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.

Adriano signs for 1 more year

Adriano Pellegrino with Crown VP Tommy Lim

NEWSFLASH - Adriano Pellegrino, who made such a dramatic impact on the 2nd half of their Championship-winning season, has signed a contract extension to keep him with Phnom Penh Crown for another year. His 3 goals and 12 assists were a major factor in supporting the team to their 5th Cambodian League title success. Head coach Sam Schweingruber had this to say from China, where he's on FIFA assignment. "We are very happy Adriano has accepted the contract extension for the next year and will be with us to help defend our title. Everybody has seen the impact he had during his 3 month spell with us and we are happy that he is going to be on our side for the next campaign, supporting our team with his qualities, experience and leadership." Adriano is pictured with club vice president Tommy Lim and his new contract. The Australian playmaker, aged 30, played A-League football in his home country with Perth Glory and Central Coast Mariner's, as well as spells in Greece and Malaysia and gained 4 caps for Australia's U-20 national team. Here's what the midfielder had to say on his decision to stay:
"I'm very happy and honoured to have signed a new contract with Crown. It's been an amazing past 3 months having joined the club and being crowned champions, now to have signed a new contract, and be a part of the club long-term, I am very much looking forward to it. The club is going in a great direction with Crown competing next season in Asian competitions, new stadium being built, new signings at the club and a great youth program, and I want to be a part of all that in the future to come. I have to make a special mention to head coach Sam who has been sensational since I arrived at Crown. He is a great coach and look forward to working with him in the future to come, in competing and doing well in Asian competitions and also defending our CPL title next season." Adriano is celebrating his 1-year extension with a visit to Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples, one of the places he was looking forward to visiting when he knew he was coming to Cambodia. He also added that he hoped by his remaining in Cambodia, that it might open the door for other Australian players to play in the C-League. "It's an up and coming league and a great stage for more Australian players to play," commented the former A-League star.

"Spark of magic"

Adriano Pellegrino

Phnom Penh Crown head coach Sam Schweingruber gave his thoughts on the addition to his squad for the 2nd Round of the Metfone C-League campaign, of the vastly experienced Australian midfield playmaker Adriano Pellegrino. "We were in touch with Adriano a long time ago. We almost signed him at the beginning of the season for a loan period, but decided against it as we didn't know how long he'd be with us. Looking back, we should've signed him, it was a mistake. He came to train with us on several occasions, so we knew what he's capable of, his experience and the potential he still has. He's just 29 and he's played at the top level, he's very motivated and excited to be joining our project this year. He's 100% committed to giving his best for the benefit of the team. He's played at different levels in Australia, was a regular at Perth Glory, though not 100% a regular at Central Coast Mariners, sometimes in, sometimes out, but he played in the AFC Champions League in Japan and China, and has represented Australia at U-20 level. That's a real quality football pedigree. A player of his experience, he also played in Greece and has worked with some amazing coaches, played against top teams as well as playing many different positions, so he can fit different roles on the pitch. He brings leadership, organisation, professionalism, helps others, guides and directs - which we've been extremely weak at up until now. He reads the game really well, makes quick decisions, sees the runs, good with dead balls as we've seen, has a good shot, can dribble, can hold the ball and take people on. He can be that influential player, provide that spark of magic, which is ideal support for our team and just what we need right now."

Adriano will be thirty in June. Adelaide-born, he 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 four seasons, before moving to Central Coast Mariners, also in the Australian top flight, where he took his A-League appearances total to just under the 100 mark and played in last season's AFC Champions League. He also appeared for the Central Coast Mariner's Academy team last term. Adriano played a single game for AEU earlier this year on his way to join Kedah in the Malaysian League, but that deal fell through and he's returned to Cambodia to join forces with Crown. He was also capped four times with the Australian U-20 national team.

Baldwin & Adriano sign on

Baldwin Ngwa signs on with PPCFC

Phnom Penh Crown coach Sam Schweingruber has signed Cameroon striker Baldwin Ngwa Afa'nwi even though he cannot play for Crown in the second half of the season. Crown are allowed to sign just one foreign player to play in Round 2 and that player is Adriano Pellegrino. So the signing of Baldwin is one for the future and he will feature for Asia Euro in the MCL for the remainder of the current season. Just turned 24 years old, Baldwin was on trial in Vietnam at the start of the year with Thanh Quang Ninh but suffered a hamstring injury, his visa expired and he came to Cambodia. That's when he came to try out with Crown to regain his fitness and scored a hat-trick in his first outing, a friendly game against Albirex. The man with a nose for goal began life with clubs in his home country, with spells at Bamboutos Mbouda, Caiman and Tiko United before heading to the Kenyan premier division with Gor Mahia and then a couple of stints in the top Tunisia League with JS Kairouan, sandwiched between returning to Kenya with Western Stima and Rangers. He also had a stint in the Oman professional league with Majees Sports Club, so despite his relative young age, he has quite a bit of experience on his playing CV. Recovering his match sharpness will be his first priority with AEU and then we will look ahead to next season.

Adriano Pellegrino, in Central Coast Mariners colours

Twenty-nine year old Adriano Pellegrino made a memorable impact on his debut against AEU last weekend with two goals and as many assists, and that was just in the first-half! Born in Adelaide, Australia, he 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 last season's AFC Champions League. He played a game for AEU earlier this term on his way to Kedah in the Malaysian League, but that deal fell through and their bad luck luck is our good fortune. The former Australian U-20 international joined Crown a few hours before his two-goal debut against AEU. Now 29 years old, coach Sam Schweingruber had this to say about the midfield playmaker: "Adriano was instrumental in all the first half goals against AEU, scoring two and setting up two more with his free-kicks. He's strong on the ball, clever, reads the game quickly, definitely a player on a higher level. We will see more of him dictating and controlling games, changing the rhythm, slowing and speeding the game up. He's not yet 100% fit, hasn't played 90 minutes for a while, so there's a lot more to come. I'm excited to see how over the next few weeks he can perform when he gets fitter." A longer interview with Schweingruber on his newest signing will be posted later.