Adriano heads to Udon

Adriano celebrates his championship success with his girlfriend Izabelle, and her hair!

Phnom Penh Crown have announced that Australian midfield playmaker, Adriano Pellegrino, has left the club to join Thailand Div 2 Northeast team Udonthani FC for a substantial fee. Adriano, who joined Crown halfway through last season and made a massive contribution with his assists and goals as they won the Metfone C-League Championship, played in a friendly for Udonthani against Muangthong United earlier this week and scored the winning goal in the final minute to impress his new club and their supporters.
Crown head coach Sam Schweingruber made it clear that Adriano's departure was a big loss. "As a head coach, I obviously am very sad to see Adriano move on to find a new challenge in Thailand. We were extremely lucky to have such a talented and experienced player with our club for the last 9 months and we benefited on many different levels. He has helped our team with his skills but also with his leadership and pushed us in the right directions. We would have liked for Adriano to help us defend our MCL title but understand that what we can offer in Cambodia is not a match to what he can get in a different league or club. I wish him all the best for his future. As a club we are fortunate to have more than a month to find a strong replacement and will look for players to come on try out and help fill the gap that the departure of Adriano has left. Our performance against Army has shown what our team is capable of achieving if we work as a unified team and our coaching staff will do whatever possible to ensure we are going to be successful in the new season."
Born in Adelaide, Australia, Adriano played his early football with Adelaide City, Adelaide United, Western Strikers and North Eastern Metrostars, as well as a stint in Greece with Panachaiki. In 2008 he joined A-League team Perth Glory for 3 years, before moving to Central Coast Mariners, also in the Australian League, where he registered nearly 100 A-League appearances in total and played in the 2013 AFC Champions League. He played a game for AEU earlier last season on his way to Kedah in the Malaysian League, but that deal fell through and their bad luck was Crown's good fortune. The former Australian U-20 international joined Crown in May last year, just a few hours before his two-goal debut against AEU and went onto collect a championship medal at the season's end. I'm sure he will be a success in the northeast of Thailand at Udonthani.