Meet the Aussie fighting for football survival in Serbia

Australian Andrew Marveggio is involved in a bitter relegation battle in the Serbian SuperLiga but he wouldn’t have any other way.

Andrew Marveggio

Australian midfielder Andrew Marveggio (R) is presented after signing for Serbian club FK Mačva Šabac Source: Supplied

The former Adelaide City midfielder, who has spent the past eight years playing in Europe, loves the excitement and pressure of the promotion and relegation system.

Marveggio joined FK Macva Sabac last year and is in his second season at the club. The Provincijski Urugvaj are currently bottom of the SuperLiga and have not won a game after 16 rounds, with four draws and 12 losses. 

But the 27-year-old is enjoying the ride and remains confident Macva Sabac can turn things around.

“I love it. I think promotion and relegation is one of the best things about football because no matter wherever you are in the season you’re fighting for something – whether you’re fighting to be promoted, or to be champions if you’re in the top division, or if you’re down the bottom you’re fighting not to be relegated,” he told The World Game.

“I’m definitely all for it. It’s something our sport has that not a lot of sports have and it keeps the excitement levels.

“Even as a player it keeps the pressure on you, you still have to rock up to training every day, you still have to rock up to every game because you’re not safe.

“We haven’t started well. We’ve been unlucky in a few games where we’ve either hit the crossbar in the last minute, or we’ve just made on individual mistake that’s cost us one or three points. 

“We lost a few players in the off-season, attacking players mainly, they went to different clubs. And so we’ve been trying to find rhythm without them and it just hasn’t gone to plan. 

“We got a new coach at the end of September and he’s also brought in his ideas and ways of playing. We’ve done better but we haven’t been getting the results that we need. It will come. 

“Every game we’re playing better, every game we’re fighting more and you see the improvement. But we have to get there quicker than what we are.” 

Marveggio joined Macva Sabac, a club based in the western part of Serbia, after a brief spell at Serbian First League side FK Zemun. The midfielder is enjoying his time in the Balkan country.

“The football is a good level and the lifestyle is very similar to Australia,” he said.

“It’s not just work, work, work. Macva Sabac is a very good club. They’ve only been in the SuperLiga for three or four years. 

“Before that they’ve never been in the top division. This year we’re actually celebrating our 100th year as a club since it was football. It’s entrenched in the city, it’s owned by the city, it’s not privately owned.  

“Everyone plays for the city and we learn to fight for the city. It isn’t a big city, it’s not as big as Belgrade, but we know what it stands for.

“Not everyone speaks English, maybe half the players speak English, and only half of that speak it well. But I’ve picked up Serbian pretty well. On the football field – everyone understands football. 

“I’ve settled in nicely and it feels like a second home to me. It’s been a while since I’ve had the same club for two years in a row.” 

Marveggio made his way to Europe in 2011 after debuting for Adelaide City’s first-team as a 17-year-old. At City he gained experience as a youngster playing senior football alongside the likes of former Socceroo Damian Mori. 

“I come from an Italian background,” he said.

“My older brother was playing football and I used to go out on a Sunday morning and watch him play. It’s that big brother/little brother thing, I kind of followed him. 

“The love kind of grew from there. We were always watching Serie A or Liverpool, because we’re Liverpool fans. I fell in love with the game, it’s always what I wanted to do. 

“I never had a back-up plan. I started at a few different clubs and ended up at Adelaide City.” 

Marveggio joined Dutch second-division side Telstar alongside his brother Ryan and spent three seasons there before having a year with Fortuna Sittard. 

“It was definitely a shock to the system, moving away,” he admitted.

“Fortunately I had Ryan there for the first season with me. But then after that I’ve been on my own since then.”

Serious injury prematurely ended his spell in Holland, and Marveggio then had to rebuild his career in Germany.

“I enjoyed my time in Holland,” he explained.

“Unfortunately it ended a different way that I would have liked because I was there in pre-season and got injured before my new contract could be signed. I had to miss six months of football, and that’s why I kind of left Holland to reset and refresh and go from there. 

“I was in Germany for two and a half years. I played six months in a lower league just to get back my fitness and that touch.

‘It was good, I was able to get regular game-time.”

Over the years Serbia has been able to produce a number of world-class players such as Sinisa Mihajlovic, Dejan Stankovic, Nemanja Vidic and Nemanja Matic. Marveggio is not surprised that a nation of just seven million people has been able to constantly churn out top talent.

“Compared to Holland and Germany it’s a different way of playing football [in Serbia], it’s a different brand of football,” he said.

“I’ve adapted to it and you kind of learn. These guys are playing on the streets from the ages of five and six, even now in Australia you probably don’t see as many kids as you used to playing in parks. 

“I could go walking down the street at nine or 10 o’clock at night and see a group of eight, 10 kids playing football in the park, playing tennis or basketball. It’s their culture to be outside all day and all night playing sport. 

“That’s the big difference in producing the players, it’s not so much the coaching as we have that. It’s starting at a young age and developing those skills at six years old, seven years old. 

“You get that feel of the ball, an extra 1000 times, 2000 times a year. That’s big. They’re constantly developing their craft and perfecting their technique. 

“You see the difference when they’re 19, 20, you see the difference between them and some – not all Australians – but a lot.”

With Marveggio’s contract up at Macva Sabac up at the end of the 2019-2020 campaign, he admits a return to Australia to play in the A-League has appeal.

“I’m looking, I’m open to coming back to Australia,” the midfielder said. 

“I’ll be 28 at the end of next season so I’d be looking to come and play in the A-League if possible, if any clubs are open to having me. But that decision won’t come until March/April/May. 

“Australia’s in the books, Europe’s in the books, Asia’s in the books, I’m not really losing any doors at the moment. Coming back home to play home in Australia would be nice.”


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7 min read
Published 20 November 2019 2:34pm
Updated 20 November 2019 2:40pm
By John Davidson

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