Melbourne Victory fans won’t have to wait long to see their new leading man in action this A-League Men season, with coach Tony Popovic confirming that star recruit Luis Nani is set to start their round one Big Blue against Sydney FC.
The world’s longest offseason now mercifully at an end, the 2022-23 ALM season will kick off on Friday evening when Melbourne City hosts Western United in a grand final re-match at AAMI Park.
Their cross-town foes Victory, meanwhile, will travel to New South Wales for their opening game of the campaign the following evening as they take on the Harboursiders at the new Sydney Football Stadium.
Speaking to media ahead of his side’s final training session before they depart for Sydney, Popovic confirmed that Nani, a four-time Premier League and a one-time Champions League winner with Manchester United, as well as a European champion with Portugal, would be able to start that fixture.
“He’s able to start,” said Popovic. “And if everything goes well today, god willing it will, he starts.
“He’s had a good pre-season, and he’s settling in very well on and off the park. He probably hasn’t played as many minutes as he would have liked in the preseason but he’s raring to go. He looks really excited and that’s rubbing off on all the players.”
Easily the highest-profile addition to the ALM this season and, indeed, one of the biggest signings in its history, Nani arrived in Australia months in advance of the season and has been able to undergo a full preseason with his new club – something that can’t always be taken for granted with marquee signings to the Australian top-flight.
The 35-year-old’s presence has been spoken of glowingly by his teammates since then, and Popovic said that he’d brought a strong dressing room presence alongside his obvious playing pedigree.
“I think at first you’re not sure, as a player, what he will be like in the change room,” the coach said.
“He obviously has a big personality, a fantastic career. I think some of [Victory’s players] may have been surprised by what they saw in terms of how he is amongst the group. He’s a real team player.
“He’s very respectful of the group. He’s a leader, he’s a winner. On the field, what they’re seeing, I think they expected it. He’s a great trainer, always wants to be the best on the park and he conducts himself accordingly. But off the field, I think everyone has had a nice surprise.
“I wasn’t surprised, because I spoke to him a few times before he got here and I knew what his personality was like. It’s great for the league as well, great for our club and great for the league. I’m sure that on and off the park everyone will be pleased with Luis being here.”
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Thanks to the long length of the ALM preseason and Victory’s elimination in the round of 32 in the Australia Cup by United, the four-time champion’s preseason has been heavily supplemented by games against NPL opposition at community grounds across Victoria.
“It’s been great,” Nani told JDL Media at the A-Leagues’ season launch. “The people from the community, the kids, they all came over with excitement to see me there and being happy just to have me close and be able to take some pictures.
“I enjoyed this because it’s nice to feel the warmth of the people. It gives you more energy and more excitement for the season, to make it good. They are the ones who lift us up and give us the power to be who we are.
“I hope I can produce something special for them because that’s what I’ve always been thinking about in my career. Just performing.”
Victory will travel to Sydney with an almost full-strength squad for their season opener, with just defender Jason Geria and striker Tomi Juric set to be absent with what was described as a hip and knee injury respectively.
Describing him as being at the tail end of his recovery from a hip injury, Popovic said that Geria was likely two to six weeks away from returning and revealed that Juric was being managed for Saturday but that the 41-time Socceroo would likely be available for the club’s home opener against Western Sydney Wanderers next week.
Even without Juric, however, the Victory boss will have a fearsome collection of attacking talent to call on against the Sky Blues, with Nani slotting into an attack already featuring Ben Folami, Nick D’Agostino, Chris Ikonomidis, and Jake Brimmer. All bar Brimmer has been capped by the Socceroos, and Brimmer is the reigning Johnny Warren Medalist.
“It’s a good headache to have,” said Popovic. “That’s a credit to the players that were here last year.
We went last year with Nick D’Agostino, Jake Brimmer, and Ben Folami – all young boys. Young talented players that you don’t expect to see play regularly at a Melbourne Victory.
“They’ve grown from that experience and they’ve got another preseason under their belt. It means that they’re stronger.
“Chris [Ikonomidis] has come back after a really good preseason after a well-documented long injury that he had. He’s been fantastic. You’ve got Luis as well.
“We’ve got some good talent in the front third all fighting for their position. That’s a challenge [for me]. But we know the players are ready to perform whether they start or come off the bench. They’re ready to make an impact.”
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Header Image Credit: A-Leagues / Aleksander Jason
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