Brisbane coach Ange Postecolgou says his club’s stoic injury-time comeback victory over Sydney was another sign of the incredible will and determination residing within the playing group.
Brisbane coach Ange Postecolgou says his club’s stoic injury-time comeback victory over Sydney was another sign of the incredible will and determination residing within the playing group.
For the majority of Saturday night’s match with the Sky Blues the Roar were lacklustre and lethargic, outleapt at the gate and forced to chase the fully-focused visitors from the time they seized the lead in the 39th minute.
Enter Thomas Broich and Henrique – returning from extended injury lay offs – at the hour mark and suddenly the Roar had the ingenuity and flair to complement their relentless intensity.
The pressure and purpose paid dividends at the last possible juncture, with a pair of stunning injury-time goals within a minute of each other securing three valuable competition points.
Midfield workhorse Massimo Murdocca exemplified the side’s courage, turning in a tireless whistle-to-whistle performance and helping to sustain belief amongst the reigning champions when defeat would have appeared a certainty to the most die-hard of supporters.
Postecolgou said the miraculous victory was enough to push the chase for perfection from his mind and remind him of the quality of character that exists amongst his hand-picked playing group.
“It was quite incredible finish to the game. We’ve seen some rippers here over the last 18 months and that will go down as well,” said Postecolgou.
“Once again, this group of players showed they will go right til the final whistle and won’t throw the towel in. It was a fantastic finish.
“You don’t have time at the moment to recollect your thoughts about it, but there’s a tremendous will and desire amongst this group of players to never give in … it’s a tremendous characteristic of this team that they will go to the final whistle.
“It does speak volumes for the character, and it’s not the first time we’ve done it, so I’ve got to acknowledge that, in terms of sometimes I want perfection in the way we play, but there’s also some real determination and desire to win that as a coach I really appreciate.”
Postecoglou was also sure to play down the significance of the ugly melee that erupted after play, suggesting the altercation between match-winning goalscorer, Besart Berisha and Sydney FC defender Pascal Bosschaart had been of minor note.
“There was a lot of emotion at the end of the game, everyone was pretty passionate. I’ve seen some initial vision of it, and there was nothing too scary going on out there,” he said.
“We do a lot of things really well in our game, but fighting isn’t one of them, and we should leave that to other sports as far as I’m concerned, because that’s not a footballer’s trait.”
