Jump up Sydney Cove! It’s set to be a sensational Saturday night at Sydney Football Stadium as your heroes take on last season’s double-winners.
Jump up Sydney Cove! It’s set to be a sensational Saturday night at Sydney Football Stadium as your heroes take on last season’s double-winners.
It’s the first game that Sydney Football Stadium will host in the Hyundai A-League 2011/12 season, and what a belter it is set to be, as last season’s all conquering champions make up a tough opponent. Last week, your Sky Blue heroes performed in front of a massive 40,000 crowd in Melbourne, so now it’s time to show Australia that The Cove can create an atmosphere to match anything that Victory can offer. Buy your ticket today, warm up your vocal chords and prepare to sing from first whistle to last as Brett Emerton makes his home bow!
Sydney FC will enter this tough match-up full of confidence after a fine result on the first weekend of the season. And what a thriller it was. In an end-to-end cracker, new defensive pairing Michael Beauchamp and Pascal Bosschaart showed real promise, goalkeeper Liam Reddy was exceptional, while marquee signing Emerton was unlucky not to bring home the points, as his penalty was brilliantly saved by Victory keeper Ante Covic.
The Sky Blues also did well to hold on in the closing minutes, after Mark Bridge was red carded. The frontman will now miss the next two games.
While Sydney will take heart from their opening day point, their opponents’ confidence is sky high. The 1-0 win against Central Coast Mariners was, incredibly, their 29th Hyundai A-League game without defeat and came the day after new owners were announced. Last weekend’s fine display from the double-winners suggests that losing a few big names – including former captain and midfield star Matt McKay – over the close-season has done little to affect the team’s style of play. In front of a healthy Suncorp crowd, Ange Postecoglou’s players displayed the same passing game that enabled them to brush aside all-comers last time round.
They are understandably a team to fear, so they are going to have to show plenty of patience as many sides will undoubtedly be content to park the bus against them. They showed they are capable of such just a thing on the weekend, waiting until the 72nd minute before securing a winner against Mariners.
On Saturday though, both sides will be determined to play stylish, free-flowing football, which means this match-up is guaranteed to be a blockbuster. There is simply nowhere better to be than at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night! Sydney FC will face few tougher games this season than the visit of the champions, so the players will really need the full vocal support of every Sky Blue fan. Not just The Cove, but from all sides of the stadium. So get a ticket today and warm up your vocal chords. Let’s make it a fantastic atmosphere to welcome Brett Emerton as these two fine sides go head-to-head.
