Jamie Maclaren says he simply couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sign for Melbourne City and play out of his home town for the first time in over a decade.
The Caltex Socceroos striker sealed a January move back to the Hyundai A-League from his German club Darmstadt, who had loaned him out to Scottish club Hibernian.
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While he had to watch Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Sydney FC from the stands, Maclaren is set to make his City debut against Adelaide United at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Maclaren said the chance to join a club like City was simply too good to turn down.
“It’s just about opportunity — you don’t get too many opportunities to come to this sort of club and for me it was a matter of the circumstances I was in, with Neil Lennon (Hibernian coach) getting sacked,” the 25-year-old said.
“For me it was the right time. Coming back to the A-League, a place I love — it’s been 11 years since I’ve been in Melbourne, sometimes family is important.
“There were a few discussions, but at the end of the day Melbourne City is a club that have the same ambitions,” Maclaren added.
“For me it was about being happy and feeling Melbourne City was the best place for me.”
Kurz’s orders spark Adelaide’s fightback
Adelaide United hero Nikola Mileusnic has revealed the instructions Marco Kurz gave him to spark the Reds’ stunning second-half comeback to beat Brisbane Roar on Saturday night.
With his side down to 10-men and trailing 3-1 at half-time, Mileusnic was introduced at the break and scored a 97th-minute header to earn his side a memorable 4-3 win at a delirious Coopers Stadium.
The Reds’ cause was helped with Roar receiving two red cards in a breathless second half.
Asked the message Kurz gave him at the break, Mileusnic said: “We knew they had a few yellow cards in the backline so our instructions were to try and run [at] them as much as we can.
“[He wanted us to] try and force them to make an error and force them to get a second yellow card and it did happen.
“The clear idea was to get the ball and run at them, especially on the right side as they had two players on yellow cards.”
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