Dario Vidosic driven by family tragedy as Brighton chase Women’s FA Cup glory

G rowing up in Brisbane with a big time difference to London, Dario Vidosic loved being allowed to stay up past his bedtime to watch a big Wembley final on television next to his father, Rado, before trying to recreate a great goal with him in the garden the following day. On Sunday, Rado will not only be in the Vidosic family’s thoughts but in the hearts and minds of everyone associated with Brighton as the team walk out at Wembley for the Women’s FA Cup final against Manchester City to try to win their first major trophy, four months after Rado – who was working as the women’s team’s head of coaching – died from cancer. “He’s always in my thoughts,” Dario, the Brighton head coach , says of his father. “I know he’s always been there for me, from when I was a very small child. He’d be working all day, but he’d always make effort to play with me, to be in the back garden and take me out and kick the ball around and just help me, and it was the same as a coach. “It was very sad to see what he went through [with cancer]. But even through that, he still taught me some valuable lessons. When something feels like it’s going to defeat you, he still never gave up until the very, very last moment. He was still fighting it, still trying to get up, still trying to move, not letting it beat him. Even in his final moments, he still taught me so much. He showed me a strength that I didn’t know was possible. “I’ll take that with me, not just to Wembley, but in every moment in life. …