Sydney FC new boy Kosta Barbarouses has credited baby daughter Lola with the extra motivation behind his maiden Sky Blue goal on Friday night at Leichhardt Oval.
The Sky Blues front man said he was thrilled to be off the mark, saying his new lease in fatherhood has made him approach games in a different way.
“It’s a great feeling to get that first goal, in front of the Cove too which was nice,” he said.
“My baby girl was here too, her first game watching dad so great to get the monkey off my back and help the team win too.
“It [having a child] has made me take a bit of pressure off myself to be honest.
“I’ve got to take care of someone else now and I look forward to getting home and seeing her so that’s made me a bit more compassionate. It’s a good feeling.”
The New Zealand international said it was only a matter of time with the quality Sydney FC possesses, as he reflected on his strike that capped off the Sky Blues’ 4-1 win.
“We’ve got such a quality side and I knew the chances would come,” he said.
“A win and a goal is great and I’m off the mark.
“My first instinct was to look to cross the ball but I saw Alfie was pretty close to me and there was no one else in the box,” Barbarouses continued.
“I took a touch across the defender, and in the box they’re a bit wary of tackling and I saw Moss shape up for me shooting going down low so I decided to take it around him.
“My touch couldn’t be too heavy, lucky it was a good touch and into an open net which was good.”
Barbarouses hailed his strike partnership with Adam Le Fondre as he set his sights on the club’s next encounter, a #BigBlue against his former club at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
“It’s been great, Alfie is a great player with a lot of experience and we work well together,” he said.
“We work extremely hard for the team. He wants a lot of goals himself but he’s unselfish too so we work well together.
“It’s a home game and I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be great to come up against my old team,” he said looking ahead to the Round 6 #BigBlue.
“We get time to freshen up now [with the BYE]. A few of the boys get an extra few days to recharge the batteries and we’ll still be putting in the work to make sure we’re ready for the following Sunday.”
Sydney FC are next in action in a #BigBlue double-header at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Sunday 17 November (W-League kick off 4pm AEDT, A-League kick off 6:30pm AEDT).
Get there to back your Sky Blues with tickets available online now, watch on Fox Sports 505 or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for live updates from the clash.
