<\/div>\nDAD\u2019S EPIC RESPONSE TO NATIONALITY QUESTION<\/b><\/p>\n
Alessandro Circati\u2019s father has delivered an epic response to sceptics questioning the Socceroos defender\u2019s nationality, declaring that \u201che\u2019s Aussie, he\u2019s not Italian\u201d.<\/p>\n
Born in Italy, Circati was 16 months old when he moved to Perth in 2005, where his father Gianfranco briefly represented Perth Glory.<\/p>\n
He represented Italy\u2019s national Under-20 side, but has since make 15 appearances for the Socceroos, including a stint as captain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s Aussie, he\u2019s not Italian,\u201d Gianfranco told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been having a mullet for the last six or seven years. I\u2019m not very happy with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you were born, it depends on were you were raised, how you were raised.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t agree with people who say if you weren\u2019t born in Australia, you\u2019re not Australian.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Gianfranco confirmed some members of the extended family back in Italy were surprised by Circati\u2019s decision to represent Australia<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the start, they didn\u2019t understand his decision to play for Australia,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut after talking to him, obviously they realised that now, deep down, he\u2019s not Italian.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018CHEATING THE GAME\u2019: AUSSIES WON\u2019T PLAY FOR THE DRAW<\/b><\/p>\n
The World Cup\u2019s new structure, which sees tied teams advancing on their head-to-head result rather than goal difference, has created a unique dilemma for Australia and Paraguay ahead of Friday\u2019s game in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n
Both on three points, Australia and Paraguay only need a draw to qualify for the knockouts, while even a narrow defeat could be enough for the Socceroos to feature in the Round of 32.<\/p>\n
It would therefore be advantageous for the Socceroos to wind down the clock and play for a draw, which would guarantee Australia second place in Group D.<\/p>\n
However, Socceroos defender Jason Geria denied that Australia would consider parking the bus if the situation arose.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you\u2019re sort cheating the game in a way if you\u2019re looking to just call a truce with 10 minutes to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t seem right in my opinion. <\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, we could both progress with a point, that\u2019s evident, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s in us to just concede or just take the foot off the gas. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to win every game, regardless of who the opponent is or what the situation is. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I don\u2019t think if it is one-all or nil-all with five minutes left or 50 seconds left, it\u2019s going to be us taking the foot off the bell. I think we want to win this game. So that\u2019s how we\u2019re going into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nChanges to be made for Paraguay clash? | 02:33<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nAUSSIE GREAT CALLS FOR MULTIPLE SOCCEROOS CHANGES<\/b><\/p>\n
Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich has called on Australian coach Tony Popovic to make multiple changes to the team line-up for the final group-stage match against Paraguay in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n
Bosnich believes that Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe, who both scored goals during the Socceroos\u2019 2-0 victory over Turkiye but started on the bench for Australia\u2019s loss to the United States, should return to the starting XI for Friday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite simple,\u201d Bosnich said on SEN\u2019s Gloves Off.<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one I\u2019d bring back Irankunda and I would say Connor Metcalfe. And I would somehow try to fit in Volpato. I know that will be difficult with the balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re coming up against a team who don\u2019t play too dissimilar to the way we play. A team that will be looking a little bit more to win than we, because we know a draw will guarantee us second place.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely Irankunda and Metcalfe, in my opinion, have got to start. I don\u2019t think there should be any question about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Irankunda gasses out, like people have said, then take him off. Quite simple. But you start with your best players and he\u2019s arguably our best player.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIn terms of the midfield, if they do go with Volpato then he will need people around him to do the running for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need two runners in behind him to let him do what he does with the ball which is an absolutely wonderful quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the future is Volpato, Irankunda and Mo Toure. Those three up front would be absolutely outstanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor this game it might be a game too soon to perhaps do that with Volpato but you might have to bring him on anyway because if we\u2019re losing we don\u2019t want to finish on three points.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/amp-ima-video><\/p>\nLeckie in doubt for Paraguay clash | 02:34<\/p>\n
<\/div>\nMeanwhile, Bosnich also floated the possibility of teenager Lucas Herrington potentially replacing fellow defender Cameron Burgess.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you want to bring in Herrington at the back, that\u2019ll be a decision that\u2019s a toss-up. I would lean towards perhaps yes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo disrespect to Burgess. It maybe needs a little bit of refreshing there. He did nothing wrong as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Socceroos winger Mat Leckie has been ruled out of Australia\u2019s World Cup match against Paraguay due to a hamstring injury. The 35-year-old veteran was substituted off during the second half of Australia\u2019s 2-0 loss to the United States after suffering a minor hamstring tear. And speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Socceroos assistant coach Paul Okon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":249751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-249750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}