Argentine recruit Marcos Flores has been included in Adelaide United's 25-man squad for the upcoming Asian Champions League. Adelaide United FC has announced its squad for the upcoming AFC Champions League 2010, which kicks off in under a month, the club submitting a list of 25 for its historic third appearance in the prestigious Asian club competition.
Argentinean Marcos Flores has been joined by left sided Brazilian Cassio and English born striker Lloyd Owusu as the Reds' three foreigners, while young Korean midfielder Inseob Shin is the additional Asian import.
United have also included four players from the club's Youth squad, naming striker Evan Kostopoulos and defensive duo Perry Mitris and Dane Milovanovic, while Nick Munro takes up the third goalkeeper spot.
Brazilian duo Cristiano and Alemao have been left out of the squad, as clubs can only have three imports in the ACL, but with United submitting 25 players out of a maximum 30, Coach Aurelio Vidmar can make up to five changes to his squad before the February 17 cut off as he aims to repeat the club's feat of reaching the final in 2008.
"It's never easy to make decisions like that because the ACL is a big tournament and every player wants to play in it," Vidmar said after deciding on which foreigner players to take into the competition.
"Unfortunately it's a decision we have to make and that's the way we chose to go."
While the Reds have submitted their initial squad list, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regulations do allow the club to make changes to its player roster up until a week before its first match of the competition, which is on February 24 against reigning title holders, the Pohang Steelers at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The Reds' opening match at home against Pohang will be followed by a trip to China to face Shandong Luneng before home and away matches against Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
A trip to Korea to tackle the Steelers in the penultimate Match Day will culminate with United back at Hindmarsh Stadium for a clash against Shandong.
The priority period for Adelaide United members to purchase tickets for the club's home matches in the ACL are available now through Ticketek, with tickets going on sale to the general public on February 1.
ADELAIDE UNITED FC - AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2010 SQUAD 1.Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk) 2.Robert CORNTHWAITE 4.Iain FYFE 5.Daniel MULLEN 6.CASSIO 7.Lucas PANTELIS 8.Kristian SARKIES 10.Adam HUGHES 11.Lloyd OWUSU 12.Paul REID 13.Travis DODD (c) 14.Scott JAMIESON 15.Francesco MONTEROSSO 16.Inseob SHIN 17.Michael MARRONE 18.Fabian BARBIERO 19.Mathew LECKIE 20.Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk) 21.Mark RUDAN 22.Dane MILOVANOVIC 23.Joe COSTA 24.Marcos FLORES 25.Evan KOSTOPOULOS 26.Perry MITRIS 30.Nick MUNRO (gk)
Adelaide United FC - AFC Champions League 2010 FixturesMatch Day 1Adelaide United FC v Pohang Steelers Wednesday, February 24 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
Match Day 2 Shandong Luneng v Adelaide United FC Wednesday, March 10 @ Shandong Sports Centre Stadium
Match Day 3Adelaide United FC v Cup Winner Wednesday, March 24 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
Match Day 4 Cup Winner v Adelaide United FC Tuesday, March 30 @ Venue TBC
Match Day 5 Pohang Steelers v Adelaide United FC Tuesday, April 13 @ Pohang Steelyard
Match Day 6Adelaide United FC v Shandong Luneng Tuesday, April 27 @ Hindmarsh Stadium
