He is eligible to represent either Italy or Indonesia, two teams at opposite ends of the international football spectrum, but it is with Australia that on-loan Town midfielder Massimo Luongo is looking to earn recognition.

Luongo has already represented the Aussies’ U20 side but fell short of securing a place in the squad for last year’s FIFA World Cup at that level, although he has since taken a step closer to his first senior cap by being invited to attend the European training camps that feature fairly regularly on the Socceroos’ schedule.

He said: “I didn’t really play other sports when I was growing up in Australia. I took after my father, who is Italian and encouraged me to play football, or soccer as I know it. He has not pushed me towards Italy and I’m not looking too hard at playing for them — I can’t even speak Italian.

“My mother is from Indonesia and on Twitter I have had a lot of fans from that country asking me if I will play for them. I’m not looking to do that either because they are obviously not as big as other countries in a football sense.

“I know Australia isn’t that big in football terms but the game is building over there. I’m Australian — born and raised in Sydney — so my parents would be proud of me if I played for them.

“The guys I looked up to were Harry Kewell, especially two World Cups ago and when he was playing for Liverpool in the Champions League, and Tim Cahill.”

Photo: Action Images

garethch added 11:39 - Sep 26 Good man! We need some new young blood in the Aussie team that's for sure...but I'm not sure u will be noticed in the current circumstances!
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Marcus added 12:26 - Sep 26 I lived in Indonesia for three years. They're probably the most passionate football fans in the region if not the world. They also have some of the biggest hooliganism problems and it isn't strange to hear of violence, destruction and even one or two people killed at a game. On the field they favour a slow technical game, which suits the hot and humid conditions. They tend to underperform in the region and Malaysia are their deadly rivals. When they win don't expect to cross a road for an hour as there's always a victory parade (even at club level) with the supporters on motorbikes waving flags and beeping horns. I've twice been in cities during big celebrations (Malang and Jayapura) and they have an intensity beyond what I experienced when I was in Germany when they won the World Cup. It would be great to see some of their players play in Europe. They would best match the continental game but I imagine some would do well in the UK, especially some if the tough Papuan players.

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