Deni dreams of Juric boys Socceroos double act

Ambitious Deni Juric is taking the advice of his Socceroos sibling Tomi to help realise his dream of one day joining him in the national team.

Deni Juric

Deni Juric in action for the against Austria during the Spain development camp in March Source: NurPhoto

FC Luzern gun Tomi is preaching patience and perseverance to Deni, 20, as his kid brother embarks on a 14-week long loan spell with Croatian second tier side Solin.

Deni will return to parent club, Croatian giants Hajduk Split, at the end of December, hoping by then to be brimming with belief after what he anticipates will be a productive spell at the club situated on the outskirts of Split and sitting seventh in the 2.HNL.

The brothers have a special bond, with Tomi - now firmly established as Australia's first choice go-to-man for goals - closely following and encouraging the fledgling career of fellow forward Deni, six years his junior.
"A few more years under my belt and hopefully I'll get to the point where I can be pushing for the Socceroos," declared Deni.

"Everything's comes in time.... to be playing for our country with Tomi would be a really nice feeling.

"Tomi told me if I was going to play (the loan move to Solin) is a good one.

"He said to just keep my head down and work hard. If I do that then one day everything will come back to me. 

"He said it's all about patience and work, work, work. That's the key."

With his progress at Hajduk initially stymied by injuries, Deni - a member of a national team development squad under the tutorship of Josep Gombau in Spain last March - is looking forward to the prospect of regular game time.

"I'm going somewhere I can play, rather than sit on the bench," he added.

"I need to be playing, especially at my age. 

"The boys are good (at Solin), the coach is good ... it's a really strong team.

"I have just arrived, so maybe it will take a few weeks to show the coach what I can do.

"After that I think I should be ready to go for the starting eleven.

"It's a new start ... I just need follow the right steps and everything will come."

Juric, who is out of contract at Hajduk in June, relished his time in Spain under Gombau's guidance, where he featured in friendlies against representative sides from Austria and Finland.

"It was excellent. If I could go back tomorrow I wouldn't hesitate," he said.

"With the boys and the coach it was another level ... the sheer quality of football.

"With Josep I have never met a man who knows so much about football.

"Bringing it to the boys and showing them as well, it was an honour to be involved with him."

With the talent of so many aspiring Socceroos on show during the Spain camp, Deni feels confident the national team will have a steady supply line.

And exposure to sides like Austria and Finland has left him hungry for more international experience. 

"Playing those games was the best feeling in the world, that's all I can tell you," he said.

"The first game I played 70 minutes and in the second I came on in the second half.

"It was a really good experience. Hopefully there will be plenty more of that to come in the future.

"With the boys coming through, I don't think Australia has anything to worry about in the future."


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4 min read
Published 12 September 2017 8:56am
Updated 12 September 2017 9:29am
By Dave Lewis

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