Corica calls on north’s support
STEVE Corica bleeds blue for about nine months of the year but he knows where he comes from.
The Sydney FC assistant coach hopes Queenslanders, especially football fans across the Far North, will jump on the sky blue bandwagon at least for one day tomorrow when his side tackles Melbourne Victory in the A-League grand final.
Corica told the Cairns Post that fans were in for an exciting conclusion to the 2016-17 season and felt the wave of support behind him from his hometown Innisfail.
“I think they’re always behind me,” he said.
“Most of the family is still up there and especially now the Brisbane Roar is out now hopefully all of north Queensland is behind us.”
Corica said after being the best team all year, Sydney FC were treating this game as any other week, although admittedly there’s not a lot you can do about the commitments that come with the build-up.
“To be honest we’re just trying to treat it like another league game,” he said. “We’re calling it Round 29.” Fortunately, most of the squad has been at the club or in the A-League long enough to know the importance of the grand final in Australia’s unique sporting landscape, although he said Brazilian striker Bobo has had to be brought up to speed.
Corica said recruiting the right players who fit the style of head coach Graham Arnold was the secret to the club’s suc- cess and had resulted in an unmatched belief.
“It’s about the culture of the club and the belief in what we’re trying to achieve and everyone’s bought in that,” he said.
“We’ve got so many experienced players who have played at a high level and they’ve all come in and bought into it.”
Corica expected the Victory to come out as fiery as ever but he believed Sydney’s class would rule in the end.
“I think definitely they’re going to be coming for us and they’re going to come out fast, and at the end of the day we need to make sure we’re up to that challenge,” he said.
“We do have the better players and if they play to their potential, the quality will rise to the top after the fight.”