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Massimo’s March momentum

After a great month, Massimo Luongo is slowly rediscovering the form which made him a regular fixture in the Socceroos setup.

Luongo endured a tough start to season 2022/23. He failed to make a first-team appearance following a highly coveted move to Middlesborough in September.

In January, Luongo moved to Ipswich Town, a club with which he had a brief loan spell during the 2012/13 season. After struggling for game time initially due to injury issues, the midfielder started all four of the club’s fixtures in March.

He also netted his second goal for Ipswich – over ten and a half years after his first – in a 2-0 win over Shrewsbury Town. That performance got him into the League One Team of the Week.

Ipswich striker Kayden Jackson – who played with Luongo at Swindon Town – has been very complimentary of his teammate’s impact.

“Going back to when I was at Swindon a hell of a long time ago, I was a big fan of his,” Jackson told the East Anglian Daily Times last month.

“Daily I would watch him and be in complete awe of the way he plays football.

“He hasn’t lost any of that, and has wised up a bit because of his experiences over the years and he’s some player.

“Sometimes they don’t work out when you bring in players in January who hadn’t really been playing because it takes time to adapt and get up to speed. It probably did with him.

“He had time at the training ground and is more than ready now to contribute over the last few games.”

Ipswich had a perfect league record in March and is currently involved in a tight battle for an automatic promotion that could be decided on the season's final day. There’s a genuine possibility Luongo could be playing in the English Championship next season.

Socceroos star on a mission in Germany

March was a perfect month for Jackson Irvine.

Of course, the midfielder played his part in a decent international window for his country. He was superb in Australia’s first friendly against Ecuador at CommBank Stadium three weeks ago.

But it’s Irvine’s club form that has flown under the radar. One of the reasons Irvine starred for the Socceroos was because he went into camp on the back of two impressive displays for his German club St Pauli.

Irvine assisted Manolis Saliakas’ equaliser for the second-tier side against Greuther Fürth, a game they went on to win 2-1 before scoring a brace in a 5-0 thrashing of SV Sandhausen a week later. St Pauli also beat Paderborn earlier in the month, making it a perfect month with three wins.

Irvine was at the heart of their March form and current 10-match winning streak, where he has led the side out as captain in each of their last six matches. Graham Arnold also trusted him enough to captain his country for Australia’s second match against Ecuador in Melbourne.

The former Hull City man is in a rich vein of form, proving to be a catalyst for his club and country.

He’s undoubtedly one of the first names on Arnold’s team sheet now. But more importantly, he may play Bundesliga football next season, with St Pauli only six points off the automatic promotion spots.

Former A-League star decisive in Indian Super League Final

Former A-League Men product Dimitri Petratos had a sublime season for Indian Super League side ATK Mohun Bagan in 2022/23.

In March, the IPL season reached its conclusion, with Petratos claiming a massive piece of silverware as The Mariners were crowned champions of India for the first time in their history.

But crucially, Petratos was arguably the most significant contributor to their success, both in the regular season and the playoffs, which took place last month.

The former Brisbane Roar, Sydney FC, and Newcastle Jets star scored the decisive goal in a 2-0 quarter-final win over Odisha FC at the start of the month. However, his best performance was still to come.

ATK negotiated their way to the final after a tense two-legged semi-final win over Joel Chianese’s Hyderabad, setting up a highly anticipated clash with Bengaluru.

In the final, Petratos led the line. He scored both of Mohun Bagan’s goals, including an 85th-minute equaliser, sending the decider to penalties after extra time. He again stood up in the shootout, scoring his side’s first spot kick. They went on to triumph 4-3 on penalties after a pulsating 2-2 draw.

The title is Petratos’ third career trophy. He ended the season with twelve goals and seven assists across the regular season and playoffs combined.

Australian defender Brendan Hamill also featured in the final, claiming silverware alongside his fellow countryman.

WA product ascends into the Olyroos

After Central Coast Mariners defender Jacob Farrell had to withdraw from last month’s Olyroos training camp in Italy, a lesser-known name was called up to Tony Vidmar’s squad.

18-year-old Western Australian striker Jahce Novello was the replacement chosen by Vidmar. When you investigate Novello’s form, it is easy to understand why.

In March alone, he started each game for Cosenza’s U19 side in the Primavera 2 youth league in Italy. Novello scored in two of those games, and remarkably, by not finding the net in his third game of the month, he failed to continue a scoring run of six straight games.

Cosenza was so impressed with their young prodigy last month that they called Novello up to sit on the bench for the first team against SPAL in Serie B, the Italian second tier.

The teenager played his junior football for South West Phoenix FC in WA and is now in and around the first-team picture at Cosenza. This season he has scored ten goals and assisted once for their U19s in 22 appearances.

Upon calling up Novello, Vidmar labelled him “a gifted player”, adding that he had been on the Olyroos radar.

Hopefully, more time in the Olyroos environment beckons for the striker, who is one youngster to keep an eye on abroad.

Aussie women return to action in the USA, Sweden, and Norway

With the Women’s World Cup only three months away, the desire for playing time and form has never been greater for Matildas' hopefuls abroad.

Those based in the USA, Sweden, and Norway received a big boost last month, with the new season kicking off across the three countries.

The Tillies' two NWSL representatives, Emily van Egmond and Alex Chidiac should be named in Tony Gustavsson’s World Cup squad. Van Egmond did play the full ninety minutes for San Diego Wave in their season opener in March. However, she was medically withdrawn from the Matildas squad earlier this week, so her priority is ensuring full fitness and match minutes ahead of the tournament.

