Consistency and youth aren’t traditionally used in the same sentence when you are referring to athletes but in the case of 21-year-old Sydney FC defender Sebastian Ryall the two words are the perfect partners.
Consistency and youth aren-t traditionally used in the same sentence when you are referring to athletes but in the case of 21-year-old Sydney FC defender Sebastian Ryall the two words are the perfect partners.
Ryall has had a dream run in the Hyundai A-League over last two seasons, playing starring roles in consecutive Championship winning sides, first for the Melbourne Victory and then Sydney FC and although the Sky Blues 2010/11 campaign hasn-t yet gone to plan, the central defender has been a pillar of strength at the back for his home town club.
First as a left back and now in the heart of defence, Ryall ‘s importance to the team and club were never more evident when he was given the captain-s arm band at half time in last Saturday night-s clash with Adelaide United at the Sydney Football Stadium.
“It was an absolute honour to get given the arm band. I cannot thank Vitja enough,” Ryall, who recently re-signed with the Sky Blues for a further two seasons, said.
“It was good to be captain and I was happy to have that opportunity and I expressed that I appreciated their decision of putting me as captain.”
“This year-s been better for me than last year, in terms of playing, injuries and suspensions and things like that. It-s just been a little bit frustrating to start with this season. We-re not where we want to be but I-m sure that we-ll get there, it-s just hard work.”
The youngster said being captain didn-t put any extra pressure on him.
“I never really change anything. I mean we were struggling at the time with being two goals down but I basically just tried to lift the boys and get more intensity into the game,” Ryall said.
“I guess you learn little things as you go. I haven-t been captain too much lately but I guess leading by example is the main key for a captain and speaking from my position as a defender. Speaking from the back and organizing the team and the defence.”
Ryall, who has played all five games this year, will again need to be at his impressive best when the Sky Blues look to break Wellington-s 21-game unbeaten record at Westpac Stadium when the sides face-off this Saturday night (5:15pm kick-off).
The Pymble junior and AIS graduate is confident that the record will be broken.
“Yes we can win, we definitely can. I think we know that we are in a tough spot but we have belief in ourselves and we definitely can,” Ryall said.
On top of putting his all into Sydney FC, Ryall has his sights set clearly on an Olyroos berth.
“I think the main focus for me is to just keep my spot in the Sydney team and do well,” he said.
“I think experience from the A-League really can benefit me, in terms of national teams and its good exposure to the national team coach as well.”
