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Steve Corica

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Steve Corica
Corica playing for Sydney FC in 2008
Personal information
Full name Stephen Christopher Corica
Date of birth (1973-03-24) 24 March 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Innisfail, Queensland, Australia
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Innisfail United
1990 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1995 Marconi Stallions 103 (14)
1995–1996 Leicester City 16 (2)
1996–2000 Wolverhampton Wanderers 100 (5)
2000–2001 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 43 (14)
2002–2004 Walsall 73 (9)
2005–2010 Sydney FC 106 (23)
Total 441 (67)
International career
1989 Australia U-17 2 (1)
1990–1991 Australia U-20 6 (0)
1992–1996 Australia U-23 7 (0)
1993–2006 Australia 32 (5)
Managerial career
2010–2018 Sydney FC (youth, assistant)
2012 Sydney FC (caretaker)
2018–2023 Sydney FC
2024– Auckland FC
Medal record
Men's association football
Representing  Australia
FIFA Confederations Cup
Third place 2001 Japan–South Korea
OFC Nations Cup
Winner 2000 Tahiti
AFC–OFC Challenge Cup
Runner-up 2001 Japan
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Stephen Christopher Corica (/ˈkɒrɪkə/; born 24 March 1973) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Australian club Sydney FC. In December 2023, Corica was announced as the inaugural manager of A-League expansion club Auckland FC.[2]

A technically gifted and skillful attacking midfielder during his playing career, he represented Australia more than thirty times and captained Sydney FC to a domestic double. Since retiring in 2010, he was an assistant and youth coach at Sydney FC, before being appointed Head Coach in May 2018. During his managing tenure, Corica was Sydney FC's longest-serving manager, winning one A-League premiership, two championships, and one Australia Cup.[3]

Club career

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Early career

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Corica started playing football in his home town of Innisfail, in Far North Queensland and joining the elite player program at the Australian Institute of Sport in 1990.[4]

Marconi Stallions

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On completion of the scholarship he signed with Marconi-Fairfield in the now defunct National Soccer League. In his first NSL season he made just three starts, but developed to a regular selection in following years. In 1992/93 he helped Marconi to a grand final win and was named Under 21 Player of the Year.[5] The next two years were less successful for the Marconi and in 1995, Corica sought a career move to Europe.

England (Leicester City and Wolves)

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Corica signed with Leicester City in the English First Division (now the EFL Championship). He debuted for the club on 12 August 1995 and scored in a 2–1 win.[6] Adding to his tally was harder to come by for following games, and in February, Corica and fellow Australian Zeljko Kalac were signed by their former Leicester manager Mark McGhee for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a joint £1.75 million deal (the component for Corica was £1.1m).[7] Kalac was unable to gain a work permit for Wolves and returned to Australia, but Corica remained. In four-and-a-half seasons at Wolves, Corica made over 100 appearances, although hampered by a series of knee injuries.[8][9]

Sanfrecce Hiroshima

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Corica left Wolves in 2000, moving to Japan with J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima for two seasons, then returning to England at Walsall. In September 2004, unable to work his way into the first team, Walsall agreed to release him.[10]

Sydney FC

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Corica training for Sydney

He finally decided to return home to Australia after spending 10 years abroad, joining new A-League club Sydney FC. It was a shaky start to the new competition for Corica, sent off in Sydney's third A-League match against Newcastle for a dangerous foul.[11] After serving a one match suspension, he repaid the club scoring just five minutes in against Queensland Roar, and following up with a second goal later in the match. Corica retained a place in the side for much of the year as Sydney progressed to the Grand Final. A set-up from Dwight Yorke in the second half, gave Corica the only goal in Sydney FC's 1–0 victory over the Central Coast Mariners to help the team win the inaugural A-League Championship.

