Football
Danny Matthews 7y

Victory's free kick hero Marco Rojas ready to pressure Sydney in Big Blue

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Despite scoring one of the most impressive goals of his career, Melbourne Victory winger Marco Rojas won't be insisting that he takes priority over teammate James Troisi in future free kick opportunities.

"James has scored one too, so there might be a little bit of a fight," Rojas joked in the aftermath of his 66th minute strike into the top left corner of the net against Adelaide United at home last Saturday.

"We're both pretty good like that. We'll look at the position of the shot, have a chat about it, and decide who is best to take it."

The quietly spoken New Zealand international has slotted smoothly back into the Victory side over the past year after a European stint which included two seasons with German side VfB Stuttgart. With 11 goals to his name in 2016-17 so far, his return to the shot makers list is welcome after netting just one goal in his three years away from Australia.

Practice is leading to "perfect" and a lesson to keep going even when you are comparatively "down."

"I have always practiced," Rojas continued. "I didn't get any [free kicks] in the games [in Europe] but I spend at least one session a week doing that sort of stuff so it is nice to finally be able to say that the practice is paying off."

The Victory travels to Sydney for a top of the table clash in which the term "season defining" could be an understatement as they look to bridge the eight-point lead Graham Arnold's Sky Blues are taking into the last six weeks of the season.

While Arnold has been clear in his opinion that the current Sydney outfit could challenge for the moniker of one of the best A-League teams to have stepped onto a park in the 10 years of the competition, Rojas is willing to concede that his team does have the advantage, for now.

"Obviously they're in control," Rojas said. "We just have to go out there each game and win.

"It is definitely a big game, definitely a must win, but in terms of the title race, we understand that they are in the front seat, they are in control and we'll do what we can to put a bit of pressure on them.

"We're always confident [of winning]. We know we've got a good team. I think that is coming through now and we're hitting our straps at the right time."

With possible headaches on the horizon for Victory coach Kevin Muscat as upcoming World Cup qualifiers could see three or four of his charges called away on international duty -- including the competition's leading striker Besart Berisha -- Rojas says that it is time for the A-League to follow other globally reaching competitions in accommodating additional season breaks.

"I believe so. I always understood why it wasn't [in the past] but now it is a different story," Rojas said.

"The A-League is a lot different. There is a better [spread] of imports coming in and a few of the Australians are picking up caps so it is definitely something that they need to look at."

With 11 goals so far -- equal third on the A-League Golden Boot table -- Rojas' impact with 10 assists makes for happy reading for Victory fans.

Rojas' side and Sydney FC share the lead on the goals table with 44 each, boding well for a goal scoring match-up on Friday. The Sky Blues have defeated the Victory in both meetings of 2016-17 so far, with identical 2-1 scorelines.

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