Cristian Volpato resisted the Socceroos for several years as he developed his career in Italy.
Now, the 22-year-old has been thrust into Tony Popovic’s World Cup squad at the last minute.
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It is an announcement that has not sat well within some Australian football circles, but Socceroos great Robbie Slater has called for calm following Volpato’s selection on Monday.
Volpato shocked Australian football by committing to the Socceroos on Friday, switching his allegiance from Italy.
Less than 72 hours later, his World Cup dream was made a reality as he was named in the 26-man squad at the expense of the popular Martin Boyle.
Volpato did not feature in the Socceroos’ 1-0 loss to Mexico on Sunday and Slater noted in an appearance on Fox Sports News that he had seen backlash on social media to the winger’s last minute ascension into the squad.
His selection was clearly some time in the making, however, as Popovic and his assistant Paul Okon were spotted in Italy in February, watching from the stands as Volpato’s Sassuolo claimed a 3-0 win over Hellas Verona.
The Sydney born and raised player was an unused substitute in that Serie A clash, and it was reported in the Italian media that conversations were had between the 22-year-old and the Socceroos hierarchy.
Premier League winner with Blackburn Rovers Slater stressed that there should be no issues with how Volpato has become a Socceroo.
“My message to Socceroos fans, the ones who are criticising this, always find once you’ve made the decision then you’re committed,” Slater said.
“And I see Volpato as being that. Of course he was going to make the squad.”
“It will be interesting to see if Popovic starts him ahead of the likes of Toure, Leckie, Irankunda and a couple of the others,” he added.
“One thing is for sure is he’s in the Serie A. He didn’t start all the games. He did score goals, he did have assists, he came off the bench more often than not, but he’s pretty comfortably in Serie A.
“We don’t have many playing in the top five competitions.
“We had (Connor) Metcalfe and (Jackson) Irvine (with St Pauli in the Bundesliga) but they’ve been relegated now. We’ve got Maty Ryan in Spain (in La Liga with Levante), a fantastic job he did there (to avoid relegation).
“Not a boy anymore, 22 certainly not a senior, he’s at a Serie A club living his dream.
“He scored not that long ago. The competition only finished last week. He’s ready to go.”
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Volpato’s relationship with Australian football has been complicated.
The former Roma prodigy, who is now playing for Italian club Sassuolo, rejected former Socceroos boss Graham Arnold’s advances ahead of the last World Cup in Qatar.
Volpato was making a splash as a teenager under the tutelage of legendary manager Jose Mourinho in the Italian capital at the time and instead opted to chase a place with the Azzurri rather than representing the country of his birth.
He proceeded to represent Italy, the nation where from where his grandparents on both sides of his family hailed, at underage level.
“Growing up with the 2006 (World Cup win), I had all the players on my wall. Obviously my dad, my nonno, they were all just mad crazy about the Azzurri,” he told football360.com.au earlier this year.
“And obviously them being my idols, you grow up and you follow your dad or your nonno, so it’s always been my dream.
“But with the Socceroos, I’m happy and thankful for the calls they’ve given to me.
“But I can’t say whether I’d want to choose one or the other right now.”
Volpato spent time in both the Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers academies as a youngster, but he packed his bags and headed to Rome while still in high school.
After a successful trial with Roma, the winger signed a three-year contract with the Serie A club in January 2020.
Shortly after he joined Roma and Italy legend Francesco Totti’s agency, confirming his status as a star on the rise.
His first team debut came in 2022 and he celebrated the occasion by coming off the bench to score a goal and assist another in a 3-1 win.
He also featured in the Europa League that season, but Volpato hit a few bumps in the road shortly after.
In 2023, he was sold to Sassuolo for €7.5 million (A$12.4m) – the third highest fee for an Australian player – and has not set the world on fire for the Serie A club.
Volpato has scored seven goals in 64 appearances for the club.
In the most recent season, he featured in 24 of 38 league matches due to injury and selection.