The same can be said of Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Charlotte Grant, and Clare Polkinghorne – the Matildas based in Sweden. This quartet should all be locked in for the World Cup, with injuries and any major form slumps pending.

We should also mention Aivi Luik, who is currently plying her trade for Göteborg. Luik has been named in the last two Matildas squads but has not played since a 4-0 win over the Czech Republic in February. Getting regular game time heading into the World Cup could convince Gustavsson to keep her in the squad as an experienced figure in the dressing room.

Chelsie Dawber is also based in Sweden with Norrköping and scored in their Damallsvenskan opener against Växjö last month. But after a disappointing domestic season with Adelaide United, her chances of making the World Cup squad are virtually over.

Meanwhile, in Norway, club teammates Tameka Yallop and Larissa Crummer will be looking to feature regularly ahead of the World Cup. Crummer, who started 15 times for Brisbane Roar this A-League Women's season, will be looking to find form and prove she’s more than capable of playing her part as a backup for Sam Kerr come July.

There’s no doubt those on Gustavsson’s radar are looking to impress. Whether to lock down a starting spot for the Matildas’ opener against Ireland, a place in the final World Cup squad, or make a late push for selection, there’s plenty at stake.

Another tough month for PK

It’s safe to say that Patrick Kisnorbo’s reign at French club ESTAC Troyes has not gone to plan.

In March, things barely improved for the former Melbourne City manager, with the Ligue 1 club failing to win any of their three league games, only picking up two points from a possible nine.

They are now 18th on the table, in the relegation zone, and seven points from safety. The situation worsened last weekend when Troyes copped two goals in five first-half minutes to lose 2-0 at home to Clermont.

After the game, Kisnorbo did not mince his words when evaluating his side’s performance.

“After that first goal, we completely stopped being competitive,” he told reporters.

“This is the problem today, it’s the hardest part to accept. To be a competitor, you have to have resilience, courage. I am not happy with today’s performance.

“Making mistakes happens to everyone, but we must not give up. We had 70 minutes left to play in this match after the goals conceded but when the team behaves like this, they get punished.

“That’s what happened today. Some of our players didn’t give 100% of what they could do for the team. Losing is okay, but that I don’t accept.”

Astonishingly, Kisnorbo has only overseen one victory in his time at Troyes, from 16 games, equating to a meagre return of 0.44 points per game.

Son of Socceroos legend represents Croatia

You might have heard about him, but Noa Skoko, the son of Socceroos legend Josip, has been on fire for Hadjuk Split’s U19 side in Croatia this season.

Skoko drew eyeballs in February when he played his part in Hadjuk’s monumental 2-1 win over Manchester City in the UEFA Youth League (UYL). Skoko assisted Mate Antunovic’s decisive goal with a perfectly weighted pass behind the defence. Considering Skoko is only 17, starring in such a significant competition is even more impressive.

But Skoko’s incredible UYL campaign got even better in March, with Hadjuk knocking Borussia Dortmund out in the quarterfinals on penalties, winning 9-8 in a remarkable shootout. They will now face AC Milan in the semi-finals.

Skoko also achieved a notable personal feat last month, representing Croatia’s U17 side in European Championship Qualifiers against Norway, Belgium, and Slovenia.

In a recent interview with FTBL, Josip was coy about his son’s chances of representing the Socceroos in the future, not wishing to pressure the decision.

“It’s really a decision for him if and when the time comes,” he said.

“For me, I developed in Australia at the AIS and the Young Socceroos and I felt I belonged to that group coming through.

“For Noa, his path is a little bit different. For now it makes sense to play for Croatia, later on it may not. The ball is in his court whether he wants to play for one or another.”

He was on Australia’s radar, but Croatia jumped in first. Skoko has now made almost ten appearances at a junior level for the country.

Time will tell as to what decision Skoko ultimately makes. But the Socceroos or Croatia have an exceptional footballer waiting in the wings.

Aussie regulars in the UK

A host of Australians in the UK are receiving regular game time. However, two promising individuals should be noted for their emergence throughout the 2022/23 season. For Charlton’s Ashley Maynard-Brewer and Blackburn U21 midfielder Zak Gilsenan, they continued to rack up minutes for their clubs in March.

Maynard-Brewer joined Charlton when he was 14 and has had to bide his time for a first-team breakthrough. Last month he continued to be trusted as the Addicks’ first-choice goalkeeper, playing every minute in League One. Overall, Maynard-Brewer has played 24 games in all competitions this season, with Charlton sitting 10th on the table and making the EFL Cup quarterfinals against eventual champions Manchester United.

Maynard-Brewer is enjoying his time in England, signing a long-term contract extension earlier in March, seeing him remain at the club until 2026.

"Ash is a brilliant, young goalkeeper with huge potential to go really far in the game. Aside from his technical aspects as a goalkeeper, he’s got a great temperament, a great attitude to work and he's eager to learn. Obviously he’s been number one since I’ve come in and his performances have been outstanding,” Charlton manager Dean Holden said upon Maynard-Brewer signing his contract extension.

Meanwhile, Gilsenan continued his strong season in the Premier League 2 by making three more appearances last month and scoring against Liverpool’s U21s. He has scored twice across 14 appearances for the Rovers this season.

But Gilsenan’s rise in match minutes is even more impressive when you consider he only returned from an ACL injury last October.

He is also a dual national and currently represents the Republic of Ireland at a U19 level. Gilsenan had previously represented Australia’s U17s and could still be targeted by the Young Socceroos for a call-up soon.

The basis of the information throughout this article would not have been possible without the work of Damian Davies.

You can follow Christian Marchetti on Twitter @ChristianM29, or on Instagram @christianmarchetti29.