Match Day Programme: Macarthur FC vs Wellington Phoenix

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CAPTAIN’S MESSAGE ULISES DAVILA

Hello everyone and I hope you’re looking froward to tonight’s game.

I enjoyed the football at Wellington Phoenix last season and I really liked the club, the teammates and the staff - they made me and my family feel at home and feel happy, so I’m looking forward to this season.

Ufuk put a lot of trust in me last season which was important to me, and him making me captain this season is a huge honour that I am ready for.

I’ve got big expectations for the team, the goal is to make the Finals again in one of the top two places. This is a good season for us to improve; the team has learnt a lot from last season and has more experience.

field against Sydney FC - I wanted to come in there and make an impact quickly and try and get the win.

I didn’t enjoy the game so much because we lost, but we played hard, the guys did a good job and we played a good brand of football.

We have a lot of quality up front in Tomer and the other players like Bally and Jaushua, Reno and Mirza.

It’ll take us time for the new players to understand and make connections with each other, but I hope we can score many more goals together.

Macarthur have a good team, they play good football and it will be a difficult game as they have many experienced and quality players.

It was great to play the champions in Sydney FC in our first game, as it gave us a good chance to prove where we are and where we can be as a team.

As we haven’t played them before, we’ve been watching a lot of video on how they (Macarthur FC) play so we know what we can expect from them.

I know the more we play together, the stronger we’ll be.

We know we have a lot to improve on – the key thing is to keep working hard and to believe.

I was very excited to get out on the

(Continued Over Page)

The first game is always the hardest, especially for the new players in the team; we’ve focussed on helping to get them involved and to adjust to the fast-paced style.

We play as a team and while everyone is focussed on doing everything they can to get the three points, as captain it’s important for me to lead by example – and to be a good example for the younger players, to show them that if you work hard and have a good attitude then good things will happen.

My family are here now too and it’s an

amazing feeling to be here with my wife and child. I’m just so happy to have them here, it’s a safe place and us all being together is perfect.

Having them here also helps me to fully focus on football too.

I love playing in Wellington and I miss the fans and people there, but I see some similarities between that city and Wollongong too.

The fans in Wollongong have been great and we have enjoyed playing in front of them. Thank you!

PHOTOGRAPHY: Cameron MacIntosh (Photomac), Getty Images. SpeedMedia PRINTING: University of Wollongong COPYRIGHT: Reproduction in whole or in part by any means is prohibited.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any loss due to material in this magazine. All details are correct as at time of print.

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SEE YOU AT THE FRAT Catch all Wellington Phoenix Home and Away matches this season, LIVE on the Big Screens at the Fraternity Club! www.fraternityclub.com.au

YOUR 2020/21 WELLINGTON PHOENIX SQUAD #1

GK

#2

DEF

STEFAN MARINOVIC

#5

DEF

LIAM MCGING

#6

# 10

DAVID BALL

# 14

# 15

#4

MID

MID

# 11

#8

FWD

MIRZA MURATOVIC

# 16

# 12

MID

MATTHEW RIDENTON

DEF

LOUIS FENTON

MID

CAMERON DEVLIN

JAUSHUA SOTIRIO

FWD

DEF

TE ATAWHAI HUDSON-WIHONGI

RENO PISCOPO

ULISES DAVILA

MID

ALEX RUFER

#7

TIM PAYNE

FWD

DEF

LUKE DEVERE

DEF

JAMES MCGARRY

#9

#3

# 17

FWD

TOMER HEMED

YOUR 2020/21 WELLINGTON PHOENIX SQUAD # 18

FWD

# 19

BEN WAINE

# 23

DEF

# 20

SAM SUTTON

GK

# 21

OLIVER SAIL

DEF

JOSHUA LAWS

MID

CLAYTON LEWIS

COACH UFUK TALAY

1

ADAM FEDERICI

GK

14 MOUDI NAJJAR

FWD

2

JAKE MCGING

DEF

15 ALEKSANDAR SUSNJAR

DEF

3

ANTONY GOLIC

DEF

16 NICK SUMAN

GK

4

BENAT ETXEBARRIA

MID

19 MICHAEL RUHS

MID

5

MARK MILLIGAN (C)

