Pasadena: Socceroos star Alessandro Circati said he always believed Cristian Volpato would eventually find his way into the Australian set-up and predicted the attacking livewire would fit neatly into coach Tony Popovic’s World Cup plans.
Volpato arrived in camp on the morning of Australia’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Mexico – too late to be considered for any minutes, but just in time to be named in Popovic’s 26-man squad on Monday (AEST).
The 22-year-old made a mad dash back to Sydney, where he was born and raised, to complete paperwork before he flew to Los Angeles and linked up with his new teammates for the first time.
It was a touch surreal to see Volpato finally kitted out in Australian gear, walking through the mix zone at the Rose Bowl. For almost five years, he has been talked about as a potential Socceroo but appeared to have his heart set on representing Italy instead and was widely considered a lost cause.
That was before the shock announcement that Volpato had not only declared for Australia, but that he was being fast-tracked for World Cup selection – arguably the biggest selection curveball in the Socceroos’ history at the tournament.
More than any other player in the team, Circati can relate to his experience. He and Volpato were once teammates in Italy’s junior national teams; Circati, however, switched to Australia after a conversation with Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon, who told him to let his heart decide the question of his split allegiance.
It has taken Volpato a little bit longer to arrive at the same outcome, but Circati reckons it’s better late than never.
“It’s good to have Cristian in camp. It’s been a long time coming,” Circati said.
“Obviously, the conversations between me and him stay between me and him. but deep down, I knew he was going to come. I just didn’t know when.”
As for what people can expect from Volpato the footballer, if they’ve only heard of the name, this is Circati’s personal scouting report: “He’s naturally a winger, he can play in the inside pockets, one v one. He’s a left-footer, likes to take a player on, isn’t afraid to make a mistake. As a defender, he really puts you in your place. It’s not easy to defend a player constantly going one v one with you.”
Socceroos captain Maty Ryan, meanwhile, met Volpato for the first time only hours before their clash with Mexico.
He said he would have no problem welcoming him into camp despite his prior reticence about representing Australia – although the thoughts of the player who will miss the squad at his expense remain to be seen.
“I can’t speak, obviously, on behalf of the boys. They all have their own freedom of speech,” Ryan said.
“But from my point of view … who am I to say who deserves to be here or not, you know? We all make decisions based on circumstances in our life and I don’t know the details of his story or whatever, but at the end of the day, I can’t control what he decides and what he does and all that.
“We’ve had other boys [Adrian Segecic and Nectarios Triantis] that have gone the other way … we’ve had other boys with some nice, unique Australian accents, like Martin Boyle and Harry Souttar.
“If everyone’s in here, they’re an Aussie. We’re going to try and help him be the best that he can be.”
