Cristian Volpato has thrown a late selection curveball at Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, scoring a goal and setting up another off the bench in a match-winning performance for José Mourinho’s AS Roma.
Exactly a week out from the unveiling of Arnold’s 26-man squad for the World Cup in Qatar, Volpato kept himself in the conversation with an eye-catching 33-minute cameo to help steer Roma to a 3-1 win over Hellas Verona.
Cristian Volpato’s goal and assist for Roma could catapult him into Socceroos contention.Credit:Getty
The Sydney-born teenager, who has played junior international football for Italy but is yet to declare for either nation, found the back of the net with a sweet first-time shot from the edge of Roma’s penalty area at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona on Tuesday morning (AEDT) – putting Mourinho’s men ahead 2-1 with two minutes of regular time left.
Then in added time, Volpato slipped a pass for Stephan El Shaarawy to extend their advantage and seal the three points against Hellas Verona, who were without injured Socceroos midfielder Ajdin Hrustic.
Volpato, 18, was handed his maiden senior start in the UEFA Europa League last week against Finnish side HJK Helsinki, and is now on the cusp of cementing himself as a first-team regular at the Serie A club.
“This season, after having a taste of the first team, he signed a contract extension, and now he is a player with first-team quality. He’s young, he has a lot still to learn every day, but he’s already at the level required,” Mourinho said post-match.
“When I put him in it wasn’t me being crazy or taking an absurd risk. I didn’t know for sure that he was going to score the winning goal, but I knew he had the capability of doing so.”
Arnold is in regular contact with Volpato, who is at the centre of an international tug-of-war between Australia and Italy for his allegiance, but it remains to be seen whether he can find room in his squad to accommodate the midfielder.
Discarded from the youth systems of Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers, Volpato made the move to Italy two years ago and has Francesco Totti – the AS Roma legend who scored the penalty that knocked the Socceroos out of the 2006 World Cup – as his agent.
While he is still a raw talent, and Tuesday’s appearance was just his sixth at first-team level, few other Australian players are scoring or assisting goals in a competition of such a high standard – and there is little doubt World Cup selection would convince him to pick the Socceroos over Italy, who have failed to qualify for the last two tournaments.
Cristian Volpato celebrates his goal for AS Roma in front of the away support section at the Bentegodi.Credit:Getty
Arnold flies out to Doha on Friday to begin on-the-ground preparations for the World Cup, and has a lot to contemplate as he prepares to reveal his squad on the following Tuesday, November 8 – not only when it comes to future talents like Volpato and fellow Italian-Australian Alessandro Circati, but the likes of Hrustic, Martin Boyle, Harry Souttar, Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson, who were either recently injured or are in a race against time to recover from longer-term issues.
Boyle provided the latest injury scare for Arnold, coming off injured after scoring for Hibernian in a 3-0 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership at the weekend. There are fears Boyle may have seriously hurt his knee, which reportedly went numb afterwards, with the Socceroos awaiting the results of an MRI scan to ascertain the full extent of the damage.
“I’m praying it’s not too bad … I’m lighting a candle for him tonight, hoping he’s alright,” Hibernian manager Lee Johnson said.
Boyle, 29, is a nailed-on starter on the wing for the Socceroos and missed the team’s last major tournament, the 2019 Asian Cup, due to a knee injury suffered in a warm-up friendly.
But at least Australia isn’t alone – France, their first-up Group D opponents on November 23 (AEDT), are reeling from the loss of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, who has been ruled out of the World Cup after picking up a thigh injury at training.
Pogba had been trying to mount a comeback from an earlier knee injury, with his agent Rafaela Pimenta admitting to French media his latest setback would see him miss the tournament, having played an integral role in France’s win at Russia 2018.
