes.
“But I’ve been working hard and I’ve been training to be ready and I hope to be ready for the game.”
While the season started with Melbourne Victory and rivals Western Sydney Wanderers on Friday, the City vs Sydney game is considered to be the most intriguing and the most watched.
New Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold says his team won’t be there to give Villa an easy start.
“He’s a wonderful player and it’s going to be a privilege to have him on the turf at Allianz Stadium, but we won’t be making it very friendly,” Arnold declared at the season launch this week.
“You would have seen over the years that these big international names are not given an armchair ride out here and he will be no different.
“Our guys respect David and are excited about the prospect of playing against him, but they won’t be overawed.
“He can expect a hard night’s work. There won’t be an easing in period.”
Arnold is focusing his mind on getting his team up to scratch after injury worries and national team call up has depleted his starting squad.
He knows that the club’s reliance on Italian star marquee Alessandro Del Piero was all it had going for it over the last two season, so he’ll be working on creating a new team-based style to get the club scoring goals as a unit.
It’ll be a tricky road ahead for Sydney FC, but one that might prove wonders at the end of the season.
Last year’s champions have a home game to welcome back their fans on Sunday. Up against a feisty Adelaide United, they’ll have to prove they’re
worthy of a title again without their goal machine Besart Berisha.
Central Coast Mariners will take on Newcastle Jets today, while Wellington Phoenix will take on Perth Glory to finish round one.
The new season of the A-League is something Football Federation Australia (FFA) CEO David Gallop is heralding as a the “meat” of football in Australia right now, as other competitions finish up.
“I like to think that Australian football is the hamburger with the lot in Australian sport at the moment,” Gallop said at the season launch.
“And the meat in the hamburger is the A-League. That’s the engine room of Australian football.
“In this competitive environment we’re in, the other competitions have gone to sleep now. It’s our time.”
Mr Gallop believes there has never been a better time for the A-League, riding on a wave of World Cup popularity, Socceroos fandom and grassroots involvement with the FFA Cup.
TV figures and crowds are on the up, and the Association hopes to welcome more than 2 million people at the state grounds.
Gallop is also expecting a tv viewership of 660,000 every week on Fox Sports and SBS, one million social media users and 100,000 members in mark.