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San Francisco: There were many times when the Socceroos could have \u2013 some would say even should have \u2013 given up on Cristian Volpato.<\/p>\n
For whatever reason, Paul Okon snr never did. Based on the early evidence<\/a>, Australia owes him one for his dogged persistence. It may yet be the key to their World Cup ambitions.<\/p>\n Okon led the mission to convince Volpato to switch his allegiance from Italy to Australia, setting up the most dramatic World Cup selection move in Socceroos history<\/a> with his last-minute inclusion into Tony Popovic\u2019s squad \u2013 a twist that only those directly involved knew was coming.<\/p>\n From the moment he joined Popovic\u2019s coaching staff nearly two years ago, Okon \u2013 a fluent Italian speaker who lives in Europe \u2013 has been the main conduit between the Socceroos and the 22-year-old winger, the subject of a high-profile and long-running pursuit by Australian soccer authorities which predated their appointments.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a good boy,\u201d Okon says.<\/p>\n Four years ago, on the day Graham Arnold named his squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he phoned Volpato three separate times to try and get him over the line. He said no, choosing to focus on his club career rather than making what risked being an \u201cextremely premature\u201d decision on his international future.<\/p>\n Born and raised in Sydney to second-generation Italian parents, Volpato moved to his family\u2019s homeland in January 2020 after being cut by the academies of Sydney FC and the Western Sydney Wanderers. Almost two years later, Volpato suddenly resurfaced at an unimaginably high level: at 18, he made his debut in Serie A for AS Roma, one of Italy\u2019s biggest clubs.<\/p>\n It was a notable feat for any Australian player, let alone one so young. Back home, people familiar with Volpato were shocked \u2013 not just at where he\u2019d gotten to in the game, but how much he\u2019d grown physically, having shot up by 30 centimetres in height during his time away.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, Volpato\u2019s coach at AS Roma was Jose Mourinho, and his agent was the club\u2019s greatest-ever player, Francesco Totti, whose famous No.10 jersey he wore for them at youth level. Almost immediately, there were calls for him to be brought into the Socceroos set-up \u2013 but he was already on Italy\u2019s radar<\/a>, and would go on to represent them at junior level.<\/p>\n In the ensuing years, whenever Volpato was asked about who he would like to play for at senior level, he was always non-committal, if not leaning towards Italy \u2013 despite being spotted wearing an Australian jersey at a live site in Sydney during the 2022 World Cup.<\/p>\n But the latest push really began in January 2026, when Popovic\u2019s staff gathered in Australia to go through World Cup preparations, and the topic of Volpato was raised.<\/p>\n Okon, who was in regular touch with him throughout, hadn\u2019t spoken to Volpato for a couple of months. When he returned to his home in Belgium, he made contact with him again.<\/p>\n \u201cI sensed that there was something there,\u201d he said. \u201cThat feeling that I got, I passed on.\u201d<\/p>\n Popovic reacted by setting up a trip for him and Okon to visit Volpato at his club, Sassuolo, which bought him off Roma in 2023 for nearly $15 million \u2013 the third-highest fee exchanged for an Australian player. They went to watch Sassuolo play a home match against Hellas Verona on February 20, which they lost 3-0; Volpato was an unused substitute, but local media caught wind of Popovic and Okon\u2019s presence in the stands.<\/p>\n \u201cWe organised to meet Cristian, his mother and his father. We ate with them,\u201d Okon says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe following morning we met Cristian for coffee. We walked away and we thought our opportunity was bigger, but we still didn\u2019t think we\u2019d got to that point where he would decide to choose to play for Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n A few weeks later, Volpato spoke to Italian reporters and delivered what seemed to be the killer blow to any prospect<\/a> of representing the Socceroos.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been wanting to call me to Australia for a few years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I grew up watching the Azzurri, even the coach [Gennaro Gattuso], and I\u2019m waiting for Italy, then we\u2019ll see how the rest goes.\u201d<\/p>\n Anger erupted back home at the way Volpato had so publicly relegated Australia to his second choice. Fans and pundits said a line should have been immediately put through his name.<\/p>\n Even Okon thought he was a lost cause \u2013 but he also had sympathy with the position he was in.<\/p>\n One of his own sons, Gianluca, 17, is the subject of feverish debate<\/a> about his national loyalty, a highly sensitive and personal topic. There are powerful forces at play seeking to sway young Australians based in Europe away from the green and gold, and those unfamiliar with them wouldn\u2019t understand how much pressure Volpato was under, Okon said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is not an easy decision. I know it. I live it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI live in Europe. Why would you choose Australia when it would be more beneficial for your career, you don\u2019t have to travel, you\u2019ll have a higher transfer value than if you play for Australia? You\u2019re playing in that country, the club is pushing you to play for Italy. They don\u2019t want you to play for Australia. You\u2019ve got a contract with the club.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not as simple as, \u2018I feel Australian and I want to play for Australia, don\u2019t worry about what you\u2019re telling me.\u2019 We also believed that at some point, you have to feel something for the shirt that you\u2019re going to wear \u2013 so we always felt that we still had the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Okon still believed. When Australia submitted its provisional list of 55 players to FIFA by May 11 \u2013 from which their final 26-man World Cup squad had to be selected from \u2013 Volpato was on it, just in case.<\/p>\n I think he\u2019s had some influence in his life, which maybe didn\u2019t help him out for the best. But hey \u2026 everyone\u2019s got a different path.<\/p>\n Alessandro Circati on Cristian Volpato<\/p>\n Some time after that, Okon received notification that a decision had been reached.