PASADENA, California - Tony Popovic doesn't feel that introducing Cristian Volpato to the national team setup on the eve of the FIFA World Cup carries any risk, and wouldn't rule out the newly-minted Socceroo from making his debut against Mexico on Saturday evening
Volpato sent shockwaves through Australian football when it was confirmed late on Thursday evening (Friday morning AEST) that he was set to fly in and join the Socceroos extended pre-World Cup squad after making the switch from Italy to Australia.
The attacker, who was born and raised in Sydney's west but has played with the Azzuri's junior international sides since 2022, had previously turned down the chance to be a part of Graham Arnold's squad at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and, as recently as March, said he was "waiting for Italy," despite holding talks with Popovic.
However, the 22-year-old's change in allegiance was confirmed by FIFA on Friday, clearing the way for the attacker to take up a place in the Socceroos' 26-player squad for the World Cup.
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Playing for Sassuolo in Serie A, Volpato shapes as a strong addition to Australia's attacking ranks if, as anticipated, he is selected, particularly in the wake of Riley McGree being ruled out of the tournament through injury - albeit Popovic made clear he would have gladly taken both McGree and Volpato if the Middlesbrough attacker was available. However, his previous preference for Italy has also been well-documented, and he would be being inserted into a largely settled dressing room.
Nonetheless, Popovic said he had no hesitation in bringing the Camperdown-native into camp once his eligibility was confirmed and that, although he wouldn't touch down until that morning, he could potentially take up a position on the bench against El Tri.
"When you have a talented player, I'm not sure what the risk is," Popovic said. "Yeah, we probably would have liked him to come in two or three days earlier, but he did play on the weekend [for Sassuolo], so the earliest he could have arrived was probably on Tuesday.
"Would I have liked him to come four days earlier? Because that's the earliest I could have brought him anyway? I'd say yes. But the process was still happening, and I wanted a bit more clarity that this can actually go through in time that he's eligible for the World Cup. That was my priority, to make sure that that can happen. So I was willing to wait as long as I could. That, for me, was the only risk."
After receiving overtures from Volpato's camp, Popovic and assistant coach Paul Okon visited him at Sassuolo earlier this year to discuss his international future, a conversation he subsequently reflected contained "no ultimatums," but which seemingly has planted the seeds for this week's switch.
The coach has a long-standing policy of 'not selling the shirt' when it comes to the Socceroos, something he publicly reiterated in March following Adrian Segečić's decision to switch from Australia to Croatia, and he said on Friday that he and his staff hadn't 'chased' the attacker with a World Cup looming.
"It's not so much now trying to tick off who called who when, but he'd made his indication that he wants to play for Australia," said Popovic. "We didn't chase him up, or [ask] 'have you changed your mind? Can you come to the World Cup?'
"We've always appreciated him as a footballer. That hasn't changed, but I have to always respect the player's decision - and I've always done that.
"And once he made a decision that he wants to represent Australia, well, now there's a decision that we have to make; do we go through the process? How quick can that process be? Is it worth doing now?
"And once we've put everything together, we've come to the conclusion that we'll take that process further, and fortunately, that's all been ticked off."
Just what led to Volpato deciding to switch Azzurri for the Green and Gold will undoubtedly be the subject of rampant speculation until the 22-year-old is presented to the media as a member of the Socceroos. And his coach wouldn't to be drawn on what had changed between now and March when he was pressed on Friday.
"I can't speak to what Cristian has said since we met up with him," said Popovic. "What's changed? The player wants to play for Australia, that's what's happened. And once we understood that he really wants to do that, then he must take the next step and sign the relevant forms and do all the administrative work that needs to be done to make this possible.
"It's one thing saying I'd like to play for Australia. The next part is actually going through with it, and he has done everything to go through with it. Then it comes up to us, do we select him? Do we select him now? Do we wait till after the World Cup?
"Considering all the legalities, all the boxes we had to tick, we had to really think about how long this will take, and if it takes too long, maybe it's not worth doing now. But [Football Australia] has done a wonderful job in making this happen so quickly, and that's what brought us to this decision to bring him in now."
