Adelaide City sign ex-Mariners title winner for FFA Cup showdown with Elizabeth Downs

Adelaide City have signed a former Hyundai A-League championship winner and an emerging young goalkeeper in time for tonight’s FFA Cup clash against Amateur side Elizabeth Downs.

City have secured ex-Perth Glory and Central Coast midfielder Adriano Pellegrino and teenage gloveman Joe Gauci.

The duo have inked deals for the remainder of the 2019 South Australian NPL campaign, although they could make their debuts in the crucial FFA Cup clash at Valo Football Centre tonight.

Pellegrino, 34, was part of the Mariners squad which won their maiden title in 2013 and has been City’s Technical Director since the end of 2018.

“My childhood and my professional career in the National Soccer League started here and I couldn’t be happier to be wearing this jersey again,” Pellegrino said on City’s website.

“I hope to contribute quite a lot on and off the pitch.”

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Gauci, 18, who had been on a scholarship deal at the Mariners, added: “Coming from a professional environment at the Mariners, I wanted to come into a club that did things very similarly and City are definitely doing that.

“They’ve always been a top club – they have a huge ambition to become part of a national second division in the future and they always want to be the best they can be.”

City would move to within one win of a spot in the 2019 FFA Cup Round of 32 if they can overcome giant-killers Elizabeth Downs tonight.

The other semi-final in South Australia sees Adelaide Olympic take on the Adelaide Comets on Wednesday night.

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