Perth defender Bas van den Brink says there’s no way the Glory want to go down in history as the team that helped Brisbane set a new Australian record for unbeaten matches in professional sport.
Perth defender Bas van den Brink says there’s no way the Glory want to go down in history as the team that helped Brisbane set a new Australian record for unbeaten matches in professional sport.
Having equalled the previous record of 35 unbeaten games – one set by NSW Rugby Football League team Eastern Suburbs in 1937 – through last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Newcastle, the Roar will be looking to set a new benchmark when they host Perth Glory this Saturday night.
But van den Brink says Perth are up for the fight and will be taking a swag of confidence into the game after their 10-man side came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium last weekend.
And, although coach Ian Ferguson hasn’t mentioned the record as yet, van den Brink believes it’s the elephant in the room that players from both sides will be aware of come game day.
“For all the players and the coaches it’s probably already some sort of an inspiration,” said van den Brink from Brisbane on Wednesday.
“It’s on everybody’s mind from the Roar and also on our mind, for them to probably get the record and for us to stop them.”
“We watched the Newcastle Jets game against the Roar and I think it’s probably a bit of jealousy that everybody was in favour of the Newcastle Jets, to stop their unbeaten streak.”
“But it didn’t happen so we’re the ones now to do it and hopefully we can but, yeah it’s a big task and they’re No.1 for a reason, 35 games straight, so yeah, it’ll be tough.”
The Glory will have to do it the hard way as they will be without instrumental midfielder Liam Miller, who was suspended for one match after his controversial first-half red card against the Victory.
Fellow midfielder Mile Sterjovski may also not play as he is not with the team training in Brisbane and is instead back in Perth with his wife as she prepared to deliver the couple’s third child. According to the club, Sterjovski still may be a chance to feature if the child is delivered in time.
Despite the obstacles, van den Brink is convinced the fighting spirit the club showed against Victory will hold them in good stead.
“Because of the red card and the penalty,” he said, referring to a poor penalty decision given against himself during the second half against Melbourne. “Maybe something just sparked in the team which made our fighting spirit better than the Victory’s one.”
“So it’s hard to see whether we would have won or not but I think as a team we did really well and I think this could give us a good confidence boost for the upcoming game.”
“I think we just need all the confidence, we need all the fighting spirits we’ve had to obviously do well against the Roar ’cause they’re the bench mark right now and it’s going to be tough no doubt about it.”
Van den Brink also said he was surprised by the positive reaction to his post-match comments following the Victory game.
Speaking to Foxsports just after the match, the defender was the epitomy of sportsmanship when he was asked about the poor penalty call against him, the Dutchman saying that everyone, including the referees, could make mistakes.
“I didn’t really think about what I was saying after the game ’cause it was just shortly after the final whistle and I was still a bit worked up,” he said.
“I was surprised by the all the positive reactions I’ve got and I still think that I make a mistake, they make mistakes and it can happen.”
“I think that’s probably the beauty of the game that we’re all able to make mistakes and it can change the game in sometimes positive and sometimes negative ways, but I reckon that’s just a big part of the game which makes it interesting.”
