Asian Cup hero Troisi still walking on air

James Troisi fired Australia’s winner against Korea Republic in the final of the AFC Asian Cup 10 days ago – and he still can't stop smiling about "the most important goal in Australian football".

Australia's James Troisi celebrates scoring a goal during the Final of the Asian Cup between Australia and Korea Republic at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. (AAP Image/Paul Miller) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

Australia's James Troisi celebrates scoring his goal during the Asian Cup final (AAP). Source: AAP

Back in Belgium with Zulte Waregem, where he is on loan until the end of the season from Juventus, the Socceroos’ attacking weapon made history with his 105th minute strike .

He received another presentation from his club in recognition of that feat before the weekend game against Lierse - where he came off the bench in a 3-2 loss.

But even that result didn’t take any of the gloss off the most magical month of his career.
“To be honest, I haven’t been able to stop smiling,” said Troisi. “What we achieved in January is absolutely massive personally, for all the boys, for Australia and for Australian football.

“It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever achieved in football … your can’t get much bigger and I don’t think too much in my career will top it.

“In terms of the outcome, it was the most important goal in Australian football – and I am lucky enough to have my name on it.

“The thing about winning silverware is that it was history in making and can never be taken away from you.

"I am starting to see the enormity of it and appreciate it for what it is and how big it is.”

Troisi believes Asian Cup glory could change the perception of a squad which had been living in the shadow of Australia’s vaunted ‘golden generation’.

“Are they going to start calling us the golden generation now? I am not sure.” he added.

“The golden generation had some fantastic players and some great moments but we have silverware... and that tops it in terms of a lasting legacy.

“We’re a relatively young team with an average of around 24 or so and we had 10 or 11 goalscorers during the course of tournament.

“We don’t rely on one or two people and, as a team, I only see us getting better.

“We have only been together for 14 months under Ange Postecoglou but we have come a long way.

“We have a lot of attacking power and its working for us – we have to be realistic but we are aiming as high as we possibly can.”

With one start and four appearances off the bench during the tournament, Troisi admits he would have relished more match minutes but wouldn't change a thing.

“While I didn’t play as many matches as I’d have liked, if you'd told me before the tournament that I wouldn’t play until the final but was going to come on and score the winner – I’d have settled for it!

“The way it worked out, I couldn’t have been happier.”

He remembers his moment of elation with vivid clarity.

“Before Tomi Juric crossed the ball I thought had been fouled at first, then I thought maybe a free-kick had been given against him, but he sneaked out of it and squared for me to pounce.

“It was a fantastic feeling … didn’t know how to react. I just ran off and celebrated like a crazy man.

“There was a lot of negativity flowing around us before the tournament but that’s football.

“We were placed in different situations for a reason and some people just looked at the results only and not at the way we played and the progression we were making.

“It was the same when lost 1-0 to Korea in the group stage, when we played them off the park but didn't get the result.

“We deserved to win the Cup; we were the best team in the tournament by quite a bit.

“We have Germany coming up in March and that will be a great experience too.”

With a year to run on his Juventus deal, Troisi, 26, is relaxed about his future and following Tim Cahill into Asia is a possibility, as is staying in Europe.

“I’ll play out season and see what Juve are thinking," he explained. "The Asian Cup opened up another dimension for us in places like China and Japan and you have seen Timmy Cahill moving there now.

"I am still young but feel like I have been around forever … you get criticised whatever you do but people don’t understand or know what your options are.

"Tomi juric had a good offer in China if he'd taken it, that’s up to him and his decision only.

"I had offers a couple of years back to go to Dubai but turned them down … but if something came up there now maybe I’d look at it.

"You can say you want to go here there and everywhere but it’s not really up to you.

"It’s up to the clubs that want you – the only thing that’s in your hands is what you do on the park and I think I'm doing pretty well at the moment."


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5 min read
Published 11 February 2015 7:15pm
Updated 11 February 2015 8:32pm
By David Lewis
Source: SBS

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