To be the man, you have got to beat the man! In the Hyundai A-League that man is Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos.
To be the man, you have got to beat the man! In the Hyundai A-League that man is Brisbane Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos.
You know the guy who has won the double three times, never lost a grand final and became an instant hero with his heroics in last season-s decider when he saved penalties from Daniel McBreen and Pedj Bojic to give the Roar their maiden championship.
Three Plate/Championship doubles make him the most successful player in the short history of the A-League, to say the three time A-League Goalkeeper of the Year has an aura in big games would be an understatement.
It-s a record Theoklitos is proud of and he hopes to improve on this weekend to extend his legacy and level up with Clint Bolton on four national league grand final victories.
“It-s great to be up there with Clint, he has been one of the best keepers in Australia over the years and I hope he plays on again next year. Those records are something that I cherish,” Theoklitos said.
“To be the first player to have won three Championships and three Premier-s Plates, that-s something I am quite proud of.”
Of course last season, Theoklitos was the hero, saving penalties from Daniel McBreen and Pedj Bojic to left the Roar to victory, and while he said it will be hard to top his own personal performance he was hardly concerned by the chance the match could come down to yet another penalty shootout, football-s version of a lottery.
Theoklitos confident he has an advantage over Perth, having seen them take penalties last week.
“Of course last year was one of those games that was great to be a part of and to play a major part in was a great moment, but in saying that it-s a grand final this weekend and to be there with a chance to win it is another huge moment,” he said.
“Hopefully it doesn-t come down to penalties but I-m confident if it does.
“I have a good record with penalties and seeing where they put their penalties last week certainly helps me out, they all struck them pretty well though.
“As long as we win, whether it be in regular time, extra time or on penalties it doesn-t matter, as long as we get the result
“You-re always remembered for how many Championships and Premier-s Plates you have won. We have been the benchmark and we want to make sure we win the silverware.”
While winning is the goal and the Roar are heavy favourites, Theoklitos concedes it won-t be an easy task, especially with Perth-s attack firing on all cylinders, though he dismissed all the talk coming out of Western Australia, saying that all the pressure is on Brisbane.
“Smeltzy has been on fire of late, that-s obvious and we-ll have to watch him but they also have big Billy Mehmet and Travis Dodd there, we will have to keep it tight at the back, as for their talk we don-t really bother too much with what our opposition have to say.
“Last year Central Coast were pushing that they were underdogs and to be honest we-re favourites in most games we play, so it doesn-t bother us at all.”
Hyundai A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL WINNERS 2006-2011 (6 grand finals) 3 Theoklitos, Michael 2006/07, 2008/09, 2010/11 2 Allsopp, Danny 2006/07, 2008/09 2 Bolton, Clint 2005/06, 2009/10 2 Brebner, Grant 2006/07, 2008/09 2 Bridge, Mark 2007/08, 2009/10 2 McFlynn, Terry 2005/06, 2009/10 2 Muscat, Kevin 2006/07, 2008/09 2 Musialik, Stuart 2007/08, 2009/10 2 Ryall, Sebastian 2008/09, 2009/10 2 Thompson, Archie 2006/07, 2008/09 2 Vargas, Rodrigo 2006/07, 2008/09