Wellington Phoenix Match Day Programme vs. Melbourne City

message OF WELCOME from General Manager David Dome Welcome to Eden Park - our home away from home - for the Wellington Phoenix’s second match of the Hyundai A-League 2019/20 season in Auckland.

The last time the Phoenix were in the city of sails, the club accomplished two key goals.

Firstly, we won the game 2-1 against a spirited Western Sydney Wanderers side, maintaining our all-time unbeaten streak at Eden Park, and secondly, we gave the fans who attended an entertaining night of football - thanks to Jaushua Sotirio’s epic goal and a late penalty from our Mexican star Ulises Davila, which handed us an important win.

January was a strong month for the Phoenix, securing 9 out of a possible 12 points and we have remained in the top six; perfectly positioned for a run to the Finals in May. On the back of this, we’re really looking forward to tonight’s match against second-placed rivals Melbourne City FC as a chance for the team to take on a fellow Finals-chasing team and prove once again that we’re a force to be reckoned with in this Hyundai A-League.

we relish the opportunity to test our mettle against the best the League has to offer.

We are confident that with our combination of proven veterans and up-and-coming young players we’re not only a dangerous team to face, but we’re a hell of a lot of fun for the fans to watch!

So to tonight’s game – we hope you enjoy all the football drama very much. As usual, we extend our thanks to Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner and his hard-working team, who do so much to make our journey north so seamless and allows us to bring professional football to Auckland.

And of course, the biggest thanks goes to all of you for coming tonight. The players love playing in this venue and we love having an enthusiastic Auckland crowd in our corner as we take on the Aussies in the greatest sport on earth. COYN!

Phoenix 2020 is a focused and determined beast. Head Coach Ufuk Talay demands the best from his players. His team and players are committed to achieving success this season - we don’t back down from anyone and

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David Dome General Manager, Wellington Phoenix

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Sky Sport Now not only lets you follow the Phoenix but also gives you access to other great football with the A-League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

You will also be able to watch all the other great sport across 10 SKY Sport and 2 ESPN channels.

Go to skysportnow.co.nz for details

On Attack Wellington Phoenix are third equal in Goal Conversion Rate at 15% Ulises Davila sits fourth in Goals Scored with 10. Davila is also first equal (tied with Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre) in Shots with 35 Davila is also 2nd in Challenges & Challenges won (302/132, 44%), which makes him a target for the opposition – he’s first in Fouls Suffered with 44 Forward David Ball sits fourth equal in Total Assists with four

In the Midfield Phoenix are first equal in Passing Accuracy (83%) and 5th in Total Passes (7,152) The midfield duo of Cameron Devlin and Matti Steinmann are fourth & fifth respectively in Tackles with 73 & 70 – Devlin particularly impressive with five successful Tackles per 90 minutes; no-one else averages over 3.5

On Defence Wellington has conceded only 18 goals this season; second least behind Perth Glory (14) Goalkeeper Stefan Marinovic is fourth in Total Saves with 51. He also ranks 2nd in Long Passes with 194, a 75% success rate ( also second) Steven Taylor is first in Total Blocks with 23; no other player in the competition has more than 20 Liberato Cacace ranks fourth in Total Dribbles with 72 All stats as at 6th Feb 2020 5

