Sydney FC youngster broke down crying as difficult Wrexham question saw boss hit out
A Sydney FC prodigy was left in tears after netting the decisive goal in his squad's surprise win over Wrexham and sharing his family's Welsh heritage. The Red Dragons are currently on a pre-season tour in Australia as they gear up for their campaign in the Championship next season.
They kicked off with a promising start, securing a 3-0 friendly win against Melbourne Victory last week. However, Wrexham faced a setback this Tuesday when they were edged out 2-1 by a spirited young Sydney side.
The Hollywood-backed team initially went ahead in the first half thanks to an own goal after James McClean's free-kick was inadvertently deflected by Sydney's Corey Hollman. Sydney then levelled the scoreline just before the interval when defender Alexandar Popovic headed home from a corner.
Despite Wrexham's efforts to regain control, they were caught off guard in the 74th minute by substitute Joe Lacey. The 18-year-old midfielder dazzled the more 40,000 spectators at Allianz Stadium with an excellent strike from just outside the box.
Post-match footage showed Lacey in a poignant embrace with his sister. He later revealed the significance of his goal, citing his mother's Welsh background and mentioning that his aunt works as a paramedic at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground during games.
In a post-match interview, Lacey said: "My mum's Welsh and it's very big for me. My family, they're all watching in Wales, she (Lacey's mum) is there at the moment.
"I love them all. I'm very grateful for them. They're all in Wales besides from my sister who came in from Newcastle, so I'm very grateful for them."
Reflecting on his goal, Lacey added: "It just felt like a video game. It felt like I had a VR (virtual reality) set on."
Sydney manager Ufuk Talay seemed less than pleased during his post-match press conference when prompted to weigh up A-League teams against Wrexham. He sidestepped the comparison and urged Aussies to back their homegrown football.
He said: "I personally don't like this comparison. They [Wrexham] play in their own competition, we play in our own competition. I don't think we're comparing apples with apples at the same time - it's apples with oranges.
"Their budgets compared to our budgets are totally different. Our game is the A-League so we should love and support our domestic game regardless. Our competition level is good enough for players to be selected at international level."
Wrexham's loss to Sydney was compounded by an injury to star midfielder Ollie Rathbone, who hobbled off before the break with an ankle issue. Post-match reports confirmed he was later taken to hospital for an X-ray.
"We're really hoping for him and it's a very quiet dressing room in there, because we have concern about Ollie," Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson told the club's media team.
"It didn't look that bad an incident when it happened, but it swelled up instantly in the dressing room, and Kev (Mulholland, club physio) has gone with him to hospital. We've just got to keep our fingers crossed."
Parkinson will be keeping his hopes up for a clean bill of health as Wrexham wrap up their tour with a match against Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday.
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