Kosmina welcomes Asian league adventure

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina says his club’s Asian adventure should be a welcome retreat from their A-League woes.

The Reds are travelling to Uzbekistan for an Asian Champions League fixture on Tuesday against Bunyodkor, with their A-League campaign in tatters.

Adelaide lost 2-0 to Perth Glory on Thursday night, with Kosmina livid at refereeing errors which cost his side dearly.

But he said player morale remained high entering the champions league, despite their lowly ninth-placed status in the domestic competition.

“I think we’ll do all right. It’s just a matter of taking the right attitude into Asia,” Kosmina said.

“We will play a little bit differently and probably be a little bit more conservative, trying to find our feet.

“But we have got to look at this now as a new adventure.

“And it’s something exciting that a lot of blokes have never experienced before, myself included.

“So from that perspective, you go over there and enjoy it and try and get something out of it.”

On return to Australia, a frustrated Kosmina will seek another meeting with A-League referee boss Mark Shield.

Kosmina said Adelaide were “killed” by refereeing mistakes in their loss to Perth.

Replays showed the Glory’s first goal was scored by Billy Mehmet from an off-side position.

And in the second half, Adelaide’s Nigel Boogard found the net when Perth goalkeeper Danny Vukovic dropped a corner.

Referee Matt Gillett mistakenly ruled the ‘keeper was obstructed.

“I didn’t know goalkeepers could earn free kicks for dropping the ball because that is all that happened – no one touched him,” Kosmina said.

“I actually spoke to Mark Shields about it a week or so back, about the amount of free kicks we get against us on that particular set piece when there is no free kick that can be spotted.

“It’s just another one of the cuts, one of the thousands that we have been dying by lately.”

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