Corona has been cracked open, and Brisbane coach John Aloisi knows there’s a lot more fizz where that came from.
The experienced Spanish midfielder, signed only last week by the Roar, had a considerable hand in his side’s 3-1 opening A-League win over the Western Sydney Wanderers.
It took him a little while to get going at Pirtek Stadium on Thursday night but once he did, Corona bossed the midfield and took the set pieces that led to two of Brisbane’s three goals.
First, he whipped in a wonderful corner in the 23rd minute which was met by defender Daniel Bowles and powerfully headed home.
The 34-year-old followed that with another 11 minutes later, from which striker Jamie Maclaren netted his second goal, rolling the ball over the line after Wanderers defenders failed to clear it.
“Corona has only been with us just over a week and hasn’t played any games with us,” Aloisi said of the 10-season La Liga veteran.
“You’ve heard his English, it’s okay, it’s hard for him to understand everything.
“But he’ll get better. We know that he’s a quality player, we know that he’s good on the ball. We know that we can play through him.”
Aloisi said he had to coax Corona onto the ball early in the first half, but praised his efforts once he picked up started to control proceedings.
“He’s got that poise on the ball – he can quicken the game up, slow it down,” Aloisi said.
“I thought that in the second half we took the sting out of the game a little bit and that was thanks to him and also the other players around him.”
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