Some opportunities are too good to pass up. For young Sydney striker Josh MacDonald, the offer to trial with Premier League giants Liverpool proved to be just that.
Some opportunities are too good to pass up.
For young Sydney striker Josh MacDonald, the offer to trial with Premier League giants Liverpool proved to be just that.
The youth product will switch hemispheres on Saturday, and while some would find it disorienting to be around some of football’s biggest names, the 17-year-old can draw on the experience of a previous trial at Tottenham Hotspur.
“Liverpool is a huge club and it’s a really good opportunity,” said MacDonald.
“I’m a little bit older now, a little bit more mature.
“I guess it’s up to the player when they feel ready. They might get the opportunity now and if they turn it down they might never get it again.”
Though he laughs about it now, the youngster crossed paths with some of football’s biggest names, including a bizarre chance encounter with Togolese striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
“I was in the gym and I was just on the bike next to him [Adebayor],” he said.
“He saw me on Twitter on my phone and asked me about it and gave me a shoutout.
“You do get starstruck but you get used to it after a while.”
After some mixed results, MacDonald’s youth teammates head to Adelaide on Saturday to take on the sixth-placed Reds.
The Wollongong-born striker is quick to attribute his improvement as a player to the work of coaches Brian Dene and Frank Farina, and the opportunity to train with the first team.
“I was learning a lot in the youth team but the first team is another level and you learn even more up there.
“[Frank Farina]’s talking to me about giving me a spot on the bench and he’s just given me a lot of advice.
“It makes you feel better. It makes you feel more confident.”
The boy from Unanderra will need all the confidence he can muster on the pitches of Anfield.
Sydney FC are now offering BLOCKBUSTER 4-Packs for the final four home games of the regular season. The massive games include clashes with the reigning A-League Champions Brisbane Roar, the current top two in the standings Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United, plus another Big Blue and the fierce rivalry against Melbourne Victory, all at Allianz Stadium. Prices start from just $90 to see all four games as Sydney reach the exciting run-in to the A-League Finals Series.
