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The streaks of grey hair and a 1973 birth certificate may reveal his age, but in footballing terms Steve Corica appears as sprightly as a 20-year-old – just ask his Sydney FC teammates.
“That’s the thing about him, each year he’s getting older, but he’s still playing like he’s 20-years-old,” fellow Sydney attacker Alex Brosque said of the former Socceroo.
“And he’s always going to be like that.
“He’s a player that technically is very good, and he’s smart on the ball as well.
“So while his legs may not carry him the way they used to he makes up for it in a million other ways.
“And he’s good to have on the park in terms of leadership as well, he really helps the young boys along.”
That leadership role will likely continue in an official capacity tomorrow, with Corica again expected to wear the captain’s armband in Sydney’s round three A-League match against Perth Glory at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Club captain Tony Popovic appears likely to start on the bench after missing the first two rounds with a hamstring complaint, with million-dollar marquee star John Aloisi also a possible inclusion after injuring his foot seven weeks ago.
Sydney have yet to taste defeat this season despite being without their two most-capped internationals and several other top-line players, with Corica arguably the driving force behind that quality start.
While some may have thought Corica’s influence would begin to wane after the club’s heady off-season recruitment, the 35-year-old has starred in the opening two rounds, proving a handful for Melbourne in their 0-0 draw and then scoring twice in FC’s 3-2 win over Central Coast last weekend.
His combination with Brosque and new striker Mark Bridge against the Mariners was superb – and even more remarkable given the trio had only had some 10 days to really work together given Bridge’s Olympic Games commitments.
“When you’re obviously playing alongside quality players like that it definitely helps you,” Brosque said.
“They’re brilliant players. so being up there alongside them, things worked well.
“But we’ve got to build on that and make sure we continue to keep that happening and continue the same sort of performance.
“It’s always going to be tough and teams are going to try and find out ways to try and stop you, so we need to make sure we carry that on.
“Things have started to click pretty quickly … but hopefully it continues to grow and get stronger.”
With the A-League incorporating FIFA international dates into the draw this season, all clubs have a week off next weekend, with Brosque revealing Sydney had set themselves the goal of reaching at seven points by the break.
“It allows you to come up with more shorter-term targets targets. We had three games before this break, and we’ve set ourselves the target of at least seven points,” said Brosque.
“Perth played pretty attacking football last week. They played well and scored a few goals (in their 3-3 draw with Newcastle), but they are a different prospect away from home.
“They’re really going to make it hard for us and look to get us on the counter attack, so we’ve got to be wary of that because they are a good team and do have a lot of good players.”
Sydney midfielder Stuart Musialik will miss the game through suspension, while Perth captain Jamie Harnwell is out with a hip injury.
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