Quitting Man City for Brighton was right call, Hong Kong Soccer Sevens star says
- Luca Barrington also reveals Brighton had practised for the unusual sudden-death situation that kept them alive in the Sevens
- Premier League club will face Leicester City in quarter-final on Sunday as seven British clubs reach last eight
A midfield prospect who quit Manchester City for Brighton & Hove Albion revealed his team came prepared for their unusual route to Sunday’s HKFC Standard Chartered Soccer Sevens quarter-finals.
English Premier League side Brighton flirted with a group-stage exit, needing a late goal from ex-City teen Luca Barrington to rescue a draw in their final game against Yokohama F. Marinos.
Those two teams then played a four-v-four playoff to separate them in the group, and after Brighton won it, Barrington revealed he and his teammates had trained for that unlikely outcome.
It showed, as they prevented their Japanese opponents touching the ball and pushed goalkeeper Hugo Fisher into an outfield role. That made room for Barrington to curl in a golden goal – a far cry from last year when Barrington and co found no way past Tai Po in four-a-side overtime before exiting on penalties.
“We practised the 4v4, in case we ended up in exactly that situation,” Barrington, 19, said. “It was a good experience. It is about the use of the extra man. You have to win the ball from the kick-off, and once we did, it was our game.”
Barrington said a surprise opening loss to Hong Kong Rangers delivered a “kick up the backside”. The Seagulls acted on it and approach their last-eight clash with Leicester City in a hopeful mood.
