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Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Australia News Merrick Mulls Missed Chances

ERNIE Merrick was left to reflect on how different Melbourne Victory's Champions League fortunes could have been with an injury-free squad.

Melbourne won the match 3-1, but the scoreboard could have been a lot more lopsided had the Victory taking all their chances in a dominant finish to the game.

A virtually full-strength Victory side completely overran Chonburi FC in the final 30 minutes of the AFC Champions League clash at Telstra Dome.

Archie Thompson, returning from a knee injury, turned the game around when he came on at the hour mark, supplying one goal and scoring another.

Merrick said that while Gamba Osaka, who finished the group stage on 14 points, seven clear of Melbourne, was clearly the best side in the group, he never had his best XI on the field until the final 30 minutes of the final match.

"Gamba Osaka has won the group, and they deserve to win it," he said.

"It's amazing though when you get your whole squad in, and you've lost Archie and Carlos (Hernandez) early in the piece, but when you get your best squad in you play good football.

"I think we prepared very well. We just struggled to get our best team out on the park. There's not many things I would change. You have to acknowledge the quality of Gamba Osaka.

"If it had followed the European Champions League model, we would be through to the next round. It was great to finish on such a high note."

Hernandez only played in the final two games while Thompson was also absent for three matches including the crucial two games against Gamba Osaka, which Victory lost, ending their chances of progressing to the quarter finals.

Merrick paid tribute to Thompson, who may have played his way into Socceroos calculation with his superb 30-minute cameo.

"He's a terrific player," he said. "We wouldn't have played Archie tonight if we hadn't had the all-clear from the medical staff. They said he was 100 percent fit, his knee was fine.

"They recommended he could have 25 minutes or half and hour and that's exactly what he got, and he scored a goal and created a goal, and that's why he's a very special marquee player."

Merrick said the club's inaugural ACL campaign had been a learning curve and he felt his players really appreciated how tough it is playing in Asia.

"The quality of football in Asia is very good. You need to maintain discipline for the whole game, it's very important," he said.

Chonburi coach Jadet Meelarp said that's exactly where his players had let themselves down in the match after taking the lead through Ney Fabiano's goal on 54 minutes.

"We were happy to come here and get a draw, but when we got 1-0 up, we were too focussed on going for the win," he said. "When it was 1-1, we panicked and forgot how to play. Melbourne were clearly very determined to win."

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