He remained with the club in 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons, playing a key role in Sydney's 2007 Asian Champions League campaign, scoring four goals in six matches. On 1 April 2008 he signed a one-year contract to remain at Sydney, and given his age is possible he will retire afterward. Corica had a great start to the 2008–09 A-League Season after scoring a double in the Round 2 match against Central Coast Mariners.[12]
He became Sydney's highest goalscorer after overtaking Sasho Petrovski's former record of 14, with a Penalty in Sydney's 5–2 thrashing of Perth Glory. He became Sydney's 3rd player to reach 100 professional games for the club, with their 2–1 loss to Perth Glory on 19 November 2008 at Members Equity Stadium. On 11 February 2010 he announced his retirement at the end of the season.[13]

On the final day of the regular season in the 2009/10 season against Melbourne Victory, Corica limped off in the 20th minute due to hamstring problems. Sydney went on to win the game 2–0 and claimed the Premiership. After later examination of his injury, it was discovered that he had torn his hamstring muscle off the bone and required surgery thus ending his season.[14] He then announced his full retirement from professional football.[15]

International career

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Corica has represented Australia at all youth (U17, U20, U23) and at national team level,[4] the first Australian to achieve the feat.[16]

He represented Australia at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Scotland in 1989. Although his team finished last in a very tough group, he did have his moments, such as scoring against Brazil in a 3–1 loss. In 1991, he was selected for the FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal, where Australia performed remarkably well and reached the semi-finals before losing to the hosts. He then went on to play in two Olympic Games football tournament, the first being the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where Australia made another impressive run to the semi-finals, this time falling to Poland at the penultimate stage. Four years later, he was part of the 1996 Olympics team in Atlanta. He was part of a generation of Australian players (including Paul Okon, Ned Zelic, Mark Bosnich and Zeljko Kalac) dubbed the "Golden Generation".

On 16 April 1993 Corica was given his full national team debut by Eddie Thomson (former national coach) against Kuwait in a friendly match in Singapore.[17] He then went on to play for the national team, earning over 40 caps (some in non-'A' internationals) and scoring 6 goals including appearances at the 1997 and 2001 Confederations Cups. After a five-year absence from the national team, he appeared in an Asia Cup qualifier against Kuwait on 16 August 2006 as one of eight Sydney FC players called up to the national team.

Managerial career

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Sydney FC

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Sydney FC youth

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Corica took over as coach for the Sydney FC National Youth League team from the 2010–11 season.[18]

It was announced in July 2011, that Corica would become one of two Assistant Coaches to Manager Vitezslav Lavicka, along with Ian Crook, who was the assistant coach at Sydney FC, under Pierre Littbarski during Sydney FC's Inaugural season, in which they won the 2005–06 Championship.[19]

In 2012, Corica acted as caretaker coach of Sydney FC, after the resignation of Ian Crook and until the hiring of replacement Frank Farina.

In the 2013–14 season Corica became Head Coach of the Sydney FC National Youth League once again guiding them to the Championship in a stellar season. He continued in this role in 2014–15 but towards the end of the NYL season in which Sydney FC finished fourth he was drafted into the role of Assistant Coach to Graham Arnold with the Sydney FC A-League team where they finished runners up in the Premiership and Grand Final. From 2015 to May 2018, Corica continued as the Assistant Coach to Graham Arnold on a full-time basis.

A-League Men

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2018-19 season

On 16 May 2018, following Graham Arnold's appointment by the Australian national team, Corica was appointed the Head Coach of Sydney FC's senior team.[20] His first season coaching the Sydney FC club was a success, with Sydney FC narrowly missing out on winning the league, however would go on to beat Premiers Perth Glory in the 2019 A-League Grand Final. During that match, Corica was given a yellow card due to arguing with the referee.[3]

2019-20 season

Corica would continue to deliver success for Sydney the following season, during a COVID ravaged 2019–20 season. Having recruited strongly during the offseason, including Kosta Barbarouses from Melbourne Victory,[21] Alexander Baumjohann from Western Sydney,[22] and Luke Brattan from Melbourne City.[23] Sydney would go on to win the league a record-breaking fourth time by a seemingly comfortable 6 points, despite being winless in their last 5 games, which was attributed to the long season and COVID hangover as a result of the league being suspended in March, with the final games being played mostly behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[24]

Due to COVID restrictions, the finals series was held Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta in front of capacity restricted crowds. Corica would steer Sydney to a comfortable 2–0 victory over the previous season's Grand Finalist Perth Glory, before defeating Melbourne City 1–0 in the Grand Final, courtesy of a 100th minute Extra time goal by Rhyan Grant, giving Sydney its record breaking 5th A-League finals trophy.[25]

