Sports Desk: Austrian coach Tony Popovich has included Italy Under-21 international Christian Volpato in his 26-man squad for the World Cup. Last week, Volpato decided to play for Australia instead of Italy. He later officially became an Australian citizen.
The 22-year-old attacking midfielder was born and raised in Sydney. He plays for Serie A club Sassuolo. Tony has included two new faces in this year’s World Cup squad. Volpato is one of them. The other is Japan-based striker Tete Yengi.
The Australian team will be led by experienced goalkeeper Matt Ryan. Ryan had a great season with Levante in the La Liga season. This is his fourth World Cup. At the same time, Melbourne City forward Matthew Leckie will play in the fourth World Cup of his career.
Seventeen players have been called up to play on the world stage for the first time.
“There were some tough decisions to make, because it’s a World Cup,” Popovich said. “All credit to the players who have worked hard over the last few weeks in a long and tough training camp.”
Volpato’s last-minute inclusion is a bit of a relief for Australia, as Middlesbrough midfielder Riley McGree is out of the tournament with an injury.
Australia, who have qualified for their sixth consecutive World Cup, will face Turkey, Paraguay and the host United States in Group D.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Patrick Beach, Paul Izzo, Matthew Ryan
Defenders: Aziz Behich, Jordan Boss, Cameron Burgess, Alessandro Sircati, Milos Degenek, Jason Geria, Lucas Herrington, Jacob Italiano, Harry Suter, Kei Trewin
Midfielders: Cameron Devlin, Adin Rustich, Jackson Irvine, Connor Metcalfe, Aiden O’Neill, Paul Okone-Engsteller
Forwarders: Nestroy Erankunda, Matthew Leckie, Iyer Mabil, Mohamed Toure, Nishan Velupillai, Christian Volpato, Tete Yengi.
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