Former Sydney FC captain Alex Brosque was swept up in the emotion of the Sky Blues’ comeback victory over Western Sydney Wanderers to book their place in the Semi Finals.
If there was anyone who understood the jubilation the Sydney FC players were feeling at the full-time whistle of their come from behind 2-1 Elimination Final win over Western Sydney Wanderers – it was Alex Brosque.
The former Sky Blues captain, who made over 200 appearances and won three Isuzu UTE A-League Championships with the club, was swept up in the emotions of the win post-game with his former teammates.
During a commercial break, Brosque – who is now a pundit on Network 10 – was mobbed by Andrew Redmayne, Alex Wilkinson and Luke Brattan to name a few as the Sydney players made their way down to the away end to celebrate with their fans.
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“I played with these guys for so many years,” Brosque said.
“We’re still in touch and it’s great to see them doing it. I know what it used to feel for me coming to Parramatta and the feeling but to see them as well, to see these guys that I played so long with and to see the emotion coming through from them as well, it’s awesome, honestly.
“To come here, against all odds… because after the four-nil hiding that they got last time, they were up against it and it didn’t matter. They still showed up and got an incredible win.”
Sydney will now face premiers Melbourne City in the Semi Finals, with the first leg to be played on Friday at Allianz Stadium.
However, just over 20 minutes before the final whistle Sydney’s season was teetering on the edge, as Western Sydney led thanks to a first-half Morgan Schneiderlin penalty.
That was until Sky Blues attacker Robert Mak took over. The Slovakian international brought the game level with an unbelievable solo goal, before teeing up Adam Le Fondre for the winner – as the Englishman nodded home his corner.
“We didn’t start well in the first half, we dropped way too deep, I think,” Mak said on Network 10.
“And at the half time, we said, we have to push them because we’ve got the quality to turn this game around and what a second half from us, I think it was the best second half… this season because the second half we came, it was just all about Sydney and all about us.
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“We didn’t let them to pass the halfway line almost and yeah, we truly deserve it. They couldn’t get near us and they were nowhere.
“We deserve this win. We are very happy.”
It capped off a tremendous run of form since the March international break – where he was called up to the Slovakia national team for the first time since November 2021 and scored against Bosnia & Herzegovina – that’s seen him fire home five goals in five games.
And Mak paid testament to how that said period of time helped provide a boost for the run home, as he’s helped Sydney go unbeaten since the break.
“I think the international break helped me, to fly there and back,” Mak said on Network 10.
“Because when I flew so so long, I came back and I felt really good, I felt confident. Of course, the national team, give me all the confidence when I scored the goal, it helps the player and I came back and we changed something in our game and it suits me very well.
“I’m very happy to help the team and it’s not all about me. It’s all about our team… all the team deserve it.
“But this is my job. I came here to help Sydney FC get to the finals and yeah, I’m happy that I could do it today.”
Mak insisted that he was “fine” despite coming from the field and seen with ice on the same hamstring he hurt against Brisbane Roar on April 24.
