Left: Sorrento’s 2015 squad. Centre: the silverware up for grabs. Right: Sydney FC’s starting line-up against Chelsea.
Camera IconLeft: Sorrento’s 2015 squad. Centre: the silverware up for grabs. Right: Sydney FC’s starting line-up against Chelsea. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Ambitious Gulls set for Sydney

Mark DonaldsonJoondalup Times

IN recent months, Sydney FC’s opponents have included English Premier League heavyweights Chelsea and Tottenham.

The friendly against the Blues pulled a crowd of more than 80,000 to Stadium Australia in June.

Tomorrow night at Perth Oval, the attendance will be a fraction of the size, but the stakes will be higher.

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And the two-time national champion’s opponent will be a local group of semi-professional footballers intent on becoming giant killers.

Sorrento FC faces the A-League’s Sydney FC in the FFA Cup Round of 32.

The Gulls have the opportunity to record one of the biggest boilovers in Australian soccer history, while the 2014-15 A-League grand finalists will be hoping to avoid the embarrassment.

Sorrento coach Jamie Harnwell, who last faced Sydney FC as a Perth Glory player, asserted his side would take an attacking approach despite the expectation they would face an onslaught.

"You don’t want to just sit back and try and defend for 90 minutes," he said.

"It’s an opportunity for the players to showcase themselves on a national stage, you can’t do that just by sitting there and defending."

But he was realistic about the mammoth challenge ahead for the Gulls.

Harnwell, who has just been announced coach of Adelaide’s women’s side, admitted he was unsure of "how much we’ll be able to do against a team of that quality".

"We’ll be positive, we’ll be aggressive, physical and just see how Sydney can deal with it," he said.

The Glory games record holder was looking forward to the battle of wits against former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, who he described as one of – if not the best – A-League coaches.

Arnold told the Times it was important for his side to turn up with the right attitude.

He said the Sydney players wanted to do the club proud.

"We approach every game the same regardless of whether it’s A-League, FFA Cup or Asian Champions League and I’m expecting Wednesday’s game at Perth Oval to be a real challenge," he said.

With a dream of causing a famous upset on national television, a group of Sorrento players last week visited Perth Oval for a photo, taking in the surrounds as they left.

That’s when the anticipation kicked in.

"As they walked off the pitch, they looked around and started getting a bit nervous and excited," Harnwell said.

"They’ve worked hard in the last three of four weeks" it’s all down to them on Wednesday."

Kick off is at 6.30pm.