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Finals spice to continue

5 February 2008 | 16:43 - AAP

The war of words between rival A-League coaches Frank Farina and John Kosmina is set to continue with officials unlikely to intervene in the colourful slanging match.

 

Despite a suggestion from Queensland coach Farina that Sydney FC counterpart Kosmina could face a Football Federation Australia fine for calling him and Roar players Craig Moore and Danny Tiatto "whingers", the FFA confirmed they would require an official complaint from the Roar to look in to the comments.

"At this stage it's not something we're looking in to," a FFA spokesman said.

"The onus is on the Roar to put something in writing to us."

A Roar spokesman said the club was unlikely to lodge a formal complaint.

Whether the FFA would have grounds to fine Kosmina under their code of conduct regulations would seem debatable in any case.

The section dealing with disparaging media statements does not go in to detail about what sort of derogatory comments would raise the ire of the FFA - but the term whinger would hardly seem too big a deal.

In any case, the exchange between the former Socceroos team-mates has only served to heighten anticipation ahead of the second leg of the Minor Semi Final.

The Roar host Sydney at Suncorp Stadium on Friday with both teams playing to keep their season alive after a scoreless draw in the first leg of the elimination semi in Sydney last month.

Michael Zullo suffered a knee injury at training this week but the Roar speedster did manage to complete the session and should be fit to take his place.

However, Farina will still have to decide which goalkeeper to start the game after Liam Reddy's recovery from a broken finger. Understudy Griffin McMaster has done well in his absence.

"They are decisions that managers always have to make. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you get it wrong. Hopefully on Friday we'll get it right," Farina told the Courier Mail.

"Liam's had a wonderful season and Griffin's done exceptionally well. It's good to see we got it right when we talk about the goalkeepers that we signed."

Skipper Craig Moore will only join the team Thursday after serving for his country in Wednesday night's World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the FFA has pushed the kick-off at Suncorp Stadium back a half an hour to 8.30pm (AEDT) to allow the expected large crowd to get to the venue in an adequate time to see the match.

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