I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.
In the car on the way home from under-16 training, my dad asked which national team I would like to play for.
Without hesitation, I excitedly asked: “Which country has asked about me?”
My dad laughed and said, “None have.”
He just wanted to know who I would pick.
While my dad was able to play football at the highest level and represent the country of his birth, I never lived up his lineage.
Like many Australians, I do, however, hold dual citizenship.
Had my football skills been as good as my father’s, it would’ve been a very hard choice for me – deciding to play for the country I was born in or the country that my family made home.
The reason I bring up this moral dilemma is because a new Socceroo has had some fans conflicted about whether he should even be representing the green and gold in the first place due to some unusual circumstances.
Fran Karačić is a 25-year-old right back who plays for Brescia in Serie B. He has drawn rave reviews and his club are in the mix to win promotion to Italy’s top flight.
Karačić has never stepped foot inside Australia and only learned English in his early 20s. He was born in Croatia and has represented their youth teams nearly 40 times.
The connection to Australia actually comes from Frans’ grandfather, who immigrated to Sydney in the 1970s.
His dad was born in Sydney but his family moved back to Croatia where Fran was eventually born.
Australia acted swiftly and swooped Karačić up from Croatia’s clutches. Even though he’s never been here, there was no hesitation in representing Australia.
If the player in question had lived in Australia for several years, would fans be more supportive of his selection, though? Let’s look at the current Australian squad selected for World Cup qualifying for Qatar 2022.
Awer Mabil and Daniel Arzani were born in Kenya and Iran, respectively. They both came to Australia when they were children and their football skills were honed here.
(Photo by Yifan Ding/Getty Images)
Miloš Degenek was born in Croatia, but his family immigrated to Australia 21 years ago.
Kenny Dougall had the option. He’s Brisbane born but was being chased by Scotland and Thailand due to his parents’ birthplaces.
Harry Souttar was born in Scotland and represented their youth teams – he qualifies to play for the Socceroos as his mum was born in Western Australia.
Martin Boyle’s heavy doric accent of Aberdeen can be difficult to understand, but he also qualifies for Australia due to his dad being born here.
Like Karacic, both Souttar and Boyle have never lived in Australia.
Australia has lost just as many players that they were eligible for in recent times as well – Gold Coast-born Lyndon Dykes scored in the European qualifiers for Scotland on the weekend.
Deciding on which country to represent is never a black-and-white decision, especially for a young player. Multiple factors can come into play.
Gianni Stensness was one of the best midfielders in the A League last season.
He was born in Australia but has also represented New Zealand at youth level due to his dad. He recently announced that he wishes to commit his future to Australia.
Over the years, I’ve known prodigious teenagers’ families to have been given monetary incentives to have their child choose a prospective country.
In terms of family dynamics into decision making, it’s not unusual for different family members to have different viewpoints on which country should get the honour.
At the end of the day, it might simply be which country has contacted the player first and given a better speech in selling it to the player.
Fran Karačić’s club career is on an upward trajectory and he should be the Socceroos’ first choice right-back for the next several years.
Whether fans will get over the fact he wasn’t born in Australia, hasn’t spent a single second in the country or didn’t learn the language for 20 years is another story.
Wes Flanagan
Guest
We are seeing a period of development that was totally neglected when the current crop of 20-28 years olds were kids. This was the change from NSL to no national league to a league with no youth program. We have a 10 year gap in our player development that we are finally seeing the tail end of. Hopefully better development is in place now and we should start to see the quality come through again.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Deni can choose either way, the question is whether the national sides choose him. They don't appear to be falling over each other in the rush. My advice would be to keep all options on the table until he receives a phone call.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
yeah like i said, the fact hes learning and wants to sing the national anthem shows his commitment to the cause - absolutely cant be faulted for not trying
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
one thing ive learnt in life is never to fully trust the media, they always have a way of twisting things
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
im sure it happens in plenty of sports
sportstar111
Roar Rookie
rawlins doesn't have the skill set to be a right-back long term, i'd assume he'll move into midfield eventually. aquilina is someone who certainly has the potential to be a Socceroo.
sportstar111
Roar Rookie
in the SMH article it's clear that Karacic only chose us to play at a WC
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Karačić and Mooy back into the XI as Mabil and Grant make way.
