Alessandro Circati stakes claim for permanent spot in Australia’s defence

An emerging star continues to put his hand up for a permanent place in the heart of the Socceroos defence.

Socceroo Alessandro Circati has made his Serie A debut. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Alessandro Circati has further upped the ante in the battle for Socceroos centre-back spots after making his Italian Serie A debut for Parma.

Circati, 20, played the full 90 minutes as Parma started its return to Italy’s top-flight with a 1-1 weekend home draw with Fiorentina.

“I’m fully aware of what it means to play in Serie A as an Australian,” Circati told the Socceroos’ website earlier this month.

Capped twice for the Socceroos, Circati is in a four-way battle with Harry Souttar, Cameron Burgess and Kye Rowles for the two starting roles in the centre of Australia’s defence for next month’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Bahrain and Indonesia.
The quartet shared duties in the Socceroos’ games in June against Bangladesh and Palestine.

Souttar and Rowles started alongside each other in Australia’s 2-0 win over Bangladesh in Dhaka, while Circati and Burgess got the nod in the Socceroos’ 5-0 thrashing of Palestine in Perth.

It ends all square at the Tardini 🤝

An impressive return to the top-flight 👏

💛💙 1-1 🟣🟣 (90+5') | #fulltimepic.twitter.com/lHqxDEEtFm

— Parma Calcio 1913 (@ParmaCalcio_en) August 17, 2024

Burgess, 28, was denied an English Premier League debut on Saturday night (AEST) when he was an unused substitute for Ipswich Town in the promoted club’s 2-0 season-opening home loss to Liverpool.

Souttar, who earlier this month moved on loan to English Championship club Sheffield United from Leicester City, was a second-half substitute in the Blades’ 2-2 weekend draw with Queens Park Rangers at Bramall Lane.

Rowles watched from the bench on the weekend as his Scottish club Hearts rested a host of regulars in a shock 2-0 League Cup loss to lower-division Falkirk.

Meanwhile, Socceroos captain and goalkeeper Mat Ryan warmed the bench for Serie A club Roma in its 0-0 away draw with Cagliari on Monday morning (AEST).

Elsewhere, former A-League prodigy Nestory Irankunda will hope for some game time in his German club side Bayern Munich’s friendly match Swiss outfit Grasshoppers on Tuesday night.

The 18-year-old Socceroos sensation, who has impressed since linking with Bayern in June, was an unused substitute in the club’s 4-0 German Cup weekend win over SSV Ulm.

Should Irankunda play against Grasshoppers, his opponent could include fellow Socceroo Awer Mabil, who is in goalscoring form after netting a hat-trick in his team’s 9-0 Swiss Cup first-round thrashing of Regensdorf on Monday morning.