Victory hope third time's a charm after latest GF loss
Melbourne Victory will pick up the pieces from a second consecutive A-League Men grand final defeat and hope they can keep most of their players around to make another charge.
A year on from a heartbreaking extra-time loss to Central Coast, Victory suffered a 1-0 defeat to Melbourne City in Saturday night's grand final at AAMI Park.
Coach Arthur Diles was pragmatic about how to move on without carrying the scars of this year.
"Next year's a new season," he said.
"We don't look back. We look forward."
But goalkeeper Jack Duncan underlined the emotion a talented Victory group with nothing to show for multiple big finals would experience.
"We also lost the Australia Cup as well. So it's a really tough one to take," Duncan said.
"All the boys had so much belief going into this game with how we've gone over the last few weeks, with the results we've been able to pick up and to put ourselves in this position. So it's never easy.
"I still think about the 2018 grand final that we lost to Melbourne Victory at Newcastle.
"So these moments stay with you forever, because this is what your whole career is for - to win trophies.
"And it will be tough, but I guess we have to take stock in the fact that as a group, we were very close. We had a really good season to be here on the final day, and unfortunately we just fell short."
Daniel Arzani and Bruno Fornaroli are the biggest names out of contract, with the former keen to test himself in Europe.
Contracted guns Ryan Teague, the injured Nishan Velupillay and Jordi Valadon could also attract attention.
"Fortunately for us, I think the majority will still be here," Diles said.
"I'd be surprised if we didn't have 70 to 80 per cent of the squad still next season.
"That's also pending what happens in off-season in terms of transfers and things like that.
"We've had a great season. When you have a successful season like that, there's normally interest in a lot of your players, whether they're off-contract or on-contract. So we'll deal with that over the next month.
"We'll look at our recruitment as well for next season and make sure that we fill the voids that we have and and try and strengthen this playing group as much as we can to come back even better next year."
After originally joining on a one-year deal, Duncan is yet to confirm whether he will stick around for next season, which would likely mean playing deputy to Mitch Langerak.
Duncan started the season as No.1, knowing Langerak was coming in.
He said being dropped was a "real low point" before regaining his spot via the former Socceroo's foot injury.
"I triggered an extension through the number of games I played," he said.
"So yeah, we'll see how the off season unfolds. I've loved every minute of my time at the club."
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Sydney Morning Herald
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The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
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But he made no mistake in the 90th minute, burying his chance to send the crowd into raptures. The Socceroos have effectively punched their ticket to the 2026 World Cup after an Aziz Behich stunner in the 90th minute lifted them to a 1-0 win over Japan at a sold-out Optus Stadium. In front of 57,226 fans in Perth on Thursday night, Australia looked disjointed and uninspiring throughout the match before Behich popped up for the winner in what was his first international goal in 13 years. Riley McGree's angled cut back rolled tantalisingly untouched in the box, and Behich ran back and unleashed a right-foot strike while spinning his body to send the ball flying in for a goal. The result means the Socceroos (16 points, +8 goal difference) will lock in the second automatic World Cup qualifying spot from their group - barring a crazy big loss to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah next Tuesday. Saudi Arabia (10 points, -2 goal difference) need to beat lowly Bahrain overnight to stay in the hunt to leapfrog the Socceroos. Behich, who won the A-League title with Melbourne City last Saturday, rated his goal against Japan as his finest moment in Socceroos colours. "As soon as it's come off my foot, I felt I hit it pretty nicely," Behich said. "I actually didn't see the ball hit the net. I just kind of saw the crowd erupt and players start running everywhere. "That's when I'm like, 'Let's go'. It was a beautiful moment." Socceroos coach Tony Popovic exploded with emotion on the bench when the goal went in, with a flare set off in the crowd to mark the moment. "It's a special night," Popovic said. "The outpouring of emotions when we scored, and obviously after the game - it's a moment I'll always remember. "We've all played a part in getting us to this point, and we want to go to Saudi Arabia now and really finish the job off." Thursday's result marked Australia's first win over Japan since 2009. Japan (20 points) entered the match under no pressure to perform given they had already qualified for the World Cup as the winners of their group. Regulars such as Kaoru Mitoma, Daizen Maida, Reo Hatate, Takumi Minamino, Ritsu Doan, Junya Ito and Hidemasa Morita didn't even make the trip to Australia, while stars Wataru Endo, Takefusa Kubo and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki were named on the bench. Japan named three debutants in their starting XI as well as six other players with four or fewer international caps to their name. Australia looked like they had stage fright in the first half, with basic errors and bad decision-making regularly plaguing them. Japan enjoyed 70 per cent possession for the half, and they gave the Socceroos a big scare in the 28th minute when Yuito Suzuki surged forward and sent his shot just wide. A goalkeeping error from Japan in the 48th minute gave Behich a sniff that he wasn't able to take advantage of. But he made no mistake in the 90th minute, burying his chance to send the crowd into raptures. The Socceroos have effectively punched their ticket to the 2026 World Cup after an Aziz Behich stunner in the 90th minute lifted them to a 1-0 win over Japan at a sold-out Optus Stadium. In front of 57,226 fans in Perth on Thursday night, Australia looked disjointed and uninspiring throughout the match before Behich popped up for the winner in what was his first international goal in 13 years. Riley McGree's angled cut back rolled tantalisingly untouched in the box, and Behich ran back and unleashed a right-foot strike while spinning his body to send the ball flying in for a goal. The result means the Socceroos (16 points, +8 goal difference) will lock in the second automatic World Cup qualifying spot from their group - barring a crazy big loss to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah next Tuesday. Saudi Arabia (10 points, -2 goal difference) need to beat lowly Bahrain overnight to stay in the hunt to leapfrog the Socceroos. Behich, who won the A-League title with Melbourne City last Saturday, rated his goal against Japan as his finest moment in Socceroos colours. "As soon as it's come off my foot, I felt I hit it pretty nicely," Behich said. "I actually didn't see the ball hit the net. I just kind of saw the crowd erupt and players start running everywhere. "That's when I'm like, 'Let's go'. It was a beautiful moment." Socceroos coach Tony Popovic exploded with emotion on the bench when the goal went in, with a flare set off in the crowd to mark the moment. "It's a special night," Popovic said. "The outpouring of emotions when we scored, and obviously after the game - it's a moment I'll always remember. "We've all played a part in getting us to this point, and we want to go to Saudi Arabia now and really finish the job off." Thursday's result marked Australia's first win over Japan since 2009. Japan (20 points) entered the match under no pressure to perform given they had already qualified for the World Cup as the winners of their group. Regulars such as Kaoru Mitoma, Daizen Maida, Reo Hatate, Takumi Minamino, Ritsu Doan, Junya Ito and Hidemasa Morita didn't even make the trip to Australia, while stars Wataru Endo, Takefusa Kubo and goalkeeper Zion Suzuki were named on the bench. Japan named three debutants in their starting XI as well as six other players with four or fewer international caps to their name. Australia looked like they had stage fright in the first half, with basic errors and bad decision-making regularly plaguing them. Japan enjoyed 70 per cent possession for the half, and they gave the Socceroos a big scare in the 28th minute when Yuito Suzuki surged forward and sent his shot just wide. A goalkeeping error from Japan in the 48th minute gave Behich a sniff that he wasn't able to take advantage of. But he made no mistake in the 90th minute, burying his chance to send the crowd into raptures.
