Auckland FC boss' swipe at Phoenix rival

By Michael Burgess

Auckland FC coach Steve Corica has accused his Wellington Phoenix counterpart Giancarlo Italiano of being “disrespectful” to the expansion franchise, upset by comments made ahead of Saturday’s A-League football derby.

The match at Mt Smart was a beauty – full of drama, colour and no little action – as Auckland continued their early hex over the capital team with a 2-1 win in front of a record 26, 253 crowd. Another layer was added to the rivalry after the game, with Corica clearly upset by a Phoenix press conference on Friday.

Italiano had claimed Auckland were “there for the taking” and “very vulnerable”, while also saying they had been “very lucky” during their winning run and benefited from a favourable early schedule, with only one of their first six matches across the Tasman.

“I’m a little bit disappointed, to be honest with Chief [Italiano],” said Corica. “He said things in the media that were a little bit disrespectful to our team – that we are there for the taking, we’ve been lucky.

“We haven’t been lucky. You need a little bit of luck, obviously, to win games, but we have won all six. You don’t get lucky by doing that.”

“[We’ve had] a few home games early on, but at the back end of the season we still have to play the same amount of games away from home. I don’t make the rules, I don’t do the draw.”

Corica revealed Italiano’s statements had been turned into ammunition ahead of Saturday’s match, at which there was plenty of feeling on display, with strong challenges and physicality from the first whistle.

“I used that as motivation for the boys because it helps,” said Corica. “Every little inch helps, in derby games. I pinned it up on the wall to make sure the players saw it. [The comments weren’t] necessary or needed. They are a good football team, we respect them – he needs to show a little bit more respect for us.”

In his own post-match chat, Italiano maintained the “lucky” assertion, given Auckland has only left New Zealand once, while the Phoenix have travelled to Perth, Central Coast and Sydney.

“You tell me: In what league in the world does a team get [that] at the start of the season?” said Italiano. “You want to call it luck, you want to call it poor planning? A gift? That was the point I was trying to make and I [will] stick to it. They beat us on the park [on Saturday], no luck about that. They deserved to win, but there is an advantage when you play five out of six games [and] you don’t travel.”

The tension between the two teams was evident throughout, with heavy challenges and no quarter given. Six players received yellow cards (five from Wellington), with Phoenix captain Alex Rufer riding his luck after a confrontation with substitute midfielder Luis Toomey.

“He had three cracks at him and should have been sent off,” said Corica.

Toomey had played the villain in Wellington five weeks ago, with some verbal taunts at Phoenix goalkeeper Josh Oluwayemi after his game-changing blunder which decided the first derby.

“That’s between the players, they will sort it out,” said Italiano. “I thought it was pretty disrespectful on his part, even a couple of comments towards the end of that game. But he is a young kid, so I’ll leave it down to lack of experience.”

Saturday’s match was a cracker, exploding into life in the second half. A Nando Pijnaker header had given Auckland a comfortable 2-0 lead after Phoenix defender Issac Hughes had diverted into his own net in the first half, following an incursion by Hiroki Sakai.

But Kosta Barbarouses conjured an 82nd-minute goal – the season’s first against Auckland FC – as the Phoenix came home strong.

“We showed some fight” said Italiano.

They did, but Auckland again exhibited their enviable qualities. They have a knack of getting the job done – whatever it takes – and were mostly composed in possession and defensively sound. They also had the courage to continue their aggressive pressing, which put the visitors under pressure.

Asked for his favourite aspect of their dizzying start, Corica pinpointed the desire, attitude and mentality to keep on winning. Their next test might be the biggest yet, with a trip to perennial heavyweights Melbourne City next Sunday (7pm).

“Seven wins in a row is another thing to target,” said Corica. “But we don’t want to get carried away. It’s another challenge we’ll face [in Melbourne], but [there’s] a bit of work to do before then.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission