Olympic started as rank outsiders on Wednesday night but more than 5500 fans at Viking Park saw the region's home-grown talent put up a gallant fight against glamour club Sydney FC.

The NPL club represented the capital with distinction and had Fox Sports football analyst Andy Harper questioning why the talent pool in Canberra is being neglected.

Daniel Colbertaldo, Timothy Bobolas, Angelo Konstantinou, and Jeremy Habtemariam are all Canberra natives and Harper said they demonstrate how strong the football community is.

"These guys all show why the A-League needs to have a presence in these major centres, because there is a lot of talent that by sheer virtue of the numbers and lack of opportunities, doesn't get picked up," he said.

Colbertaldo was powerful through the midfield and Olympic's standout player in the 3-0 loss, winning his own ball and generating play.

"Colbertaldo is a classic case in point," Harper said. "You would hope that someone is watching somewhere to maybe give him half a chance because he wouldn't be out of place at that level, and how many other kids could you say that about in Canberra?"

Harper said he was surprised at how well Olympic played considering the professional gap, Sydney's recent form and the fact Canberra hadn't played for several weeks.

"It could have easily been a blowout and it wasn't because Sydney FC didn't have a go, I was impressed with Sydney FC given the circumstances," Harper said.

"Canberra Olympic were fantastic. They played with a lot of self-belief, they played to a good game, they gave a very good team an excellent game and should have scored a goal."

The trip to the capital even made Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold nostalgic.

"It always brings back great memories coming down to Canberra of the old days and the old NSL," he said. "I do believe there is a place for Canberra in the A-League and they showed in their numbers tonight."

"With 6000 people jam-packed into this stadium hopefully there is a place for them in the future."