Injured Trifiro confident in Grand Final victory

Sydney United 58 veteran Glen Trifiro has cruelly been forced to sit out of one of the club’s most exciting periods in recent history, but the creative midfielder is confident his teammates have what it takes to bring home the National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Championship this Saturday night.

Trifiro suffered a syndesmosis tear during United 58’s clash with Manly United on the final day of the season, and his ankle required surgery on Tuesday – all but ruling him out of Saturday’s big dance at Bankwest Stadium.

While the 30-year-old is gutted to be resigned to the sidelines, he is revelling in the recent success of his club who have overcome a packed run of fixtures to reach both the Grand Final and FFA Cup Round of 16.

“I guess it was one of those unlucky moments as a footballer, but I’ve had a pretty good run in terms of injuries in my career,” Trifiro reflected.

“It’s not the best timing at all, these games are the ones you look forward to most as a footballer.

“The bigger games, bigger crowds and must-win matches.

“We’ve had a crazy schedule and the boys have been incredible.

“I guess watching them fight game after game especially with three massive matches in a week, you wish you could be out there helping but from a club’s perspective the boys and staff are doing the club extremely proud.”

Trifiro assured that despite a rocky start to their 2019 campaign, United 58 have peaked at the opportune moment.

“There’s a great buzz around the club, I’ve been here over 10 years now and this is one of the most exciting periods we’ve experienced,” the former A-League midfielder said.

“We know we can win on Saturday and everyone believes it.

“When you look at our season as a whole, as a playing group we know we underperformed.

“We got through a lot of matches that were harder than they should have been, and we dropped points we should never have dropped.

“The biggest positive is we still finished 4th and we are hitting form at the best possible time.

“We are well prepared, playing some high-quality football, we’ve shown we can do things the hard way and we’ll go into Saturday extremely confident.”

On the Edensor Park club’s road to the decider, a handful of heroes have stepped up their game to the next level.

Notably, Liam Rose and Tariq Maia have made sizeable contributions in the form of goals and assists, filling the creative midfield void vacated by Trifiro.

While lauding the contribution of a few individuals, the former Central Coast Mariner made clear that United 58’s recent successes have been the result of a unified team effort.

“We have a top squad that doesn’t rely too much on individuals, each player in the group adds to the bigger picture and that’s always the team performance,” Trifiro said.

“To be at our best, everyone needs to be on and our playing group across the board are performing well.

“Our younger boys in Tariq (Maia) and Rosey (Liam Rose) have really stepped up, and as a senior player that’s what you want to see.

“They are 2 players with great qualities who I believe can make the next step.

“Tomislav Uskok has been massive in our backline also with our defence providing us the platform to go on and win a lot of matches.

“And then Matt Sim is like a fine wine, showing he might just be getting better with age.”

If there was not enough rivalry involved in Saturday’s clash, Trifiro admitted the presence of former United 58 stalwarts Chris Payne and Nick Stavroulakis will contribute some extra spice to the contest.

And while he expects the Grand Final to be an intense battle, the former Australian Schoolboys skipper has full faith in his teammates’ ability to come up trumps.

“APIA are a fantastic side, consistently in the title race, always fighting on the last day.

“They are a tough side and we always have difficult matches against them.

“Having Payney (Chris Payne) and Stav (Nick Stavroulakis) at APIA now just adds a little more juice to this final; these boys are good guys, good mates and proven players in the NPL.

“Payney’s had a great season and he’ll be out for a little more on Saturday, we know him very well so I’m sure each of our boys know the importance of limiting his opportunities.

“I can assure you that on Saturday, we will be up for the challenge.”

Despite enjoying an illustrious career of considerable success, Trifiro has never personally been a member of an NPL Championship-winning side.

As a member of United 58’s leadership group, he hopes to assist in inspiring his teammates towards Grand Final glory.

“I’m always available for the playing group in anything they need, as a player and as a person,” Trifiro added.

“Unfortunately I can’t be on the pitch with them on Saturday, but my role is now to support the group, the coaches and the club.

“There is nothing more I want for this club than to be crowned Champions on Saturday.

“I believe we deserve it, our supporters deserve the success and our coaches and playing group will fight until the end.”

Alongside his brother Jason, Glen oversees Futboltec, an academy program designed to develop the technique of young footballers.

While eager to return in a playing capacity himself, Trifiro is just as keen to return to the training pitch alongside the next generation of promising Australian footballers.

“These injuries can sometimes happen, it’s unfortunate but I’ve accepted it and looking forward to getting into rehab and being active again,” he revealed.

“Firstly, my aim is to get back on my feet and start coaching again.

“That’s been one of the hardest things with my work being on the field with kids every day.

“For the long term, I know I still have a lot to offer the club as a player but I’m very involved with the youth at the club now, which I enjoy, so I’m sure I’ll still be at United well past my playing days!”

By National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s Reporter Chris Curulli (Twitter handle @ChrisCurulli)