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.”