- The Aloisi brothers clashed as coaches in the A-League
- John got the chocolates with Brisbane Roar
- Earned a red card as coach for emotional display
John Aloisi's thunderous left boot famously lifted the Socceroos to the FIFA World Cup during the unforgettable 2005 penalty shootout against Uruguay in 2005.
Now the Western United coach jokes that fans were lucky he didn't get that big kick again after he was shown a red card for his behavior against his brother in the A-League derby on Friday.
John enjoyed a thrilling 2-1 win over the Brisbane Roar, coached by his brother Ross Aloisi, and his emotions boiled over at times, with him receiving his first yellow card for kicking billboards on the touchline.
“It was with my right foot, by the way,” he said of kicking the billboard.
'If it had been my left foot it would have been a real kick; it (the hoarding) would have ended up in the stands.”
Aloisi set the country on fire when he kicked the winning penalty goal against Uruguay in Sydney in 2005 to take the Socceroos to the World Cup.
It was always going to be a dramatic match pitting the Aloisi brothers against each other
It was a match full of drama as Western United snapped a six-match losing streak in a match that saw two penalties, disallowed goals and then a 91st minute winner from Josh Risdon.
But John had to watch from the stands for the final 20 minutes after he was shown a red card for dissent following Daniel Penha's disallowed goal and then kicked the advertising.
But he made no apologies for his actions, saying it was just passion for the sport.
“If I can't show passion in the game, we try to promote the game,” John Aloisi said.
'At that moment I don't swear. I just ran onto the field to celebrate a bit and then I kicked the advertising thing aside and that is emotion, frustration.
'I didn't know the goal was disallowed. Mind you, I'm celebrating a bit, with an angry face. I probably could have been sent off earlier in the game for some of my antics, but not (that).
“Anyway, I have to deal with it, I have to accept it.
“But it's the emotion of the game, it's the emotion of what we've been through in the last six games. And you know what? I'm not going to apologize for showing emotion.
“Sometimes emotions come up… I don't think that has to be a bad thing.”
Aloisi has defended his emotions on the touchline and said it is good for the A-League
While Western United are having a tough season so far, Aloisi has won the A-League title with them in 2022
Aloisi also spoke about the relief after breaking the six-match losing skid and the pressure of being saddled with the losing run. “It was more of a relief because the boys earned a lot more – that's the relief,” he said.
'I can handle people criticizing me because I have had it in the past and I will have it in the future. That's going to happen. That's part of our game.
“My faith has never wavered and the players' faith has never really gone. That became clear again tonight. It would have been easy for them to fold, 1-0 down, but they kept going, kept going and that's why I'm just happy for them.”