Great mates John Aloisi and Aurelio Vidmar set for coaching battle in all-Victorian semi-final

John Aloisi isn’t about to let sentiment get in the way of lowering the coaching colours of his great mate and mentor Aurelio Vidmar when the pair go head-to-head in the two-legged A-League semi-final between Western United and Melbourne City.

The all-Victorian affair kicks off at AAMI Park on Friday night, with Aloisi’s United and Vidmar’s City keen to get the edge ahead of next week’s second leg at the same venue.

Both South Australian products and former Socceroos, Aloisi and Vidmar’s friendship dates back to the early 1990s when the pair were at Adelaide City before both moved to Belgium to continue their playing careers.

“I’ve got so much respect for Aurelio for both what he’s done in the game and as a person,” said Aloisi, who is nine years younger than Vidmar.

“He really helped me when I first started training with the first team at Adelaide City but also when I first went overseas in Belgium, he was there, and he used to come and see me on his days off.

“I was 17 years old, so he really helped me a lot. He’s a great coach, and there’s no surprises from my side that he’s doing well with Melbourne City.

“He got put in a tough position this year at times with the amount of injuries (City had) and having to play young players, but they picked up a lot of results with those young players.

“We’ll be rivals (in the semi-final), but we’re friends, and we go back a long way.”

However, despite Vidmar having been a groomsman for Aloisi and the pair living in proximity in Melbourne, they don’t speak often during the season.

“We’ve caught up a couple of times for dinner … (and) we might bump into each other every now and then but not as often as we probably would like,” Aloisi said.

“That can happen when you’re busy with work and coaching. You haven’t got that much spare time.”

Vidmar believed Aloisi had done a terrific job with United.

“This is a game against an excellent opponent – they’ve had a super year,” Vidmar said.

“Their mobility now around the park is excellent, they’ve got multiple goalscorers, so we certainly have to be on our toes to stop that, but we also believe we’ve got some really good momentum.

“The spirit in our group has been extremely high, and we've got players in most areas of the park that can hurt the opposition.”

They include Socceroos veteran Mathew Leckie, who returned from his latest injury setback off the bench in City’s last-start 5-1 win over Sydney FC on May 3.

“There’s no question we’re a better team with him in the starting line-up,” Vidmar said of the 34-year-old attacking weapon.

He’s going to get time for sure on the pitch at some stage, and let’s see where it goes.”

Aloisi said in-form striker Noah Botic, who scored twice in his side’s 3-2 elimination final win over Adelaide United last Friday, had overcome a quad issue.

“We had to take care of him a little bit this week because there is something there that’s not major, so he’s available,” Aloisi said.