Once in a while, a player emerges from the shadows to catch the eye.
In Connor Pain, Australia may have discovered its own pearl from the murky depths.
Having earned his first Socceroos cap at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup and with merely weeks remaining until the advent of the ninth A-League season, there appears no better time for this young blonde-haired dynamo to announce himself to the masses as one of the potential game changers in Australian football ranks in years to come.
Despite only featuring for 780 minutes in the A -League and netting one goal to date, Pain, is being touted as a man to fill the upcoming void in his country’s attacking stocks.
Having been born in Hong Kong to English expatriates, it wasn’t long before Pain discovered his sport of choice, before moving to Melbourne with his family at eight years of age.
Pain has the pedigree to succeed in football as the 19-year-old’s grandfather Tommy Casey represented Northern Ireland in the 1958 World Cup and took part in the 1955 FA Cup Final for Newcastle United.
“Well I think it was him [Casey] yeah,” Pain explains when asked who has been the biggest influence on his career.
“Because you hear stories about what he achieved. And he used to fill me in on what it was like to play at Wembley, but it was my parents as well.”
The journey to where he is now began in far from typical circumstances as Pain took the stands as a supporter in Victory’s infancy, making many friends along the way.
To Pain, making the leap from supporting the lads to being one of them has been nothing short of a whimsical experience.
“It’s great you know,” the winger says with a smile.
“It was something that you always sort of dream of watching them from the stands and it was a bit surreal at first, but it’s been a great experience.”
While not being content with merely supporting those on the field, he sought try his own luck, by joining local sides Beaumaris and Caulfield.
He rose through the ranks, before moving to Malvern City and then eventually the Bentleigh Greens, where he featured in last season’s Victorian State League (the VPL).
His talent and promise began turning heads, as Ange Postecoglou came knocking on the door, permitting a dream to come into fruition.
Pain signed his first professional contract on 3 March this year, prior to being a major part of Victory’s Youth Team success, helping them claim the 2012/13 premiership.
He impressed at AAMI Park after making his debut in the Round 19 Melbourne derby, so much so that he earned a call up from under-20s National Coach Paul Okon to represent his country at the 2013 Under-20 World Cup in Turkey.
The former Socceroo and Lazio midfielder insists that the Hong Kong born winger’s talent and all round aptitude has not gone unnoticed.
“Connor has come on very quickly in a short space of time,” Okon claims.
“He has adapted very well to professional football and he’s making the right steps to develop into a quality footballer.
“This is equally matched by his excellent attitude and application.”
It was to be an unbridled July for the Deacon University Law/Commerce student, as he took to the field in front of a record 95,000 crowd against Liverpool for his club and then China for his country only four days later, rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s finest, prior to winning his first Australian cap.
After being singled out for individual praise by Red’s boss Brendan Rodgers, Pain conceded that he could not have imagined such a startling forward jolt in his career, when he was strutting his stuff for Bentleigh only twelve months earlier.
“No, of course not,” he admits.
“I was hoping to break into a professional environment at some point.
“But I could not have thought it would have come so fast. But at the same time, I haven’t really achieved anything yet. So it’s about going to training every day and keep working hard.”
And while reflecting on his career to date, he expressed his satisfaction with his shirt coup at the end of the conclusion of the MCG blockbuster.
“I ended up getting Stewart Downing’s,” he laughs.
The teenager, who likes nothing more than catching up with friends and playing golf, has a big season ahead as he seeks to answer his coach’s call of stepping into the boots left void by Stuttgart bound Marco Rojas.
“Why not? I mean, twelve months ago Marco hadn’t scored a goal in the A-League (for Melbourne Victory), you know, and went on to score 15 because we invested time and our structure suited him,” Postecoglou mentioned following the Liverpool showcase.
Fox Sports football pundit Adam Peacock agrees, insisting that Pain is in the best environment to develop his undisputed gifts.
“This kid has got such a future,” Peacock says.
“Loved what I saw last season for him, and now Marco Rojas has moved on, he has the perfect opportunity to replicate the Kiwi’s deeds of last season in the position he vacated.
“Early signs are good too with his performance against Liverpool raising expectations, and his coach is certainly a mentor who turns expectation into action.”
Peacock’s colleague and Fox Sports’ leading commentator, Simon Hill, shares similar sentiments, declaring that Pain’s bright start to his career puts him in a great position to continue making progress in leaps and bounds, particularly for his country.
“Connor has a big future – his pace and positivity on the flank were a sight for sore eyes in the A-League last year, and with a senior Socceroos appearance already under his belt, I can see many more for this talented 19 year-old,” Hill asserts.
Pain is more circumspect when quizzed on whether he agrees, claiming that his feet are still well and truly on the ground.
“On a personal level, I obviously don’t look too far ahead,” he argues.
“I sort of just take it day by day at training. It’s obviously up to the boss. I just want to be involved with the squad at the start of the season and go from there. To be in the match day squad and 16 against Heart would be great.”
With two years still remaining on his Victory contract, A-League and potential Asian Champions League exposure will certainly do him nothing but favours.
Although modestly brushing off suggestions that he is aiming to nab a place in the
World Cup squad for Brazil, stranger things have happened as one Josh Kennedy knows all too well.
Pain’s pace and flare would add another desperately-needed dimension to the Socceroos frontline in a tournament where an absence of creativity and imagination will generally see most defences cope with Australia’s forward set-up rather easily.
But to snag a spot on the plane to Brazil, Pain will need a big season in the Big V as he stays on route to experiencing the lofty and dizzying heights for club and country.
Follow on Twitter @MoranShaun
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