of young players all aiming to become the new face of the Socceroos, Rogic is in many ways already the chosen

FOR now, his biggest challenge is simply to prove he’s fit enough to take his place on the biggest stage of all. But assuming Tom Rogic passes that test, he knows the clamour that will follow.

In a team shorn of almost all its superstars, with a group of young players all aiming to become the new face of the Socceroos, Rogic is in many ways already the chosen one. The circumstances of his professional career and the way it started mean that with fewer than 50 games of it played, the vast majority have come with an increasing degree of hyperbole.

From the beginning, coaches like Graham Arnold and Holger Osieck have warned against the tendency to view Celtic’s signing as some sort of messiah for the Australian game — but they might as well have saved their breath.

Tom Rogic poses during an Australian Socceroos portrait session/

Tom Rogic poses during an Australian Socceroos portrait session/ Source: Getty Images

“Arnie’s said it, Holger said it when I went to the national team, but it still happens,” Rogic says, shaking his head. “I’m used to it now — from my first few games in the A-League I’ve had a little bit more attention than what’s normal.

“I definitely still enjoy the football, but at times it is a little amusing. I’ve never Nike Hypervenom Phantom said anything along those lines, not even close to it,” he adds of Nike Hypervenom Phelon the idea that he might be the team’s new superstar.

“So for that to come and out, and people to have that perception, well it’s something I can’t control. But it’s why I feel it’s my responsibility, my job, not to listen to it. I try to steer clear as much as I can of all that stuff.”

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Rogic steers clear of Messiah comparisons. Pic: George Salpigtidis

Rogic steers clear of Messiah comparisons. Pic: George Salpigtidis Source: News Corp Australia

Part of the whole circus is the very truncated nature of his career so far, leaping from his first professional contract to the World Cup in two and a half years. The excitement he causes comes from those who have only seen that ascent, not the years of perseverance under the watch of coaches like Ron Smith and John Mitchell in Canberra.

“When you put it like that, still it’s amazing,” he said. “I’ve only been playing for a couple of years, and I feel very much I’m only at the start of my career. I feel like I’m learning and progressing, even though the beginning of it feels like forever ago.

“Ron was always one who was a big supporter of me, and it’s important to have people who believe in you. Him and John Mitchell, who was the coach of mine down in Canberra for five or six years, and played a massive part in getting me to where I am now.

“Obviously my family’s my biggest influence, but in a football sense to me it doesn’t get Cheap Soccer Cleats any bigger than John and Ron. Someone like Arnie [Graham Arnold] Soccer Cleats Outlet gave me my first professional start, and played a big role, but even before there was an opportunity, there were these guys Nike Hypervenom Phantom FG who people have no idea about, who I feel very grateful for.”

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They were also coaches who allowed him to have a free spirit, even while he was being rejected for a place at the AIS, and concentrate on his skill and the ability to find the unexpected pass.

“You just listed the strengths of my game, but maybe at times when you’re young and developing, there’s not enough emphasis placed on these parts of your game,” Rogic said.

“If you go and watch some of the younger national teams, the last thing you want is these young players, at 15 or 16, to become almost robotic. Sometimes they’re taught to turn out, take a touch, play it sideways ... you want players to be special and have that element of surprise, to be able to go the opposite way to what they’ve been told.”

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