Football Confidential: Aussie teen Cristian Volpato lands Roma deal - now Italy want to snare him
Australia risks losing highly-touted midfielder Cristian Volpato, with the 16-year-old impressing since his move to European giants Roma and catching the eye of the Italian national set-up.
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He’s the 16-year-old Sydneysider who has just signed a three-year contract with Italian giants Roma – and now the Italian football federation is eyeing up Australian Cristian Volpato for its under-17 national team.
The St Josephs College at Hunters Hill product, who at one point was playing six years up under the watch of school coach Jason Culina, has signed a three-year youth contract with Roma, and Italian football legend-turned-agent Filipo Inzhagi wants to get his hands on the rising star.
Inzhagi, a two-time UEFA Champions League winner and current coach of Serie B club Benevento, has taken an interest in the attacking midfielder, who joined Roma following stellar performances in a south-east Asian tour with the Australian Soccer Academy.
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The skilful midfielder first caught the eye of golden generation Socceroo Culina at St Josephs aged 12, when he was drafted into training sessions and matches with 18-year olds in the first XI.
Volpato spent time at Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers youth academies but injuries hampered his opportunity in Australia’s top flight.
Head of Australian Soccer Academy Tony Basha, who picked up Volpato after he finished at the Wanderers knew he had exceptional talent.
“The kid’s a special player, a beautiful left foot and very quick on his feet,” said Basha.
At 15 years of age Volpato impressed against Singaporean and Malaysian first teams on a tour with the academy and was invited to Rome to trial at the Italian giants.
Volpato’s skills have wowed his suitors from Rome, led by U17 coach Fabrizio Piccareta who pounced on the chance to sign up the attacker, fending off interest from a number of Italian clubs.
“He played his first trial with the reserve team and he came on in the last 20 minutes. He scored a hat-trick and set up a goal,” said Basha.
“Inzhagi watched him and told him ‘I want to represent you’. He also said he wanted to bring him over and manage him at his club Benevento.”
The youngster already has offers to represent Italy because of his Italian passport.
Australia will need to be hot on his tail to keep a hold of the midfielder.
Wellington Phoenix winger and current Olyroo Reno Piscopo gained similar traction when he joined Internazionale at the age of 12. He also represented Italy at U15 through to U17 level.
Veteran ready to pull plug
Another injury suggests the clock is ticking for veteran Jets keeper Glenn Moss – but in fact the Kiwi custodian has already decided enough’s enough.
Moss has told teammates that he will retire at the end of the season, having signed up to become Macarthur FC’s goalkeeping coach afterwards.
Elrich’s good deed
Wanderers defender Tarek Elrich already has an impressive body of work off the field, most notably in regards to men’s health and mental illness, but Elrich added another entry this week by taking a training session for inmates at the Cobham Juvenile Youth Justice Centre at Werrington.
The 30-minute session ended up running for more than three times as long, and Elrich has pledged to return.
Sky Blues eye title hat-trick
History could be made next week when the National Youth League grand final is held as a warm-up game before Sydney FC play Brisbane on Friday night.
If the Sky Blues win it will be the first time a side has simultaneously held the A-League, W-League and NYL titles.
Swimming with the enemy
Growing up in the Bavarian capital of Munich, you couldn’t be further away from the ocean’s greatest predator. But Western Sydney Wanderers defender Patrick Ziegler still has carried a fear of sharks all of his life.
Until now, that is, thanks to the club’s impromptu series of fear-conquering stunts for their players.
After Bruce Kamau and Mo Adam were hoisted up on a cherry picker to address their fear of heights, Ziegler went swimming with the enemy.
“The instructors said not to worry, all I have to do is breathe and if I come out with all 10 fingers then I’m fine,” Ziegler said.
So far for the Wanderers, their season has been a pressure cooker situation, but the Shark Dive Xtreme at Sea Life certainly put Ziegler in one of the most tense experiences of his life.
“I was going to do it with (Mark) Bosnich from Fox Sports. We got into the training pool together, and then I turned around and he was gone,” said Ziegler.
“I was nervous, I was a bit scared but I was actually excited. I told Pirmin (Schwegler) and Danny (Lopar) that we have to do it together and get the whole team in the shark tank, they yelled ‘No!’. I’d 100 per cent do it again.”
Originally published as Football Confidential: Aussie teen Cristian Volpato lands Roma deal - now Italy want to snare him