It had all the makings of a pre-season trip for the ages. But the only thing midfielder Brandon O'Neill got out of Sydney FC's week in Suzhou was a stomach bug and a crash-course in Chinese reality television.
While his teammates were training in preparation for a glamour friendly against Paris Saint-Germain, O'Neill was acquainting himself with the insides of a toilet bowl, struck down by the gruesome reality of gastroenteritis. It was a five-day stretch that cost him five kilograms in body weight and a rare chance to test his wares against some of the world's top footballers.
Socceroo Brandon O'Neill spent five days watching Asia's Got Talent after contracting gastro while in China with Sydney FC.Credit:AAP
O'Neill was spewing, both literally and figuratively. After watching sickness creep across the grim faces of Michael Zullo, Alex Wilkinson and Patrick Flottman on the flight over, the 25-year-old knew he was in similar strife after getting up the very next morning.
"I woke up just feeling very off," O'Neill said. "I went to breakfast, I was like, 'I'll see if I can get some food down my neck'. I had a sip of my coffee and I charged like Usain Bolt straight back up to my room.
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"It started from there, it was coming out of every hole in my body. After that it was batten down the hatches – just get through it as best you can. Everyone that's gone through gastro knows it's quite difficult."
O'Neill was thus confined to his hotel room, quarantined away from the rest of the squad along with his other crook teammates and the members of Sydney's staff who were also unfortunate victims of the illness.
I only saw a Chinese bed, Chinese wallpaper and I watched Asia's Got Talent for five days straight. Asia does have a lot of talent.
Sydney FC midfielder Brandon O'Neill
"I only saw a Chinese bed, Chinese wallpaper and I watched Asia's Got Talent for five days straight," O'Neill said. "Asia does have a lot of talent. It was actually quite good – I was looking forward to it every night at half-seven when it popped on. I knew where I'd be, so I just tried to sip my Hydralyte as much as possible and get ready for a couple of hours of that."
O'Neill didn't even get to see the Sky Blues face off with PSG, with the match not televised in China. It wasn't until the day after that he was able to review the footage and come to terms with what was, in full context, a miraculous effort from a second-string team filled out with young, largely untested players like Joel King, Harry van der Saag and Ryan Teague.
"I thought the lads did unbelievably well," he said. "They were exceptional. They can hold their heads up soRead More – Source
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