Sydney striker Alex Brosque believes the Sky Blues can maintain their perfect record over Wellington when the two sides meet for a place in the Hyundai A-League Grand Final on Saturday night.
Sydney has beaten Wellington on two occasions at home this season and is the only club to have taken the points from a game in New Zealand in the last 18 months.
That clash, admittedly, was played in Palmerston North and not at the Phoenix fortress Westpac Stadium, but Brosque thinks Sydney has the edge over the Kiwis whereever they play.
“They have always been tough but I guess it’s one of those things where this year, they have been the team we have been able to beat,” said the striker on Thursday.
“Personally, I have enjoyed some good games against them as well, so hopefully that can continue this week.”
“They’ve been a team I have done well against so that does help with confidence and confidence is a big thing going into this game.”
“It will be much harder being a Preliminary Final and they are going to throw everything at us and they have good momentum behind them, but we will be up for it this weekend,” he said.
Last Sunday, the Phoenix came from behind to defeat Newcastle 3-1 during extra-time, the 34,000-strong crowd revelling in an outstanding performance by talismanic striker Paul Ifill.
Sydney, meanwhile, fell victim to an extra-time goal by Melbourne’s Archie Thompson in the Major semi-final, where the 2-2 scoreline at the SFS saw the Victory through to a home grand final via a 4-3 aggregate score over the two legs.
Despite becoming a father for the first time midway through the week, Brosque produced a sterling performance, threatening at every opportunity and earning a first-half penalty that Karol Kisel converted.
But having seen Thompson catch the Sydney defence napping with a quickly-taken free kick during extra-time, Brosque knows his team-mates will have to be especially wary of a Phoenix side featuring numerous goal-scoring options.
“With guys like Ifill and Chris Greenacre around it makes them not a one man team,” Brosque said.
“Tim Brown always pops up and scores goals, so I think that has been the difference. Ricki Hebert has recruited really well and built a good team going forward but defensively they are also solid.”
“All around the park they are more of a threat then they used to be.”
But Brosque still feels that with the home support behind them, Sydney can make its first Grand Final since winning the Hyundai A-League’s inaugural season back in 2005-06.
“We have had excellent support in our last two home games so it would be fantastic to have that again this Saturday night,” Brosque said.
“The noise and atmosphere has been great. It does make a difference like in Wellington last weekend.”
