On Monday afternoon on the shore of Sydney Harbour, Douglas Costa held his first press conference to discuss his intentions for his two year stint with the Sky Blues.
Sydney FC Chairman Scott Barlow opened the proceedings by proudly re-affirming the Sky Blues’ status as the league’s marquee club.
“Good afternoon everyone and welcome. I’m Scott Barlow, Chairman of Sydney FC and I’m very proud to be here today for this major announcement, a major announcement for our club Sydney FC and a major announcement for the entire A-League.
“Today we officially welcome Douglas Costa to Sydney FC.”
“Douglas is a world class football player. He’s played at some of the biggest clubs in the world and he’s had success everywhere he’s been. He’s played alongside some of the biggest names in world football and he’s been a regular of the Brazilian national team for many, many years. We’re proud to bring him to Australia, we’re proud to bring him to the A League.
“He joins us at 33 years of age. We think he can make a major contribution to what we want to achieve here at Sydney FC, which is to continue to win titles. That’s what we’re all about. He has a number of years ahead of him of top flight football and it’s exciting to bring him to these to these shores.
“Sydney FC, over the history of the A-League has led the way with signings like these and Douglas is just the the latest in a long list here at Sydney FC of major signings from around the world. We’re proud that we lead the way in the A-League with these types of signings and arguably Douglas is right at the top when it comes to marquee players choosing Australia and choosing Sydney FC to continue their career.
“So to you Douglas, welcome to Sydney and welcome to Sydney FC. You have won titles everywhere you’ve been and we expect that to to continue here at our great club.
Next, Head Coach Ufuk Talay stepped up to welcome Douglas and update on how his first session went.
“For me as a head coach at Sydney FC, we’re very excited to to bring a quality player across to play alongside our very talented players. One thing that was very distinct today was obviously his presence at training, which definitely lifted the intensity with the boys and I think they stepped up another level.
“So for me, as any head coach, it’s to get him right, to get him ready and looking forward to get him on the park in our first hopefully our Champions League game at home.
“But again, welcome Douglas and we are looking forward to seeing you on the park.”
Finally, the new signing Douglas Costa stepped up to the microphone to take some questions from the floor and nailed down his intentions at Sydney FC.
“I’m really happy to be here. Thanks for the warm welcome, for all the sacrifices from Alex [Baumjohann] and the president to bring me here and I hope I can repay on the pitch and win some titles.”
On his first session: “It was nice, like short, short for me because I’ve got a long flight. So now I, I’m going to have enough time to meet my teammates to play with them and day by day we want to learn from each other.”
On his fitness: “Well, I don’t know exactly, but I think for the first game I will be fine.”
On choosing Sydney FC: “Firstly I saw a lot of Brazilian guys play here as well Bobo play here as well, so then I spoke to them. They say that the league is improved a lot and growing up, so I want to make a part of this as well.”
On coming to Australia before: ” I have been to Melbourne twice, one with the national team and one with Juventus. I’ve never been to Sydney before though, but my sister has been living here for about 8 months or so which has made me come here as well.”
On his first match being the Sydney Derby: “Of course I’m excited, especially when you play a Derby. I want to make history here, so I’m looking for each game like the same.”
On how he will be received: “Yeah, I think yeah, because we’re going to bring a lot of people here. I hope I can play a good football for them because if I play good they’re going to come more often and then I’ll be happy as well.”
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