Western United striker Aleksandar Prijovic has gone down alongside some of the biggest names in Australian football by winning the Joe Marston Medal in Saturday’s A-League Men Grand Final.
The Serbian was instrumental in helping the Green and Black secure its first ever piece of silverware, providing the flick on for Nuno Reis’ own goal in the second minute before getting a goal of his own on the half hour mark.
Speaking to media after the game, Prijovic said he appreciated the individual award but that the plaudits should go to the entire team.
“It’s a very nice award. First of all I would say that individual awards are always important, but they have been achieved as a team and today the team has been amazing,” he said.
“From the coaching staff, to everyone, to the fans, everything went in our way. We believed in it from the very beginning. We knew as soon as we reached the Final that it would be tough, but that we were going to take it.”
Prijovic capped off what was an outstanding A-League Men Finals Series for him personally as the No.99 played a huge part in getting United over the line.
After scoring the only goal in the side’s 1-0 Elimination Final win over Wellington Phoenix, Prijovic hit a brace as the Green and Black overcame Melbourne Victory in the semi-finals and followed that with a Man of the Match display in the showpiece fixture.
After having played on some of the biggest stages in the world in the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup, Prijovic said he – and indeed his teammates – felt right at home on this occasion.
“I felt the whole team was very calm. We knew what we had to do, we faced that team already three times in this season and we did a pretty good job this year against them,” he said.
“Of course we knew that every final is very difficult and everything can happen. It’s most likely that most finals are not very beautiful games, they’re a bit ugly, a bit nervous, many long balls and many duels.
“We fought in the game and we got rewarded with two goals and we fully deserve it.”
Prijovic had said that after speaking with head coach John Aloisi before joining the Club, he had a clear ambition of bringing success to Western United.
The 32-year-old did just that and his winner’s medal will go alongside two Polish league titles and a Greek title on his mantlepiece.
