Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they?Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League’s biggest disappointment last season?The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren’t even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post.Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrate Wrexham’s latest promotion.Credit: Getty ImagesTheir takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport’s most fascinating stories, and their rise from England’s fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here.This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let’s see what happens.For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I’m joking.)I’m Vince Rugari, by the way. Pleasure to have your company.Latest postsLatest postsOff we go. Wrexham get us under way... and it’s the usual early doors fare of balls up the channel and firm one-on-one challenges as these two sides feel each other out. The Red Dragons (in yellow) also get an early corner, which is taken short and almost threatens to threaten, until a foul is called Sydney FC’s way.Sydney FC 0-0 Wrexham AFC, 3 minutesKick-off is just a few moments away. Sydney FC in their usual home kit; Wrexham, meanwhile, are wearing their yellow and green away kit, which actually has more than a hint of Socceroos about it. You’ll see, if you have Paramount+ or are prepared to wait for some photos to drop. Wrexham goalkeeper Danny Ward.Credit: Getty ImagesSydney FC young gun Tiago Quintal.Credit: Getty ImagesPhil Parkinson, the Wrexham AFC manager.Credit: Getty Images Advertisement In other football news… Nestory Irankunda’s impending move to Watford has won a glowing endorsement from Socceroos coach Tony Popovic, who is hopeful it can provide a springboard for the Australian wunderkind to earn his way back into the national team for next year’s World Cup.But Popovic’s backing comes with a warning, and one that should be ringing in the ears of the 19-year-old as he nears the exit at Bayern Munich after just one year on the club’s books: “Talent’s not enough. It’s never been enough, and it never will be enough.”Irankunda has reportedly agreed terms on a four-year contract with English Championship club Watford, who are prepared to pay a fee of $5.3 million (€3 million) for a full transfer from Bayern Munich. The five-cap Socceroo will depart having not played in a competitive game for the club, after spending the first part of the 2024-25 season playing for their reserves in Germany’s regional leagues and then a mixed six-month stint on loan at Swiss club Grasshoppers.Though it appears to be the end of the road for the former Adelaide United ace at Bayern, he could yet find his way back to the Bundesliga champions if his career takes off in England. The deal is said to include not only a 50 per cent sell-on fee, but a clause that would enable them to buy him back at an agreed price in the future, which means they will remain directly interested in his progress.Watford last played in the Premier League three years ago and have been a mid-table club in the Championship since.Read the rest of the story here.Nestory Irankunda appears to be on his way out of Bayern Munich.Credit: Getty ImagesExpecting a crowd of around/over 35,000 here at Allianz Stadium, which is quite something. Advertisement Trying to draw meaning from pre-season friendlies is a fool’s errand. But this is the A-League’s silly season, after all - so in that spirit, let’s have a crack.If you’ve thought about club soccer in Australia for longer than a few moments, the following unanswerable question may have crossed your mind: how would our teams fare in Europe? Specifically, England.In an alternate universe in which A-League sides have the opportunity to compete in the English pyramid system … how would they go?Would our best survive in the Premier League? Almost certainly not. So what’s the level? Could champions Melbourne City hold their own in the Championship? Could the Wanderers climb out of League One? Would the likes of last season’s cellar-dwellers Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar sink to the bottom of the League Two table … or lower?Read the rest of my piece here.James McClean in action against Melbourne Victory.Credit: Getty ImagesFor your perusual, the team sheet.The Sky Blues, still four months out from the start of the A-League season, are missing marquee man Douglas Costa, midfielder Leo Sena and defender Alex Grant - plus club great Anthony Caceres, who has departed for Macarthur FC, and some others like Patryk Klimala who have also moved on. Their squad is about six players short of what it will be when October comes, and two of those players will be imports. So don’t judge them on this, tonight.Meanwhile, there’s the Wrexham team. I know you don’t know too much about these players individually, and you should probably know I don’t either - but it’s not about that, is it? It’s about how they make you feel.Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they?Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League’s biggest disappointment last season?The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren’t even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post.Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrate Wrexham’s latest promotion.Credit: Getty ImagesTheir takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport’s most fascinating stories, and their rise from England’s fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here.This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let’s see what happens.For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I’m joking.)I’m Vince Rugari, by the way. Pleasure to have your company.