Melbourne Victory’s fifth annual U-NITE blockbuster at Etihad Stadium will see Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory give a bit of their limelight to multiculturalism in round 16.
The Australia Day bash will include a clash of continents as Unite FC, an elite Melbourne Horn of African youth team, takes on the Victorian Asian All-stars.
Both teams have been trained by Melbourne Victory youth coaches in the lead up to the game.
As well as the two matches, more than 35,000 fans will be treated to multicultural entertainment on the stadium’s concourse featuring diverse Melbourne
acts including Japanese drummers Wadaiko Rindo, Afro Brazilian entertainers Maracatu Estrela Do mar and a traditional Chinese Dragon dance provided by the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne.
Last week’s round saw Melbourne Victory fall spectacularly, ending their match against Wellington Phoenix 5-0. In their past five games, Victory have only won one match, but Sydney FC are also in a similar predicament, winless in five. Victory have made some great signings of late, with Socceroos Tom Rogic a possibility of playing tomorrow, while Besart Berisha also signed in the week but won’t be playing for the team till next season.
For another Melbourne team, Melbourne Heart have had some great news in the past week, winning their first match of the season against Newcastle Jets and announcing the club’s been bought by Manchester City.
Their up against tough opponents this round, Adelaide United. They haven’t lost in six matches, winning four – including last week’s 1-0 triumph over Western Sydney Wanderers – to move into fifth position on the A-League ladder.
Third on the ladder Central Coast Mariners are in a derby against Newcastle Jets Saturday. The Mariners will be quite desperate to make some goal-scoring chances, something they’ve struggled with of late, while the Jets will trying to keep the stellar performance last week going to move up into the top six on the ladder.
Surprisingly due to a quirk in the A-League draw this clash is the first time Western Sydney Wanderers and Perth Glory have meet this season. The Wanderers have had some bad luck of late, only just holding onto their second position after three losses in four games. Perth Glory on the other had has been the quiet achiever this season, with one hard earned 0-0 draw last week against leaders Brisbane Roar and two wins before that. International marquee, William Gallas played 45 minutes last round after recovering from injury, and is a strong starting hopeful this round.