DEF

21 JAKE HOLLMAN

MID

6

ALEKSANDAR JOVANOVIC

DEF

22 LIAM ROSE

DEF

7

IVAN FRANJIC

DEF

23 WALTER SCOTT

DEF

8

DENIS GENREAU

MID

24 CHARLES M’MOMBWA

MID

9

MILISLAV POPOVIC

FWD

27 MATT DERBYSHIRE

FWD

MID

29 ANTONIS MARTIS

MID

TOMMY OAR

MID

30 LUKE CUKAR

GK

12 JAMES MEREDITH

DEF

31 LACHLAN ROSE

FWD

13 YIANNI NICOLAOU

DEF

33 MARKEL SUSAETA

FWD

10 LOIC PUYO 11

WELLINGTON PHOENIX TAKE ON NEWCOMERS MACARTHUR FC The Wellington Phoenix are looking forward to facing Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium tonight, in the first ever matchup between these two NSW-based teams.

Both clubs come into this match looking for a win after suffering a loss in Week 2; and while Macarthur FC will field a full-strength squad led by captain Mark Milligan, the Phoenix will continue to be without prized midfielder Reno Piscopo as he works his way back from a calf injury.

Phoenix fans will be eager to see if the dynamic duo of captain Ulises Davila and marquee striker Tomer Hemed can make it into the starting line-up against Macarthur, after both working their way to full match fitness following quarantine stints in the pre-season.

Both Davila and Hemed demonstrated the game-changing impact they can have on a match when they came off the bench in the second half against

Sydney FC; their presence nearly lifting the Nix to victory on the night, with the Phoenix unlucky not to equalise on a late-game goal attempt

by Davila which was disallowed upon VAR review.

Cameron Devlin will try to build on his Man of the Match efforts against Sydney FC, where he teamed up with Alex Rufer to form an efficient midfield tandem.

Debutants Clayton Lewis and Joshua Laws also performed well in their first A-League match, and newcomer Mirza Muratovic impressed with his first Nix goal just on half-time.

Davila says that Macarthur FC have a good team who have played some “quality football in their first two matches”.

“It will be a difficult game as they have many experienced and quality players,” says Davila.

“As we haven’t played them before, we’ve been watching a lot of video on how they (Macarthur FC) play so we know what we can expect from them.

“We are a very good team and we showed that in the second half [against Sydney FC], so I think we can beat any team we come up against.”

Meanwhile Macarthur FC will be playing their third match of the A-League season, having beaten the Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 in their inaugural match before falling to Central Coast Mariners 0-2 in their first home match in Week 2.

Led by the steady play of Milligan and the attacking threat of forwards Matt Derbyshire and Moudi Najjar, Macarthur has been projected by many to finish in the top six in their debut season.

Macarthur FC Head Coach Ante Milicic says that while their loss to Central Coast was disappointing, the focus this week has been on training hard to prepare well for Wellington.

“Wellington are a very good side – Ufuk has done a tremendous job and full credit to him,” says Milicic.

“It’ll be a difficult game, but we’ll review this one and look to put a better performance - we have a second chance, straight away at home to get it right.”

The Wellington Phoenix will play their first away match of the 2020/21 A-League season, against Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium from 5.05pm AEDT tonight.

KeyStats: • Wellington Phoenix (87%) and Macarthur FC (86%) have the highest passing accuracies of any teams thus far in the 2020/21 A-League season.

• Phoenix duo Louis Fenton and David Ball have each made two carries ending in a chance created this A-League season, making the Phoenix the only club with multiple players to have logged 2+ in this category.

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