Fantastic night watching the Tillies. Cheering them on all the way!
The tournament has been a resounding success, and hopefully inspires many more Australians to enjoy the beautiful game.
Damn it, I was fuming during the second half. Just make some subs, Tony!
Good to see him back in the league with the Mariners, even if it means it didn't work for him in Germany this time.
A second stint here as a more mature player may help him springboard back into Europe later on anyway, so I'm interested to see how he goes.
Some highlights of young local players signing for overseas clubs thus far:
Central Coast Mariners
- Nectar Triantis (Sunderland AFC)
- Anthony Pavlesic (Bayern Munich)
- Sammy Silvera (Middlesbrough)
Macarthur FC
- Al Hassan Toure (Eyüpspor [loaned to Şanlıurfaspor])
Melbourne City
- Jordan Bos (KVV Westerlo)
- Tom Glover (Middlesbrough)
- Aiden O’Neill (Standard Liege)
- Marco Tilio (Celtic)
Perth Glory
- Keegan Jelacic (KAA Gent)
- Chris Donnell (Fulham)
Western Sydney Wanderers
- Kusini Yengi (Portsmouth)
- Calem Nieuwenhof (Heart of Midlothian)
Agreed on treating club legends properly after their playing careers. It's something many A-League clubs haven't done well in the past.
I would say Ninko is a bit different, as they may well have offered him something to sunset his playing career, except he didn't feel he was ready for retirement yet. In this case, Wilko called time on his own terms and then Sydney seemingly offered him a job, not the other way around.
Good for him, and glad the was at least a fee involved. He just needs to keep injury-free and he could do well over there.
Western Sydney Wanderers
AC Milan
🔴⚫
A couple of record signings already too, with Bos and now Tilio heading to Europe. Should be an interesting off season.
Here's an excellent article that explains it
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sometimes-you-strike-it-lucky-how-a-25-cent-phone-poll-gave-the-matildas-their-name-20230517-p5d93q.html