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Sydney FC players are dedicating their A-League finals campaign to captain Steve Corica, but coach Vitezslav Lavicka says it will be much harder without him.
Lavicka said Corica had endured a “terrible” few days, with his retirement announcement, the injury-forced abrupt end to his career and the death of close friend Ian Gray.
But he said the team would sorely feel his absence in tomorrow night’s A-League major semi-final first leg against Melbourne Victory and the rest of the finals.
“That’s trouble for us because Steve is not only captain, but a skilful player and the right person on the pitch and off the pitch as well,” Lavicka said.
“But football is sometimes cruel, we have to replace him and try to play well.”
The Sky Blues will take heart from the way they adjusted to Corica’s 10th minute exit in Sunday’s 2-0 minor premiership-clinching win over Melbourne in Sydney.
And in-form striker John Aloisi said they would also take inspiration from their sidelined skipper, who he said had been the binding force of the team.
“We want to do it for him, this is his last season as a professional, he had a great year, great career and we want to win it for him,” Aloisi said.
“Even though we did win the minor premiership and he was a major part of that, we still want to win this and make sure that he can celebrate the same as us.”
While Sydney have two wins and a draw from three meetings with Melbourne this season, Aloisi said that counted for little in the finals.
He also noted that while Sydney have lost their captain, Melbourne will have their leader, Kevin Muscat, back from suspension.
But Aloisi will draw confidence from his own recent performances, with four goals in Sydney’s past four games, including a long-range gem against Melbourne on Sunday.
“We know that there’s still a lot of work to do and I know that I have to perform too in these games and let’s hope that I do,” he said.
Lavicka hinted Brendan Gan, who came off the bench to replace Corica on Sunday, is likely to come into the starting team on Thursday night.
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