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke to his mother and she said to me, \u2018Cristian wants to come,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The timeline remains a little fuzzy; Okon would only say that the green light from Volpato\u2019s camp came \u201clate enough for us to then have to get his papers,\u201d which he obtained in a stopover in Sydney between leaving Italy and arriving in Los Angeles for the Socceroos\u2019 pre-World Cup training, the day before Popovic\u2019s squad was to be named.<\/p>\n There has been speculation that Volpato decided to switch to Australia after being left out of Italy\u2019s latest squad, the first one since their third successive World Cup qualification disaster in March<\/a>. It was picked with an eye to the future, and features only one player, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is older than 22; Volpato\u2019s absence from it suggested that he was not part of the Azzurri\u2019s short or medium-term plans.<\/p>\n That Italian squad was named on May 26; Volpato\u2019s change of association was officially ratified three days later. But according to FIFA\u2019s eligibility rules, any player who seeks an official change of registration to another country has to be submitted at least 15 days before the start of the international window they will be involved with.<\/p>\n For the World Cup, that was May 25 \u2013 so if Italy\u2019s snub was the reason Volpato flipped, then he had to have been aware of it more than two weeks earlier, which seems unlikely.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Volpato\u2019s integration has been assisted by the presence in the Socceroos of a long-time friend and former teammate for Italy\u2019s under-20s, defender Alessandro Circati, who knows what it\u2019s like to be in his shoes. Circati was born in Italy but grew up in Perth; his father, Gianfranco, briefly played in the old National Soccer League for Perth Glory, and moved back there after retirement.<\/p>\n As others panicked about which way Volpato would go, Circati worked on him in the background, careful not to put undue pressure on him.<\/p>\n He reckons people who don\u2019t actually know Volpato tend to have the wrong impression of him, probably based on his diamond earrings and penchant for designer clothing labels.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think that he\u2019s not made out to be the villain, but made out to be worse than what he is,\u201d Circati said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you actually get to know him and actually have a sit down with him, he\u2019s a normal guy, just like me, just like the rest of the boys. I think he\u2019s had some influence in his life, which maybe didn\u2019t help him out for the best – but hey, it\u2019s part of everyone\u2019s life. Everyone\u2019s got a different path.\u201d<\/p>\n His inclusion was highly controversial. Volpato\u2019s critics see him as opportunistic, and believe he once carried genuine resentment towards Australian soccer and the national team because of his negative experiences with A-League academies. Some still hold against him a Snapchat story which appeared to mock the Socceroos, posted on the night their 40-year unbeaten streak in live World Cup qualifiers at home was broken by Japan.<\/p>\n But the way he passionately celebrated Australia\u2019s 2-0 win over Turkey<\/a>, which he did not play in, and the way he spoke after his full debut off the bench against the United States<\/a>, in which he completed more dribbles (five) than any other Socceroo had in a World Cup game, suggest that he has indeed followed his heart.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a dream come true,\u201d Volpato said in the mixed zone following the 2-0 defeat in Seattle, in which he mounted a compelling case for a start against Paraguay on Friday (12pm AEST).<\/p>\n \u201cEven in the first game when we were singing the national anthem, I was getting goosebumps. Walking out today, I was tearing up. It was amazing. I\u2019m a hard believer in everything happens for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n Volpato was effectively chosen in Australia\u2019s squad over Martin Boyle<\/a>, a popular player who is ironically his inverse: Boyle was born and raised in Scotland, but was eligible to play for the Socceroos because his father was born in Sydney.<\/p>\n Coming in for such a dressing-room favourite, so close to the start of the World Cup, made for a difficult initiation for Volpato.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit uncomfortable for him, because it\u2019s so late,\u201d Okon said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then of course, \u2018How does everyone perceive me? Because up until now, I\u2019d said that my dream was to play for Italy.\u2019 Albeit that was said when he was a young kid. But he\u2019s bought into what we do, the way we work. We\u2019ve seen his quality, what he\u2019s capable of. The challenge for Cristian is, how long he can do that in a game, how effective he can be, how decisive.\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article![\"Cristian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b7db44753cdc8133853ac3e16a950173a1e16dd0.jpeg\")
Cristian Volpato gets some final instructions from Jos\u00e9 Mourinho before entering the fray for Roma in February 2022.Getty<\/p>\n![\"Cristian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ce179ac0be10bfba90ba1360c1d17efccc6270ebd9fb73d58e4174b0e19b0ff0.jpeg\")
Cristian Volpato in action for US Sassuolo in Italy\u2019s Serie A.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Cristian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4c289ec94fd9185f156a63675faeba205a37507f.jpeg\")
Cristian Volpato in an Italy under 21 camp in May 2025.FIGC via Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/648f31770be4484c9eaa59aaa5adbb10018cf875853b94546c87020e2a0ce446.jpeg\")
Tony Popovic and Paul Okon.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Cristian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b337dcbcba79ab4f9a6f6d534e4ef0bca96fb1610c60ddf34751a4a9733c528e.jpeg\")
Cristian Volpato\u2019s competitive debut for the Socceroos was impressive.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Cristian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/89a82d2f1d158471f4e89b223897ba83dce99b5d985f5dd1626fef9118ca4e3a.jpeg\")
Cristian Volpato with a fan at Australia\u2019s open training session at the Oakland Roots and Soul training facility.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Mathew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0b4964fb8cfd16cfdef48a6a76a7262c83eacd73.jpeg\")
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