Victory, Adelaide face off for Cup final spot

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Victory, Adelaide face off for Cup final spot

Patrick Kisnorbo can take a big step towards claiming his first silverware at Melbourne Victory when the A-League Men club face fierce rivals Adelaide ******* in their Australia Cup semi-final.

The winner of Saturday evening’s clash at AAMI Park will face either NPL outfit and former NSL powerhouse South Melbourne or Macarthur in the competition’s final.

But Kisnorbo, who won two premierships and a championship at Melbourne City, wasn’t thinking about another trophy just yet.

“I’ll worry about tomorrow – you can ask that question maybe another time,” he said with a grin on Friday.

The match, and a long cup run, is also a chance for Kisnorbo to endear himself to Victory fans and further bed in his style

“The games are big. It’s a long preseason, and we’ve been able to play competitive games throughout. So it’s helped us, plus training hard,” he said.

Kisnorbo has relished giving more game time to the likes of Kasey Bos, while testing newcomers like Nikos Vergos, Reno Piscopo, Jing Reec and Joshua Rawlins ahead of the season.

“Everyone’s had a chance, and we’ve had a look at them in a competitive game. But the good thing, really, about this is competition,” he said.

“You can only choose 11, so it’s been valuable in terms of getting to know the players and see what they can do in a competitive game with people waiting to take their spot.”

One-cap Socceroo Ben Folami departed Victory late in the transfer window for Adelaide ******* after falling out of favour under Kisnorbo.

Though he was not cap-tied and therefore eligible to play on Saturday, Adelaide coach Carl Veart has already confirmed Folami, 25, won’t be involved.

“Ben has done great at this club. But obviously it’s a new manager and I just wanted to freshen things up and go a certain way,” Kisnorbo said.

“Ben was a great boy, never a problem, but I just wanted to go in a different direction. I’m really happy that he’s found the club. Because I’m all about solutions and we found a solution for him.

“I’m very happy for him that he know he’s gone to a club where he can probably get game time … I didn’t want to be the person that held him back from that.”

South Melbourne play Macarthur at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday evening.

They will be without former captain and striker Harrison Sawyer, who this week signed for the Bulls on a two-year deal.

But Sawyer is cap-tied, so at least won’t play against his former club.

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