the first Kiwi team to claim an ALM grand final<\/a>, while the Sky Blues are eyeing a record-extending sixth championship.<\/p>\nCorica had guided Sydney FC to their two most recent grand-final wins in 2019 and 2020, and was also at the helm in the 2021 loss to then-coach Patrick Kisnorbo’s Melbourne City.<\/p>\n
But the Auckland coach’s past with the competition’s most successful club goes deeper.<\/p>\n
Corica has been associated with the club since its inception in 2005, when he also scored the winning goal in that season’s grand final win over Central Coast Mariners.<\/p>\n
He captained the team from 2008 until 2010, when a serious hamstring injury forced him into retirement.<\/p>\n
After honing his craft as a coach, the 32-cap Socceroo succeeded former national team boss Graham Arnold at the helm from the 2018\/19 season.<\/p>\n
Corica landed at Auckland as the expansion club’s inaugural coach after being sacked by the Sky Blues in 2023.<\/p>\n
He paid the price after Sydney began his sixth season in charge with three consecutive defeats.<\/p>\n
But Corica isn’t shying away from the strangeness of reuniting with a Sydney side captained by former teammate Rhyan Grant.<\/p>\n
![\"Auckland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/auckland-fc-coach-steve-corica-during-the-round-five-a-leagu-55UR4YWLRVECFDBGYWS2NZNHZY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Auckland FC coach Steve Corica during the round five A-League Men match between Auckland FC and Brisbane Roar at Go Media Stadium. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
“Yes, definitely weird. Playing against my old club that I’ve been at for 19 years, very weird,” Corica said on Friday.<\/p>\n
“Rhyan Grant, we used to play together at the start of Sydney FC, and then I became assistant coach and head coach.<\/p>\n
“He was a big part of my plans as well when I was there.<\/p>\n
“There are a few other players as well that were in my squad. Definitely weird, but exciting also.”<\/p>\n
In another twist of fate, Sydney are now coached by Kisnorbo.<\/p>\n
Kisnorbo had first taken an interim role after Corica’s replacement Ufuk Talay left his post in March.<\/p>\n
Guiding the Sky Blues to a grand-final berth after just six games, the former trophy-winning City coach was elevated to the full-time role earlier in the week and signed a three-year deal.<\/p>\n
‘We want to make history for Auckland’<\/p>\n
Extra tickets to the weekend’s A-League grand final have sold out in minutes. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n
The hosts for Saturday’s clash are slight favourites, given Sydney have never beaten Auckland across competitions.<\/p>\n
From five league meetings, Auckland have claimed two wins and drawn three.<\/p>\n
The sides also faced each other in last year’s Australia Cup, with Auckland claiming a quarter-final victory on penalties.<\/p>\n
But the A-League’s youngest side is yet to prove their mettle in finals, suffering a semi-final loss to Melbourne Victory after winning the premiership last season.<\/p>\n
Believing last year’s finals heartbreak has steeled his side for the grand final, Corica is embracing the ‘favourites’ tag.<\/p>\n
“Being at home, you do feel probably a little bit more pressure,” Corica said.<\/p>\n
![\"Auckland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/auckland-fc-players-celebrate-winning-the-match-auckland-fc-QJ7J3KDB4NBXLAGS6JSKY7ZKAI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Auckland FC players celebrate winning the match, Auckland FC v Melbourne City, A-League Elimination Final match at Go Media Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday 2 May 2026. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n
“I feel great at the moment … After last season’s defeat in the semi-final, we set our goal to make the final.<\/p>\n
“But it’s not just to make it, we want to win it.<\/p>\n
“We have that opportunity to do that, and we want to make history for Auckland.”<\/p>\n
Chilean midfielder Felipe Gallegos (hamstring) returns to Auckland’s extended squad, while Corey Hollman (promoted) and Al-Hassan Toure (hamstring) make Sydney’s line-up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An A-League Men grand final against his former side can only be described by Auckland FC coach Steve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[51,73757,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-440900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-auckland","tag-auckland-fc","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}