Popovic says there’s no risk with Volpato’s call-up
Pasadena: Socceroos coach Tony Popovic described Cristian Volpato’s World Cup call-up as a risk-free decision, while defender Harry Souttar said his teammates were looking forward to finally meeting a player the country has been trying to acquire for years.
Volpato’s commitment to Australia from Italy was officially confirmed by FIFA, paving the way for the 22-year-old to be selected in Popovic’s 26-man squad for the World Cup; This will arguably be the biggest selection mess in national team history.
Popovic, who will arrive in Los Angeles on Saturday (local time), has flagged the possibility of attacking midfielder Volpato, who plays for Sassuolo in Italy’s Serie A, making his debut in the Socceroos’ friendly against Mexico at the Rose Bowl Stadium on Sunday – although this looks unlikely.
Volpato, who was born and raised in Sydney, turned down the chance to play for Graham Arnold’s Socceroos side at the last World Cup in 2022 and said he was “waiting for Italy” after being visited by Popovic and his assistant coach Paul Okon in March.
But it seems Volpato, who missed Italy’s final squad against Luxembourg and Greece after failing to qualify for the World Cup like the Azzurri, has decided the wait is over and he is ready to don the green and gold. He even added @Socceroos to his profile description on Instagram, posting a photo in front of the departure sign at Sydney Airport as he prepared to link up with the team.
In his first public statement since it was revealed Volpato would join the Socceroos in the United States, Popovic was reluctant to go into detail about “who called who and when” – but said the process was driven by the player’s decision to represent Australia via Italy and was unrelated to the hamstring injury that has left Riley McGree out of World Cup contention.
“I have already talked many times about the discussions we had and where this left off in February. What has changed? The player wants to play for Australia. That is what is happening,” Popovic said.
“We did not follow him or [ask] ‘Did you change your mind? ‘Can you come to the World Cup?’ We always appreciated him as a football player. That hasn’t changed, but I always have to respect the player’s decision. And I’ve always done this.
“And once he’s decided he wants to represent Australia, now we have a decision to make. Do we go through the process? How fast can that process happen? Is it worth doing now? When we put everything together, we came to the conclusion that we’re going to take that process further. Fortunately, those are all ticked. He’s actually fit to play tomorrow, which might as well be. He can sit on the bench and play.”
During his youth, Volpato spent time at the Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers academies but left to take up a youth deal with AS Roma. He made his Serie A debut under Jose Mourinho in late 2021 and immediately put the question of his international commitment on the agenda of Australian football.
So far, Volpato has been completely neutral when asked which country he would choose to represent. He even earned the ire of some Socceroos fans when he posted a Snapchat story criticizing the team’s performance after failing to qualify directly for the last World Cup.
Now, barring an unexpected change of heart from Popovic, he will go straight into the World Cup squad, strengthening Australia’s attacking options and helping compensate for the loss of McGree. Popovic is due to submit his final 26-man squad to FIFA on Monday (local time) and there seems no point in bringing in Volpato so late if his name will not be announced.
Asked to weigh the risk and reward of bringing Volpato to camp, Popovic denied there was any risk. “I’m not sure what the risk is when you have a talented player,” he said.
“Yes, we probably would have liked him to come two or three days earlier, but he played on the weekend. So the earliest he could come was probably Tuesday. Are we talking four days, maybe earlier? Would I have wanted him to come four days earlier? I would have said yes, but the process was still ongoing.”
“I wanted a little more clarity that that could happen over time until he qualified for the World Cup. That was my priority… I was willing to wait as long as I could. So that was the only risk for me.”
Souttar, meanwhile, said there would be no bad blood between the established Socceroos and Volpato and that he would be welcomed with open arms even if he were to replace someone else.
“From what I see, he is a very good player and he will be here with his merits,” he said.
“Many players, including me [our] Team representing other countries from different age groups. He’s obviously made a decision… All the kids are looking forward to meeting him, getting him into camp, training him, letting him play. It’s that simple, it will make us a better team.”
More than 75,000 tickets have been sold for the Mexico game, making it the perfect dress rehearsal for Australia’s Group D clash with hosts the United States in Seattle on June 19.
“This stadium is very special and the fans and the opponent will make it feel very real,” Popovic said.
“It will now feel like we are here for the World Cup. We are honored to be here and we want to show how good we are.”
Australia will open the tournament against Türkiye on June 14 at BC Place in Vancouver.
