JOHN Kosmina has revealed how Adelaide United discovered its remarkable team chemistry in the obscure republic of Uzbekistan.

Reds coach Kosmina had already cooked up the playbook for Asian Champions League success before Adelaide boarded its marathon flight for the March 6 competition opener against Bunyodkor.

However the players needed to buy into Kossie's Red Oath. The penny dropped on the arduous trip to the bleak former Soviet state. "For me the key was the trip to Bunyodkor, you could actually feel there was a different mood around the place. Getting a win allowed the thing to grow," recalled Kosmina.

That was the catalyst and it gained momentum.

Kosmina and skipper Eugene Galekovic arranged a game of paintball which further enhanced camaraderie ahead of the victory against Gamba Osaka that secured top spot in group E.

Ex-skipper Jon McKain noted Kosmina's first edict upon succeeding Rini Coolen in December was to get his men playing for each other and the shirt.

"The Champions League, going away for five days here and there helped the team bond. We definitely missed a pre-season camp at the start of last season," said McKain, one of eleven arrivals at Hindmarsh before an A-League season the club was tipped to win.

"Going away somewhere, that is an imperative in every team I have been in, not for the training but to get to know each other."

Kosmina isn't lauded as a master strategist, nor recognised by FIFA as United's head coach in the ACL through lack of elite coaching licences.

Yet the Reds mentor implemented a successful ACL blueprint that eluded Central Coast coach Graham Arnold and dual A-League championship coach Ange Postecoglou. The Mariners and Roar failed to progress from the 2012 group stage.

The Reds, street-smart in Asia having made the 2008 ACL final, decided to win ugly at first, then flower within the constraints of an austere 4-5-1 system.

Brisbane was a conspicuous, pretty loser which sought to beat Asian rivals at their own beautiful game.

Nagoya Grampus, coached by Serbian legend Dragan Stojkovic, thumped Central Coast 3-0 in their final group game but left Hindmarsh frustrated by a 1-0 loss that meant successive round-of-16 exits.

"We play compact football, but when we create a chance we score," Galekovic said. "You have to play a different way in the ACL. I don't know if it is ugly but I prefer to win, no matter what."

The triple bypass on Adelaide's sagging heart Kosmina performed last December culminated in the comprehensive display that overcame a Toyota-owned opponent, vastly superior on paper and in resources.

"For us to compete and survive at that level against Nagoya, it says a lot about the players, their desire to win," said Kosmina, whose men desperately defended a 1-0 lead against Nagoya after McKain's 41st minute goal on Tuesday night.

"I came here and there were disjointed individuals, they were not a team. From that aspect they have come full circle. They are close."

The man who presided over the hurried formation of the Reds in 2003 was perfect to galvanising a disparate playing group.

"I put it on the team to take responsibility and they did," Kosmina said.

McKain, who lost the captain's armband to Galekovic on Kosmina's arrival, is the on-field barometer for Adelaide's improvement. "Jonny had a pretty significant injury to his knee, put a lot of time and effort into getting healthy, and his game, like the team as a whole, has actually improved week by week," observed former Socceroos forward Kosmina.

One class act underlined the healthy development of the playing group. Defender Nigel Boogaard and Galekovic quietly insisted that the unpaid volunteers from the ball stewards and boot studders upwards be recognised at the 2011-12 club champion awards.

"Maybe I just reinforce simple things, football to me is as much about camaraderie, fighting for each other as it is about tactics, skill and ability," Kosmina said.

The definitive achievement of Adelaide's fourth foray into Asia has already been realised regardless of its progress. The critical bond between club and fans has been restored.

"There is a warmth between the players and fans that didn't exist at Christmas time," Kosmina said.

"This is about prestige.

"We will be a better team because of this."