PeterCtheThird
Guest
Andy, football is not the only sport with this problem, of course ,and I think qualification criteria are too loose generally. The Arabian Gulf states - Qatar, the UAE - seem to deal with it by handing out citizenship willy-nilly. The one I had in mind currently is rugby union player Louis Lynagh - qualified for Australia as the son of former World Cup winner Michael, for Italy through his mother and by birth and for England through residence. I doubt he’ll ever come anywhere near Australia except as a member of an England squad.
Hopper
Roar Rookie
From the off, I'm ok with the current qualification criteria, but sometime in the future we my rue the decision to select players that only connection to Australia is a diluted bloodline and nothing more. Karacic could well turn out to be the greatest defender Australia has (ahhmmm) produced. In the continuing effort to bring our game into the mainstream, how would we value add and market this player as an aussie boy that isn't even remotely born or breed. We do struggle finding acceptance with some of the best we have produced, let alone for a player that I think just wouldn't pass muster with the general Australian population. There would be plenty of head scratching and finger pointing with the thinking that it could only happen in that game. For me though, I'm happy that we have Fran onboard, he looks real quality and obviously has a desire and commitment to play for our country. Or is it for his country.
AGO74
Guest
I highly doubt people will walk away.
Will
Guest
Agree the playing opportunities is probably our biggest reason but we also dont play enough too which is why its important to get the structure right below the aleague but also getting the national youth/reserve back so the players get that year round football thats badly needed if they cant get a game at aleague level. Thats why given our playing pool we are more than capable of developing our own players here but little effort has been done to rectify this and maybe why Arnie is picking these kind of players from other countries because he's desperate to find players for the short term. But to be fair at least Arnie's been vocal towards to the future but Football Australia along with the APL and NPL need to take action so we dont rely on picking national team players from other countries again. We will see what the future holds but it will be disappointing if they continued to go this path in identifying national team players because this will be a slap in the face for our game and the kids thats play it.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
especially in a position that australia is still struggling to produce quality players in
AGO74
Guest
Yeah. Interesting comment and as well as my (a) and (b) above I think you could add (c) soccer Australia management was a basket case back then and we weren’t as pro active and/or professional as they are now.
chris
Guest
True, Diamanti comes across as a truly nice guy who has embraced Australia and loves being here. I'd have no problem seeing him in a green and gold shirt :)
Marcel
Guest
IIRC there was once a time when Arnie himself thought God Save the Queen was our national anthem.....and alas not the Pistols version.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
cant say i disagree with any of your points
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
for what its worth, i wouldnt have selected the 3 players you mentioned in the squad lol If you follow my posts on here you will know im the head of the #ArnieOut movement when it comes to national team coaching - hes a buffon with his outlandish quotes in the media, plays a negative brand of football and selects players that arent playing. i do howeverthink hes a very good club coach though lol we have plenty of really good young players in australia that are more than capable of playing for the national team one day the issue is how they get there - there are not enough professional clubs in australia (the a league needs at least 4-6 more teams) the gap between NPL and a league is massive plenty of our best kids get lost in the system.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
A lot of people have made up stories about Australia not showing interest in Simunic , the total opposite is true Croatia didnt show interest in him, till he made it in the Bundesliga. The absurd one is that Australia should have picked Simunic for the 1996 Olympics, he was invited to the 2000 Olympics way before Croatia wanted him. Simunic overrated good with the ball but defensively his method was to grab onto people. They didn't care about that in the BUndesliga or the world cup but he would be a penalty magnet nowdays.
Will
Guest
Agree the curriculum needs an overhaul but im just perplexed that Arnie would use Karacic, Boyle and now Souttar whilst the previous coach in Ange used players that come through the system here playing his style of football to win the Asian Cup. I know Arnie is a complex coach based on his views on the aleague and youth development but if we have the talent here why not use them instead?