Despite playing a pivotal role in last season’s historic grand final win, missing four months of Brisbane Roar’s stellar season still weighs heavily on Henrique’s mind.
The Brazilian winger ignited the emphatic comeback by scoring the Roar-s first goal with four minutes left on the clock before converting the decisive penalty that sent more than 50,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium into raptures.
However, Henrique-s lengthy stint on the sidelines after breaking his arm in the side-s only loss of the campaign – 3-0 away to Melbourne Victory – was proving to be the motivating factor in his desire for back-to-back Hyundai A-League titles.
“I-m already looking forward to next season, I want to forget about what happened with my arm last year,” he said.
“Hopefully this year I-ll have no injuries because I want to play as many games as I can.
“Everything from the grand final is still in my mind, I can-t forget it.
“But last year, there were bad thing and good things so this year I-m hoping it is all better.”
With the club confirming four training matches against Brisbane Premier League opposition in June and the Hyundai A-League draw due to be released next Tuesday, Brisbane Roar-s preparations for next season are beginning to take shape.
Successfully defending the Hyundai A-League Premiership and Championship are both high on Henrique-s goals for next season while playing the AFC Champions League is also a mouth-watering prospect.
“I started the pre-season a little bit later but I feel very good now,” he said.
“It-s probably two more weeks until I-m back to full fitness though.
“Next season it-s really important for us to do well because everybody talked about us last year and now we have to confirm everything we-ve done.
“The ACL is a good competition, we-ve never played in it before and it-s going to be a big challenge.”