2020-21 season

Due to restrictions in international travel and border closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Corica was unable to make too many changes to the overall squad, however welcomed back Adam Le Fondre from his loan at Mumbai City,[26] and Brazilian fan-favourite Bobô.[27] The season was yet again heavily disrupted by the pandemic, with the 2020 FFA Cup being cancelled, as well as the club withdrawing from the 2021 AFC Champions League which was being held in Uzbekistan.[28][29][30]

Sydney would perform strongly, and narrowly miss out on its fifth Premiers Plate at the hands of Melbourne City who won by two points. The 2021 A-League Grand Final would be a re-match of the previous seasons, however this time Melbourne City won comfortably defeating Sydney 3–1 at AAMI Park in Melbourne.[31][32]

2021-22 season

Going into the 21–22 season, Corica would not change the structure of the team except for a few tweaks, re-signing the bulk of the existing squad.[33][34] The team would have a poor start to the season, not winning its first game until Round 5, an unconvincing 2–1 win over Wellington Phoenix. Poor and inconsistent form would plague the team throughout the season as Corica struggled to string wins together. The club would qualify for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage after a 5–0 victory over Philippines Football League club Kaya F.C.–Iloilo,[35] however the continental tournament which was being held in Vietnam would be a disaster as Sydney failed to win a single group game, finishing last.[36] The poor form would continue once the team returned to Australia to see out the remainder of the 21-22 league season losing its remaining 2 games. As a result, the club missed out on the finals series for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

2022-23 season

Despite the club having its worst season in 6 years Corica was handed a 2-year extension on his contract, with the promise of guiding Sydney back into silverware contention as the club moved back to the Sydney Football Stadium following a hiatus while the stadium was re-built.[37] However the season would be plagued with controversy, as star player and fan-favourite Milos Ninkovic publicly declared that he would be leaving the club on less than acrimonious terms and sign with direct rivals Western Sydney Wanderers. To add further insult to injury it was announced that club academy player Calem Nieuwenhof would also be departing the club and heading to the Wanderers without being offered a contract. Corica responded strongly by bringing in Slovakian International Robert Mak,[38] and English Premier League winger Joe Lolley, the latter being the first transfer fee being paid in the clubs history.[39] Controversially, Corica also signed former Sunderland player Jack Rodwell from the Wanderers, despite his injury issues being well known. Sydney would start the season in disappointing fashion, slumping to a 3–2 loss to Melbourne Victory on the opening day of the season, with Center Back pairing Rodwell and Wilkinson both out injured.

Throughout the season, Corica struggled to maintain consistent form and the technical issues that were highlighted from the previous season had not seemingly been resolved as the club struggled to stay within finals contention. The season would reach an ultimate low point during the final derby of the season against the Wanderers as Sydney crashed to a 4–0 defeat, with former players Ninkovic and Nieuwenhof being involved with all the goals.[40] The humiliating result led to an increase in calls from supporters for Corica to step down or for the board to sack him, calls which had been simmering since the prior season.[41]

2023-24 season

Corica started his sixth season in change of Sydney FC strongly, winning the 2023 Australia Cup, defeating Brisbane Roar in the final 3-1,[42] with new signing Fábio Gomes scoring twice.[43]

On 7 November 2023, it was announced that Corica had left Sydney FC, having lost the opening three games of the 2023–24 season, with his Sydney side failing to score a goal in the process.[44]

Auckland FC

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Six weeks after departing Sydney FC, newly announced A-League expansion club Auckland FC announced Corica as their inaugural manager for the 2024-2025 season. He joins former Sydney FC team-mate and Hall of Fame inductee Terry McFlynn, who was signed as the club's Director of Football.[45]

