27 weeks.
189 days.
4536 hours.
Whichever way you choose to break it down, the gap between Glory’s final game of the 2017/18 Hyundai A-League season and this Sunday’s 2018/19 campaign-opener has been massive.
Mercifully, however, the wait is nearly over and players, coaches, members and fans alike can, at last, finalise their matchday arrangements for the Round One blockbuster against Western Sydney Wanderers.
So how will new signing Chris Ikonomidis fill the hours before the action gets underway at nib Stadium?
We decided to ask him.
“I wake up nice and early on match day,” he said. “I have a good, solid breakfast; always toast, yoghurt and cereal and sometimes eggs as well.
“No coffee at that stage. Then I go for a walk and have a bit of stretch and then I’ll come back home for lunch at around 12 as that will give me about four hours to digest.
“I have a big plate of pasta with just a little piece of chicken breast. I also drink heaps of water throughout the day.
“About half an hour before I leave, I’ll start putting some music on. The kind of music depends on what I’m into at the time, but it’ll always be fast-beat. Then it’s on with the suit, a quick coffee and off to the stadium.
“That routine never changes, even if I have a bad game.
“If there’s an event or something the night before, I’ll always miss it because I need to be at home having a meal there, relaxing and watching tv.
“I’ll never eat out at a restaurant the night before a game.”
And something else the 23-year-old never does is think too much about the opposition.
“Outside of the preparation we do as a team,” he said, “I never concern myself with who we’re playing.
“Some lads will look really closely at who they’ll be up against, new signings and so on, but I focus purely upon what we are doing as a team and the job I have to do within that.”
Click HERE for your Glory membership, or HERE to grab your tickets for the Wanderers clash.
#OneGlory
