Second-year title 'more than we could have asked for': Auckland manager Corica

[p]The ex-Sydney FC coach led ‌his side to a 1-0 win over his ‌former employers at a sold-out Mount Smart Stadium as Auckland FC ‌became the first team from New Zealand to win ‌the grand final in the competition's 20-year history.[/p][p][b]"I had done everything at Sydney FC so I didn't have anything to prove as ‌a coach,[/b]" said Corica, who had led ⁠former club to the ‌A-League championship in 2019 and 2020.[/p][p]"What I wanted to bring was ​joy to the people here in Auckland because they've been so wonderful to me and our players ​in the first two years.[/p][p]"[b]A premiership in our first season and a grand final win in the second year ⁠is more than we ​could've asked for.[/b][/p][p]"We've got the right people in. It's about belief and the culture's been amazing. The boys all stick together.[/p][p]"[b]We've had a wonderful time in our first two ‌years and we'll try to back it up again next season.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="e3bc51ef-99c9-486e-a888-a6b13c757beb" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtG2C-vaNNg" social-type="youtube" /][p]Corica was installed as Auckland's inaugural coach in late 2023, six weeks after ending a long association with Sydney as both player and coach.[/p][p]He won A-League championships in 2006 and 2010 as a midfielder before moving into coaching, replacing Graham Arnold at the helm in 2018 and leading the team to back-to-back titles in his first two ‌seasons.[/p][p]"[b]It was a weird one when we knew we were ​going to play Sydney in the final after spending ‌so much time there and winning trophies for them[/b]," he said.[/p][p]"But I love winning. I wanted these boys to put on a show tonight.[/p][p]"[b]It wasn't the prettiest of games, but they showed the spirit we ⁠expect from them. The ⁠crowd was amazing. Nice ‌to win against Sydney as well.[/b]"[/p]