It hasn’t taken long for Perth Glory midfielder Andrezinho to become one of the Hyundai A-League’s brightest stars.
It hasn’t taken long for Perth Glory midfielder Andrezinho to become one of the Hyundai A-League’s brightest stars.
In a scintillating debut for the club against Adelaide United three weeks ago, Andrezinho produced a sparking display down the left flank as he tore the Reds’ defence apart, setting up chance after chance with his incisive crosses.
Although the name Andrezinho means ‘little Andre’ in his native Portuguese, the performance was enough for some Glory supporters to refer to him as ‘Andre the Giant’ after just 60 minutes on the field.
The 26-year-old has been a revelation with his skill and lightening pace but that has also come a cost as Andrezinho appears to have been targeted for some very heavy tackles and the Brazilian playmaker believes this has been a deliberate attempt to curb his influence.
“Football here is very strong,” he said on Thursday morning, gamely fronting a press conference despite his limited English. “Tackles are difficult.”
“I think after Adelaide game, I think another team look at my football, my style.”
“(They try) too much defend, (with some) unbelievable tackles.”
“But no, no problem,” he added.
His coach, Ian Ferguson, also backed Andrezinho to overcome the roughhouse tactics as he prepares his side for this week’s trip to Gosford to play Central Coast.
“He’s that type of player,” Ferguson said. “He’s direct, he’s runs with people and he can come from inside to outside.”
“He causes a lot of problems.”
“It’s a physical league we’re in and he expects that. He’s fine, he’ll be okay.”
Ferguson also backed key midfielder Liam Miller to be fit to play Central Coast, despite the ex-Celtic man suffering from severe cramp in last week’s win over Wellington.
“Liam’s good, he’s fine,” Ferguson said.
“He’ll train today. He trained on Tuesday, which was good. It was just cramp so he’s okay.”
A squad of 20 player will travel to Sydney on Friday morning with Steve Pantelidis, Adam Hughes, Evan Berger, Josh Risdon and Mile Sterjovski all added to the team that beat the Phoenix 1-nil in week 3.