Career statistics

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Club

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All-time club performance
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division App Gls App Gls App Gls App Gls App Gls
Marconi Stallions 1990–91 National Soccer League 17 0 – – – – – – 17 0
1991–92 17 2 – – – – – – 17 2
1992–93 27 4 – – – – – – 27 4
1993–94 24 4 – – – – – – 24 4
1994–95 18 3 – – – – – – 18 3
Total 103 13 – – – – – – 103 13
Leicester City 1995–96 First Division 16 2 2 0 0 0 – – 18 2
Total 16 2 2 0 0 0 – – 18 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1995–96 First Division 17 0 1 0 0 0 – – 18 0
1996–97 36 2 2 0 4 0 – – 42 2
1997–98 1 0 0 0 0 0 – – 1 0
1998–99 31 2 1 0 1 0 – – 33 2
1999-00 15 1 0 0 1 0 – – 16 1
Total 100 5 4 0 6 0 – – 110 5
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2000 J1 League 21 3 2 2 2 1 – – 25 6
2001 22 11 2 1 1 0 – – 25 12
Total 43 14 4 3 3 1 – – 50 18
Walsall 2001–02 Football League One 13 3 0 0 0 0 – – 13 3
2002–03 41 4 2 0 3 0 – – 46 4
2003–04 19 2 2 0 2 0 – – 23 2
2004–05 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
Total 73 9 4 0 5 0 – – 82 9
Sydney FC 2005–06 A-League 21 5 4 1 – – 5 3 30 9
2006–07 18 3 5 0 – – 6 4 29 7
2007–08 20 4 2 0 – – – – 22 4
2008–09 21 4 3 0 – – – – 24 4
2009–10 26 7 – – – – – – 26 7
Total 106 23 14 1 – – 11 7 136 31
Career totals 441 66 28 4 14 1 11 7 494 78

National team

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[46]

Australia national team
Year Apps Goals
1993 4 0
1994 0 0
1995 6 1
1996 2 0
1997 1 0
1998 0 0
1999 0 0
2000 8 2
2001 10 2
2002 0 0
2003 0 0
2004 0 0
2005 0 0
2006 1 0
Total 32 5

International goals

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# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Minute
1 21 July 1993 Nijmegen, Netherlands Netherlands NEC Nijmegen 0-1 0-1 Win Friendly
2 15 February 1995 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney  Japan 2-1 2-1 Win Friendly 41'
3 9 February 2000 Estadio Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile  Chile 1-1 2-1 Loss Friendly 15'
4 19 June 2000 Papeete, Tahiti  Cook Islands 0-13 0-17 Win Oceania Nations Cup 70'
5 28 February 2001 Nemesio Camacho Stadium, Bogotá, Colombia  Colombia 3-1 3-2 Loss Friendly 77'
6 14 April 2001 BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour  Fiji 1-0 2-0 Win 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) 22'

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 2 November 2024[47]
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Sydney FC (caretaker) Australia 12 November 2012 27 November 2012 3 0 1 2 000.00
Sydney FC Australia 16 May 2018 7 November 2023 180 86 37 57 047.78
Auckland FC New Zealand 14 March 2024 Present 3 3 0 0 100.00
Total 186 89 38 59 047.85

