Following Saturday night’s Big Blue defeat, Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold had the perfect pick me up remedy for the Sky Blues as he invited world renown manager and former Socceroos Head Coach Guus Hiddink to visit the players at their training base.
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the night Hiddink guided the Socceroos to only their second World Cup Finals appearance, and he made the special trip to Macquarie University Sports Fields to share stories of that night with the Sky Blues squad and cast an eye over the day’s session.
“It’s great to see Guus Hiddink here to share a few words with the boys and good to see him here and inspire the young boys as well,” Sydney FC Captain Alex Brosque said.
“To have someone of his stature here in Australia, at Macquarie where we’re training as well is great for the boys.
“It’s good to pick his brains a bit and listen to his stories and it’s great to have him here,” Brosque continued.
“Just because we lost he wanted to pick the boys up and give us a bit of laugh and cheer up and the fact he can stop by and pick the boys up a little bit [is good].
“It was a hard loss on the weekend, encouraging the way we played, but it was our first loss of the season so we can’t be too worried about it. We just have to pick ourselves up, go to Perth and start again.”
Brosque said there was added pressure on the players to perform in training today with a man of Hiddink’s stature watching as he said the former PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid, Chelsea FC and Netherlands Manager was an idol to a number of the playing squad.
“You could actually see the nerves, we were playing football tennis which is simple thing for the boys, but you could see nothing was going in when he came around so the pressure was definitely felt when he was around,” Brosque said.
“Everybody obviously remembers the day that Australia qualified, it’s something that you’ll never forget so for me he helped change football in this country and helped get it to where it is now.
“The fact Australia qualified for a World Cup after going so long not participating, the A-League was starting that season as well, it just sort of flowed on, the crowds came and the A-League is where it’s at now, so he played a massive role.
“With the teams he’s coached around the world the big name stars he’s coached again to have him here looking over us and watching us train is great.
“In terms of management he’s definitely and idol, he’s a massive name in world football and the boys are wrapped to have him here.”
Sydney FC travel west to take on the Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Saturday 21 November (kick off 7:30pm). Catch the game live on Fox Sports 4, listen live on ABC Grandstand or follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for match updates.
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