Sydney striker Alex Brosque has revealed that the pre-match penalty plan was thrown out the window by the Sky Blues ahead of the shootout against Melbourne in Saturday's Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Sydney prevailed 4-2 in the shootout, claiming its second Hyundai A-League championship, but Brosque said it wasn't without drama, with assistant coach Tony Popovic having to make several changes to the penalty order in the frantic minutes after the game ended 1-1 after extra time.
"Popa had me first and (Mark) Bridgey second, but I came off and Bridgey didn't want to take one. I don't know if I would have taken one anyway. I don't like penalties too much, it's one thing taking at training, but in front of a full Melbourne house, it's a different thing," Brosque said.
While there may have been some confusion about the penalty order, the Sydney players put that behind them at the pivotal time with Simon Colosimo, Hayden Foxe, Karol Kisel and Sung-Hwan Byun all converting with aplomb, while Shannon Cole was only defied by a magnificent save from Mitch Langerak.
"The boys that did step up, credit to them, it shows a lot character," Brosque said.
The Sydney striker was not surprised that it took a shootout to decide this season's champions given how close the teams were over their six contests.
"It's probably not the way you want to win a game, but the way the season has gone and the way the games have gone between us and Melbourne, they've been close and it was probably the only way it was going to be decided," he said.
"We had the upper hand when they got the goal and they equalised, it's just been the same story all season. We've won a couple, they have won a couple, it's been too tight to call. It's unfortunate for them to lose on a penalty shootout, but on the other side of things, it's great for us."
Brosque said it was a fitting way to end a season which has been all about discipline and hard work.
"It's just capped off an unreal season for everyone involved, it's been really good and a really good journey. We've been going nearly 11 months now. To have finished it the way we did to come down to Melbourne and win it the way we did, it's been unreal," he said.