Iain Fyfe shares a feeling that is sure to have been felt by opposition players from every team that have faced Sydney FC this season.
Adelaide United FC defender Iain Fyfe shares a feeling that is sure to have been felt by opposition players from every team that have faced Sydney FC this season, and that is the excitement of coming up against Alessandro Del Piero.
For any team that has come up against the Sky Blues in the first seven rounds, one question can be guaranteed to be asked and that is about the anticipation of facing Sydney-s marquee man.
In the lead up to the Reds- first encounter against Sydney FC this season, this is no different as Fyfe prepares to be part of a defence that will be hoping to minimise the influence of the Juventus legend at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
“He (Del Piero) is a good player and you want to test yourself against the best,” Fyfe said.
“He-s been fantastic all season, scored two great goals against Brisbane and kept Sydney in it for a long period of time, so he-s a very dangerous player and I-ll certainly enjoy coming up against him.”
Del Piero-s impact on the Hyundai A-League and football in Australia since he arrived has certainly not been restricted to his list of accomplishments and his big name status.
At 38 years of age, Del Piero is showing he still possesses the quality that saw him play in three World Cups, tantalise world class defenders, and has him third on the all time tally for number of goals scored for Italy-s national team.
Del Piero has scored five times already this season, including both goals in Sydney-s 4-2 loss to Brisbane Roar last weekend.
“I don-t know,” Fyfe replied when asked how one stops a player of Del Piero-s calibre.
“He-s one of those players who at any given moment can do something special, so from a defender-s point of view you-ve got to stay on point the whole game and make sure he-s always around you and you-re always marking him.”
As well as Del Piero, on Friday night Fyfe will also come up against a club he won a championship with in the Hyundai A-League-s inaugural season and made 88 appearances for.
While Fyfe-s time in the harbour city brings back fond memories, he is not about to start doing his former side any favours and says the Reds are determined to build on a promising start to the season.
“I don-t think we-ve hit our straps and played as well as we can yet, which is probably a good sign because we-re top of the league and we know we have the quality to raise our game to another level,” Fyfe said.
With Sydney FC desperate to lift themselves off the bottom of the table and get their campaign back on track, there is every chance the Reds will need to take their game up another gear on Friday night if they are to keep the chasing pack at bay.