Honours

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Player

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Sydney FC

Marconi Stallions

Australia

Individual

Honourable distinctions

Manager

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Club

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Sydney FC

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA Club World Championship Japan 2005 – Official Rosters". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 December 2005. Archived from the original on 19 December 2005.
  2. ^ "Steve Corica named coach of the A-League's new Auckland team". The Australian. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b "2019 A-League Grand Final live scores, blog: Perth Glory vs Sydney FC".
  4. ^ a b "Australian Soccer – Player Statistics: Com-Coz". OzFootball. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  5. ^ "NSL Individual Player Awards". OzFootball. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Steve Corica – Leicester City". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  7. ^ "Foxes win damages claim against Wolves". 4thegame.com. 12 September 1996. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  8. ^ "Steve Corica – Wolverhampton Wanderers FC". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  9. ^ "Corica strikes gold to give Francis the blues". Guardian Unlimited. 17 April 1999. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  10. ^ "Corica leaves Walsall". BBC Sport. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  11. ^ Robert Szomolnoki (11 September 2005). "A-League Report:Newcastle Jets v Sydney FC". OzFootball. Retrieved 1 December 2007.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Corica exits but up for one last shot at the title. Smh.com.au (11 February 2010). Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  14. ^ Corica bows out a winner, The Roar. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  15. ^ Steve Corica career over as he is ruled out of Sydney FC's finals campaign Fox Sports. 16 February 2010
  16. ^ Cockerill, M (4 January 2005). "Corica back to where it began". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  17. ^ "Socceroo International Games". OzFootball. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2007.
  18. ^ Sydney Morning Herald – Head Set to rule for Aloisi as Heart step up their courtship. Smh.com.au (16 February 2010). Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  19. ^ "Sydney FC building nicely". Sydney FC. 21 July 2011. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  20. ^ "Sydney FC confirm former Socceroo Steve Corica as new coach". The Guardian. 16 May 2018.
  21. ^ Bossi, Dominic (7 June 2019). "Sydney FC confirm signing of Barbarouses as potential marquee". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  22. ^ Warren, Adrian (2 July 2019). "Sydney FC sign Wanderers star Alexander Baumjohann". The West Australian.
  23. ^ Warren, Adrian (19 July 2019). "Luke Brattan joins A-League champs Sydney". The West Australian.
  24. ^ "A-League to resume season with Melbourne Victory v Western United on July 16". ABC News. 16 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Sydney FC claim fifth A-League grand final". 7News. AAP. 30 August 2020.
  26. ^ Monteverde, Marco (23 April 2021). "A-League: Adam Le Fondre rejoins Sydney FC in huge boost for Sky Blues' title chances". The Weekly Times.
  27. ^ Rugari, Vince (1 January 2021). "'I'm still hungry': Brazilian goal machine Bobo seals Sydney FC return". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  28. ^ "A-League teams Sydney FC, Melbourne City and Brisbane Roar withdrawn from Asian Champions League due to finals schedule". ABC News. 4 June 2021.
  29. ^ "Australian clubs withdraw from 2021 Asian Champions League". AP NEWS. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Coronavirus forces FFA Cup to be cancelled". The World Game. SBS. 7 July 2020.
  31. ^ Jackson, Andrew (27 June 2021). "A 'moment of madness', penalty drama and quickfire goals — this A-League GF had it ALL". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021.
  32. ^ Rayson, Zac (27 June 2021). "Melbourne City claim maiden crown as Sky Blue dynasty denied in epic final". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021.
  33. ^ "A-League's Sydney re-sign two 36-year-olds as youth exits come back to bite them". FTBL. 28 June 2021.
  34. ^ "Bobô Back For Sydney FC". Sydney FC. 14 July 2021.
  35. ^ "Sydney FC - Kaya FC-Iloilo". Football Critic. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  36. ^ "SYDNEY FC EXIT ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AFTER ANOTHER LOSS". FTBL. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  37. ^ Chadwick, Justin. "RE-SIGNED CORICA TO REBUILD SYDNEY FC 'BACK INTO CONTENTION'". ftbl. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  38. ^ "Sydney FC signs Slovakia international Robert Mak". ESPN. AAP. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  39. ^ Rugari, Vince (15 August 2022). "Premier League promotion hero rounds out Sydney FC's spending spree". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  40. ^ Clarke, Georgge. "WANDERERS HUMILIATE SYDNEY IN 4-0 ALM DERBY WIN". FTBL. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  41. ^ Goodsir, Charles. "CORICA UNDER "MORE THAN A BIT" OF PRESSURE TO REMAIN AT SYDNEY FC". SEN. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  42. ^ "Sydney FC beat Brisbane Roar 3-1 to win Australia Cup". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  43. ^ "Super sub Fábio Gomes strikes twice as Sydney FC come from behind to win Australia Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  44. ^ davidw (6 November 2023). "Sydney FC Head Coach Steve Corica To Leave Club". Sydney FC. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  45. ^ Burgess, Michael. "Auckland A-League football club: Steve Corica set to be announced as inaugural men's coach". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  46. ^ "Steve Corica". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  47. ^ "Steve Corica career sheet". footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  48. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  49. ^ "Oceania Nations Cup 2000". Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  50. ^ "AFC–OFC Challenge". Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  51. ^ "Sydney FC inducts eight greats to its Hall of Fame". The World Game. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
[edit]
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