The inside story of how the Socceroos landed Cristian Volpato’s allegiance

There has been speculation that Volpato decided to switch to Australia after being left out of Italy’s latest squad, the first one since their third successive World Cup qualification disaster in March. It was picked with an eye to the future, and features only one player, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is older than 22; Volpato’s absence from it suggested that he was not part of the Azzurri’s short or medium-term plans. That Italian squad was named on May 26; Volpato’s change of association was officially ratified three days later.

But according to FIFA’s eligibility rules, any player who seeks an official change of registration to another country has to be submitted at least 15 days before the start of the international window they will be involved with. For the World Cup, that was May 25 – so if Italy’s snub was the reason Volpato flipped, then he had to have been aware of it more than two weeks earlier, which seems unlikely. Volpato’s integration has been assisted by the presence in the Socceroos of a long-time friend and former teammate for Italy’s under-20s, defender Alessandro Circati, who knows what it’s like to be in his shoes. Circati was born in Italy but grew up in Perth; his father, Gianfranco, briefly played in the old National Soccer League for Perth Glory, and moved back there after retirement.

As others panicked about which way Volpato would go, Circati worked on him in the background, careful not to put undue pressure on him. He reckons people who don’t actually know Volpato tend to have the wrong impression of him, probably based on his diamond earrings and penchant for designer clothing labels. “I do think that he’s not made out to be the villain, but made out to be worse than what he is,” Circati said. “If you actually get to know him and actually have a sit down with him, he’s a normal guy, just like me, just like the rest of the boys. I think he’s had some influence in his life, which maybe didn’t help him out for the best - but hey, it’s part of everyone’s life. Everyone’s got a different path.” His inclusion was highly controversial.

Volpato’s critics see him as opportunistic, and believe he once carried genuine resentment towards Australian soccer and the national team because of his negative experiences with A-League academies. Some still hold against him a Snapchat story which appeared to mock the Socceroos, posted on the night their 40-year unbeaten streak in live World Cup qualifiers at home was broken by Japan.

But the way he passionately celebrated Australia’s 2-0 win over Turkey, which he did not play in, and the way he spoke after his full debut off the bench against the United States, in which he completed more dribbles (five) than any other Socceroo had in a World Cup game, suggest that he has indeed followed his heart. “It was a dream come true,” Volpato said in the mixed zone following the 2-0 defeat in Seattle, in which he mounted a compelling case for a start against Paraguay on Friday (12pm AEST). “Even in the first game when we were singing the national anthem, I was getting goosebumps. Walking out today, I was tearing up. It was amazing. I’m a hard believer in everything happens for a reason.” Volpato was effectively chosen in Australia’s squad over Martin Boyle, a popular player who is ironically his inverse: Boyle was born and raised in Scotland, but was eligible to play for the Socceroos because his father was born in Sydney.

Coming in for such a dressing-room favourite, so close to the start of the World Cup, made for a difficult initiation for Volpato. “It’s a little bit uncomfortable for him, because it’s so late,” Okon said. “And then of course, ‘How does everyone perceive me? Because up until now, I’d said that my dream was to play for Italy.’ Albeit that was said when he was a young kid.

But he’s bought into what we do, the way we work. We’ve seen his quality, what he’s capable of. The challenge for Cristian is, how long he can do that in a game, how effective he can be, how decisive.” Okon insists the Socceroos never strayed from Popovic’s mantra on dual national players – that the shirt should never be “sold” to a player. There’s a fine line between persuading and inducing someone to do something, and he says they never crossed it: no promises were made, and will never be made to any other player weighing up their choices, not as long as Popovic is in charge. “The conversation was always open, and every time I spoke to him, it was, ‘How you doing?

Do you need anything? Do you want to talk about anything? Any advice?’” Okon said. “Ultimately, we wanted to get to the part where he’s here, today. We wanted it sooner.

Sometimes it doesn’t always go how you want it to. In the end, he made the decision, based on whatever he felt, to align with us. “I do understand that people at home think he’s chosen only Australia now because Italy hasn’t gone to the World Cup. He’s not here because of that. He’s not.

He’s here because he realised that maybe he should have come earlier.” Get across our World Cup coverage Lose, draw or win: What the Socceroos need to advance at the World CupProfile: The crude rugby league drill behind the rise of Connor Metcalfe‘We’re hurting for him’: Injury could spell the end of Leckie’s World CupBoost for Australia: Historic mouth-covering red card hands Socceroos a massive benefitAnalysis: Why you probably won’t see your dream Socceroos front three against Paraguay‘It’s giving basic’: The best and worst of the World Cup uniforms