Socceroos rue missed chances vs. Mexico | 02:30
Volpato started on 11 occasions, scoring two goals and providing four assists across the season.
Positively for Australia, he did gather momentum in the later stages of the campaign – featuring in the last ten games.
But his struggles at times has left a bad taste in the mouths of some passionate Australian football voices.
“Four years ago when this discussion happened around Volpato, it was ‘just call him up to lock him in’. He was going to add something to the squad no doubt,” football commentator Daniel Garb said on the Football 360 podcast earlier this year.
“But it was like we can carry him but make him an Australian, play him at the World Cup and he’s tied to us. (They) gave him the chance. I mean obviously we weren’t just forcing him, you’re going to a World Cup! But he said no.
“You’ve got to earn it to a point as well. He doesn’t have that same clout Volpato now. He’s got to earn it.
“Mate, you had your chance, you said no. You’re not necessarily demanding selection anymore. Antonio Arena is demanding it more than Volpato at the moment!”
Arena is following in Volpato’s footsteps by making a splash as a promising teenager in Italy.
The 16-year-old scored with his first touch in his professional debut for Roma in January.
He also hails from Sydney, but due to his Italian heritage, represented Italy in last year’s U17 World Cup – which Australia did not qualify for.
Former Australia and Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich believes the national team should not be turning its back on anyone who qualifies as an Australian.
“If he’s good enough, of course they should,” Bosnich said on SEN when talking about Volpato earlier this year.
“Obviously he must be good if we’re talking about him.
“Why not? Why not try? It’s okay. There’s not a problem.
“I do recall Tony Popovic in a press conference saying ‘if we have to sell the jersey, we’ve got a problem’.
“I understand where he’s coming from but you can always keep your options open.”
“You can’t be too proud,” co-host Adam Peacock replied.
“Exactly,” Bosnich responded.
“Some people will say selfish, whatever, they have their own reasons.
“We as a nation, and we’re not the only nation – Italy itself at the moment is having problems with their young talent in comparison to their past, they’ve won four World Cups – but we as a nation as well, in my opinion, cannot afford to lose out on good players that could parade themselves and help Australia further themselves along in world football.”
Volpato’s good friend Alessandro Circati faced a similar decision with his international career.
The Italian-born defender moved to Perth with his family at the age of just one, but the 22-year-old has been with Serie A club Parma since joining their youth academy five years ago.
He made his senior debut for Parma in 2022 and also represented Italy’s under 20 team that same year.
But the following year, he made the decision to commit to Australia and has since skippered the Socceroos.
He is now set to join Harry Souttar and Lucas Herrington in a three-pronged central defence this World Cup.
After Sunday’s friendly with Mexico, Circati shared that he always thought Volpato would join him in the green and gold.
“It’s good to have Cristian in camp. It’s been a long time coming,” he told reporters.
“Obviously the conversation 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.
“For the people that don’t know him, on the field he’s a natural winger who can play in the inside pockets, one-v-one, is a left-footer, likes to take the player on, isn’t afraid to make a mistake.
“As a defender, really puts you in your in place and it’s not easy to defend a player constantly going one-v-one with you.”
The detractors of Volpato’s selection have stated that his presence in the dressing room could cause disharmony after the saga.
Socceroos captain Mat Ryan squashed any such concerns when speaking to the media after the Mexico game.
“We want to be the strongest team we can,” he said. “We obviously welcome him in here, and we’re going to try and help him be the best that he can be. I’m sure he can embrace all that we’ve got here as an environment.
“I can’t speak obviously on behalf of the boys; they all have their own freedom of speech and what not, but from my point of view, who am I to say who deserves to be here or not?
“We all make decisions based on circumstances in our lives, and I don’t know the details of his story. At the end of the day, I can’t control what he decides or what he does.
“We’ve had other boys who have gone the other way. We’ve had other boys; there are some nice, unique Australian accents in [Scottish-born] Martin Boyle and Harry Souttar.
“End of the day, everyone in here, they’re an Aussie, that’s the case, and we’ll move forward.”