WELLINGTON PHOENIX FC

Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Squad

#1 stefan marinovic

#2

goal k eeper

#5 matti steinmann

david ball

#6

liberato cacace D E FE N DE R

6

tim payne

#10

ulises dĂ vila

#7

ALEX rufer MIDF IEL DER

Atawhai #4 Te Hudson-Wihongi

reno piscopo

D EFEND ER

#8

cameron devlin

MIDF IE LD ER

MID FIELD ER

#11 jaushua sotirio

#12 Brandon Wilson

F O RWAR D

midfielder

F O RWA RD

#14

luke devere DEF END ER

MIDF IEL DER

FO R WA R D

#13

#3

DEF EN DER

M ID F I EL DE R

#9

liam mcging

#16

louis fenton DEF END ER

#17

callan elliot D EFEND ER

WELLINGTON PHOENIX FC

Hyundai A-League 2019/20 Squad

#20

oliver sail

#21 callum mccowatt

goal k eeper

F O RWA RD

#30

zac Jones

G OAL K EEP ER

#31

ben waine

#23

#32

F O RWA RD

1

Tom Glover

Goalkeeper

2

Scott Galloway

Defender

3

Scott Jamieson

Defender

4

Harrison Delbridge

Defender

5

Jack Hendry

Defender

6

Joshua Brillante

7

walter scott

#27

DEF END ER

SAM SUTTON

steven taylor D EFEND ER

#88

Gary Hooper

MIDF IE LD ER

FOR WAR D

11

Craig Noone

Forward

13

Nathaniel Atkinson

Midfielder

17

Denis Genreau

Midfielder

19

Lachlan Wales

Forward

20 Adriรกn Luna

Midfielder

21

Ramy Najjarine

Midfielder

22

Curtis Good

Defender

23

Dean Bouzanis

Goalkeeper

30

Moudi Najjar

Forward

34

Connor Metcalfe

Midfielder

Midfielder

35

Raphael Borges Rodrigues

Forward

Rostyn Griffiths

Midfielder

40 Richard Windbichler

Defender

9

Jamie Maclaren

Forward

46 Joe Gauci

Goalkeeper

10

Florin Berenguer

Midfielder

49 Stefan Colakovski

Forward

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Stefan Marinovic:

Wellington’s Not-So-Secret Weapon For Stefan Marinovic, the road to success as a football player has taken him around the world and pitted him against some of the best players on the planet.

Back in New Zealand after ten years playing overseas, 28-year-old Marinovic is thriving as both arguably the best stopper in the Hyundai A-League, as well as the All Whites no.1 keeper.

His recent man-of-the-match effort against the Newcastle Jets - in which Marinovic made a pair of game-winning saves in the final minutes - added to a string of highlight-reel stops this season and solidified his premier keeper status.

His performances have earned praise from Coach Ufuk Talay, who never doubted Marinovic since making him his first signing of the club.

“Stef has been good all season; he has a presence in goal, makes some very good, clinical saves for us and has been influential at the right times in games – that’s what you want as a goalkeeper.”

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Growing up in Auckland, Marinovic attended Kings College. He credits his father as being a major influence in him taking up football at age seven – in part because his dad didn’t like the concussion risk in rugby, so he was encouraged to play football instead.

After winning the 2005 New Zealand Nike Cup, he was in the Under 19 schoolboys national team that toured Austria in 2008.

Following a stint at Waitakere United, Marinovic left New Zealand to pursue overseas opportunities in 2010 – signing a professional contract with German football club SV When Wiesbaden in the 3. Liga. In 2014 he signed with German Regionalliga club SpTgg Unterhaching, playing a key role in their promotion to the 3. Liga. All in all, he would make 100 league appearances in Germany.

It was during this time that Marinovic caught the attention of then All Whites Coach, Anthony

Hudson – who called him up for a friendly against South Korea in 2015.

Marinovic shone in this match, making a vital penalty save in the 0-1 loss. He would go on to make a record 24 consecutive appearances between 2015-2018 as their first choice goalkeeper, including World Cup Qualifiers, International Friendlies and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup – the latter seeing him facing the likes of Portugal’s Ronaldo.

After an impressive display with the All Whites, Marinovic joined Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS. After years grinding away in Germany’s lower tiers, Marinovic had finally reached a level he aspired to play when he left New Zealand; getting regular minutes and going up against household names like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and David Villa.

Marinovic says that he’s grateful that the All Whites gave him a pathway to the Whitecaps, and subsequently, the Wellington Phoenix.

“No one really notices when you’re playing third, fourth league - but to get considered by higher clubs so they say ‘yeah we’ll take a punt on him because he’s got international pedigree’ is huge, so the All Whites were a springboard for me to move to the Whitecaps.”

After making 32 appearances in the season, both the player and club parted ways and the goalkeeper was signed by Bristol City in the EFL Championship for the 2018/19 season.

Having cemented his position as the All Whites number one stopper, Marinovic returned to his home country to sign for Wellington Phoenix in June 2019 – replacing Hyundai A-League goalkeeper of the year Filip Kurto.

Wellington Phoenix Goalkeeping Coach, Paul Gothard, who had previously worked with Marinovic in the All Whites, says that he’s bought different qualities to the position than Kurto did.

“With Stefan’s overall game, he’s a better goalkeeper than Filip - but ultimately their job is to stop the ball going into the back of the net and if you get the goalkeepers to play to their strengths then you get the best of them – and that’s what Stefan is doing.

Outside of football, Marinovic is also a trained pilot who often spends his days off flying around the country, either by himself or with other players. He also enjoys playing the guitar, scuba diving and going on holiday adventures.

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