Harry Corica daring to dream about beating Uncle Steve's FFA Cup holders

Cairns FC’s teenage starlet Harrison Corica is preparing for the biggest game of his young life in the FFA Cup Round of 16 next week – and he’s already daring to dream about how he’ll celebrate if he scores against his uncle’s defending champions.

Steve Corica was appointed as the new head coach of the Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Premiers in May, stepping up from an assistant role to take the reins from the club's most successful ever coach, Caltex Socceroos-bound Graham Arnold.

Meanwhile, Steve’s nephew Harrison was starting to turn heads in the Cairns FC first team ranks in NPL Queensland, while juggling his budding football career with his school studies.

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Now, ‘Harry’ has a matter of days to decide how to savour the moment before David meets Goliath at Barlow Park on Tuesday 21 August.

“I’ve still got to work out a celebration if I was to score!”

“I’d probably just run over to him and give him a nice smile,” Harry exclusively told theffacup.com.au.

“It would be great if we had our names on the back of our shirts because I could do one of those ones where you point at your name.”

It will be a dream clash for the 17-year-old, who grew up in Innisfail watching his uncle strike the winning goal which led Sydney FC to their inaugural Hyundai A-League Grand Final, and regards that as an inspiring moment he’ll never forget.

While the pair’s meetings are few and far between these days, Corica saw his uncle in Sydney a fortnight ago when he was down for the national titles with Queensland.

“We were just joking about getting each other in the FFA Cup and now that we did, it’s pretty crazy,” said Harry.

“It was crazy when I heard the news, everyone was texting me. I couldn’t believe it really.

“It’s a dream game for me and everyone else at the club.”

Harry Corica in action


The 17-year-old has become one of Cairns’ most consistent in the 2018 season and looms as one of the biggest threats the Sky Blues must monitor.

The reality is that the mid-table NPL QLD outfit have it all to do against the reigning Hyundai A-League Premiers. But there is still a thought in the back of Harry’s mind that a miracle could unfold.

“Obviously it’s their pre-season so they’re not going to be as fit, and we’re coming to the end of our season,” he said.

“This is a once in a lifetime game for pretty much all of us. We’ve just got to go out there and give it our all and see what happens.”

Get tickets for Cairns FC v Sydney FC at Barlow Park