‘One of our own’: Cristian Volpato flourishes after Socceroos switch

C ristian Volpato is Italian football’s make-good to Australia, a peace offering set to soothe 20 years of pain. The winger flipped allegiances so he could represent the Socceroos on the eve of the World Cup , but his career was shaped by those responsible for perhaps the greatest heartache of Australian football. In the closest the Socceroos have come to a World Cup knockout victory, the team remembered as the “golden generation” and led by Mark Viduka were headed for extra time in 2006 against Italy when Fabio Grosso won a penalty, converted by Francesco Totti, for the eventual champions. Volpato says he has watched the match “like a hundred times”, and it is “crazy” the connections he shares with one of Australian football’s most dramatic moments. “My ex-agent was Totti, who scored, and then my coach is the one who won the penalty so it’s a bit like … you know what I mean?” he said, struggling to find words to explain the coincidence. Totti stewarded Volpato through the early years of his career in Italy and at Sassuolo he has been playing under Grosso, although the former Italy defender took the Fiorentina job this month. “I spoke to Grosso, he just remembers he didn’t even know what he was doing, he felt a bit of contact, he went down,” Volpato says. “They got the pen, Totti, and he just shot as hard as he could, he said.” The decision was widely seen as a travesty – at least in Australia. …