Robert Mak’s encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo has him ready for the new A-League season
Having witnessed first-hand Cristiano Ronaldo’s brilliance, Sydney FC’s Robert Mak is keen to inflict similar damage on Melbourne Victory.
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Inspired by his battle with ageless superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Sydney FC winger Robert Mak has returned to Australia desperate to ensure the Sky Blues start their A-League season with a bang against Melbourne Victory on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium.
Mak arrived back in Sydney late Wednesday night after representing Slovakia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
He was a starter for the Slovaks in their 3-2 loss to Portugal last Saturday in Porto, where 38-year-old Ronaldo scored twice for the winners.
“It was his 200th game for Portugal, so there were big celebrations for him ¬ he’s still Ronaldo,” Mak said.
“He did very well and he ran a lot, maybe not as much as he did when he was younger, but he still scored two goals.
“They were dominant. In the second half, we came back a little bit, but they had too much quality, but it was still a good experience.”
There was better news for the Slovaks on Tuesday morning when they beat Luxembourg 1-0 to move to within a point of securing qualification for next year’s Euros in Germany.
Despite being pleased with the win, Mak admitted he was “disappointed” to watch the entire match from the bench.
“The coach (Francesco Calzona) decided to use other players, and I have to deal with it,” he said.
“Football is like that. Sometimes you play, sometimes not, and you need to be strong, you need to play good football to show him that in the next game you should start.”
Not that Mak feels he has anything to prove to Calzona ahead of Slovakia’s matches next month against Iceland and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I’m not concentrating now on the national team. I’m concentrating on Sydney FC now with the A-League season starting,” he said.
“We can’t wait for it. It’s a big game against Melbourne Victory, and hopefully we can start the league in a good way.”
Mak hoped the Sydneysiders – who take good form into Saturday’s match after their recent 3-1 Australia Cup final win over Brisbane Roar ¬ had learnt their lessons from last season’s sluggish start.
It left the Sky Blues with a lot to do at the end of their 2022-23 campaign.
And despite his side having lifted itself into the top six and just a game short of playing in the grand final, Mak wasn’t satisfied with Sydney’s season.
“We didn’t have the season we wanted, but we are much more confident now, especially after winning the Australia Cup,” he said.
“This season we want to dominate from the start. Our start to last season was really slow and we lost some games that we shouldn’t have lost.”
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