In what was a dramatic Asian Champions League campaign, even the top Hollywood script writers would struggle to conjure up the drama seen in the Western Sydney Wanderers’ quarter-final match up with Chinese giants Guangzhou Evergrande 10 years ago.
It began with a 1-0 win at Parramatta Stadium with two late red cards and a World Cup winning coach storming the pitch, and ended with an away goals victory in China where the squad dealt with late night disruptions and car accidents on the way to the stadium.
The Wanderers came into the tie as heavy outsiders after their late escape in the Round of 16 against Sanfrecce Hiroshima; they were coming up against one of the richest teams in Asia and the defending Asian champions, with Guangzhou defeating FC Seoul in the 2013 final.
They were led by Marcello Lippi, who won a World Cup with Italy in 2006, and had legendary Alberto Gilardino and Alessandro Diamanti in the side who were expected to sweep away these Australian minnows on their way to more glory.
It wasn’t to go like that as in front of 17,093 fans on a chilly August night, the Wanderers hustled, harried and frustrated their more illustrious opponents.
They took the lead in the second half after Antony Golec’s cross fooled goalkeeper Zeng Cheng and snuck in; Tomi Juric claimed he got the final touch, though the goal was officially given to the fullback Golec.
The drama was yet to come as Guangzhou’s frustrations boiled over towards the end of the match and they had two players sent off, Zhang Linpeng and Gao Ling.
The second red card, for a supposed kick out on debutant Vitor Saba made Lippi so incensed he ran on the field to protest with referee Abdulla Hassan Mohamed, with his outburst giving him a touchline ban.
It was a notable moment in Saba’s unfortunately short stint at the Wanderers, as he struggled to settle and left in the new year; his journeyman career would take him to Greece, Bahrain, Holland and Hong Kong – as well as stints in Italy – before he retired in 2019 due to health related issues.
Golec, who would continue to play a key role in the Wanderers’ ACL campaign, left the Wanderers in 2015 and signed for Perth Glory.
He also played in Moldova and Malaysia, whilst also playing for three more A-League Men’s sides: Central Coast, Wellington and Macarthur; it was the latter where he ended his career, and he is now a real estate agent in Sydney’s Inner West.
The fiery ending to the clash in Parramatta made Saba and the Wanderers public enemy number one when they landed in China for the return leg, and it set the spark for a truly extraordinary turn of events.
The Wanderers’ players and staff were kept up throughout the night in their hotel rooms, as Guangzhou fans deliberately rang their room phones and made noise in the halls of the hotel, and the tension was heightened on the way to Tianhe Stadium, as the Wanderers team bus was almost involved in two collisions with other vehicles in an attempt to delay their arrival to the stadium and shake the team mentally.
The Wanderers were able to make it, and their mental toughness was on show as they held out a determined Guangzhou side, with coach Lippi watching in the stands with a cigar in hand.
Guangzhou had a golden chance to level the tie from the penalty spot in the first half, but Elkeson’s penalty was saved by Ante Covic; the Wanderers themselves would take the lead in the second half from the spot thanks to Tomi Juric.
Guangzhou threw everything at the Wanderers, and got a goal back through Diamanti just after the hour mark, and Elkeson scored a second in stoppage time, but the Wanderers were able to hold on and progressed in remarkable fashion on away goals rule.
Some of the names above will be familiar names to Wanderers fans today; Juric etched himself into Wanderers folklore by scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final, and left for Europe in 2015.
He played for clubs in Switzerland, Holland and Bulgaria, before returning home for stints at Adelaide, Macarthur and the Melbourne Victory; he was last at NorthEastern United in Thailand.
Alessandro Diamanti has also become a big name in Australia thanks to his spell as a marquee player at expansion side Western United from 2019-2023.
He led the Victorian side to an unlikely grand final victory in 2022, before hanging up the boots and joining fellow A-League side Melbourne City as an academy coach.
Alberto Gilardino, the legendary Italian striker, still holds a prominent role in football today, currently head coach of Italian Serie A side Genoa.
