Playing for the Sutherland Sharks juniors, a team from south of Sydney, he travelled to Italy for a trial and received a call from his mate and Spurs youngster Massimo Luongo.Q - How did a youngster from Sydney get to end up at Tottenham?
“I was trialling in Italy but I was signed to a club in Australia, and while I was trialling in Italy, I was talking to Massimo (Luongo).”
“A club in Italy had offered me a contract and I told Massimo, and he talked to Tim (Sherwood) and some people here, and then from there, they got in contact with me and I flew here.”
While part of the Australian Institute of Sport’s football program, they told him that he simply wasn’t good enough for a professional football career. Well no kid wants to hear that so he did what kids do, he didn't listen.
Q - Are you happy you didn't give up on your dream?
“I feel incredibly happy that I didn’t let somebody’s opinion change me, or my game.”
“I’m very happy that I worked hard, but I do have to pinch myself that a club like Tottenham appreciated me and took a chance on me, and I’m now the player that I’m becoming.”
Giancarlo arrived at Spurs in February 2012 as an 18 year-old. He had never seen anything like our training facilities, and that was the old place not the spanking new state of the art complex we now have.
Q - What did you think of the facilities and how have you improved as a player?
“Even in the old place, I’d never seen facilities like that before. I’d never seen a football culture like England before.
“It’s hard to say one specific thing. I think as a player all-round I have got better. As a person being away from home, I’ve matured, and I feel like my football has matured. I’m more responsible now, on the pitch.
"I feel very good and very happy at Tottenham. I consider myself a very lucky footballer to be at such a club. You get looked after very well here."
Put yourself in his shoes for a minute, a young kid from Australia, not a major footballing power, told he is not good enough, now in a strange country the other side of the world and he plays against Barcelona at White Hart Lane, with a big crowd present in the NextGen Series. What a thrill that must have been for him, can you imagine how he must have felt.
Q - What was it like playing in that match?
“It was unbelievable. There were a lot of people there, it was incredible. It’s beautiful there."
Q - Now as we all know AVB loves a versatile player, what is your position.
“My preferred position is defensive midfield, but I love centre back as well. There’s one player that comes to mind, but he’s incredibly good, and I’m not trying to say I’m as good as him, but I feel like I could play a similar style to Patrick Vieira.
“He was smart in possession, tall and powerful, wins a lot of the ball, but his range is long, but he’s responsible, and has a big stride pattern."
Q - What is it like working with Andre Villa-Boas?
“He’s awesome. He’s a very good coach, I love training with him, I love his training drills. Every tip and bit of advice he’s given me has been very good. He told me he was pleased with the way I was progressing and he urged me to work even harder so he could make me a better player.
Q - And what of Gareth Bale Giancarlo?
“Unbelievable, incredible, fantastic, and any other adjective you can think of. When you train with players like him, it brings out the best in you, because their touch is perfect, their pass is perfect, their movement is perfect. You have to keep up with that, and you find yourself competing with these players. It’s great.”
Now 19 he is hoping to make the next breakthrough which will be into the first team squad. Loans will come first of course to gain experience.
Q - What does the future hold for you?
"I am the kind of person who does not like to look too much into the future. I would much rather concentrate on my next step. I have trained many times with the first team under three of the best coaches in Europe so that has helped me a lot.
"So far this season I have trained as much with my group as with the first team. In fact I did a few sessions of pre-season with the first team and the good thing is that the coaches seem to be happy with me.
"I have played with the first team in a friendly against Enfield Town and I feel I have progressed to such an extent that I am a more reliable player. If I keep working hard and well I feel like my chance will come this season. I hope so, anyway. Being in the squad for a competitive game would be a great step forward for me. More importantly I can feel like a professional player now."
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