World Cup encouragement for Hibs ace as Socceroos boss drops 'interesting player' comment ahead of friendlies
Croatian-born forward qualifies for Australia through Melbourne-born dad
Hibs super sub Ante Suto has received a first public declaration of interest in his bid to make Australia’s World Cup squad, with Socceroos boss Tony Popovic hailing the dual national forward as an “interesting player.” And the attacker could be called up for this month’s ‘FIFA Series’ games against Cameroon and Curacao.
Suto was born and raised in Croatia, but his dad Anthony is from Melbourne. And the January signing, who has scored three goals for Hibs despite not having made a single start since his Deadline Day arrival from Slaven Belupo, has been in touch with Football Australia over throwing his international lot in with the Socceroos.
Suto was watched by Socceroos assistant
And Popovic, who sent assistant Mile Jedinak to watch Hibs at Easter Road as Suto scored in last month’s 2-0 home win over St Mirren, has spoken publicly for the first time about the 25-year-old.
“Interesting player,” said the Aussie gaffer. “To see that he’s adapting well to that (Scottish) league, he’s scoring goals coming off the bench – he’s certainly contributing.
“He’s probably adapted a lot better to that type of football, that intensity (compared to Croatian club football), quicker than I expected.”
Cameroon and Curacao up next for Aussies
The Aussies play Cameroon in Sydney on March 27 and face Curacao in Melbourne four days later. Being included in either squad would give Suto a chance to reconnect with his extended family.
Speaking to The Evening News last month, the versatile front man revealed: “My father is from Australia. He was born there and lived there for 20-something years.
“Then he came back to Croatia, met my mum and stayed there. He's from Melbourne. So yeah, Melbourne City, Melbourne Knights and all that.
“I have a lot of family also in Australia. My cousins and all that. I'm connected to them.
“We chat almost every day. We have a group on Facebook, on Messenger. We are in touch. We are a big family.”
With Martin Boyle already destined for the World Cup and Jack Iredale continuing to press his international claims, Suto hopes to be part of a trio of Aussie-qualified players heading to this summer’s finals.
Yet the dynamic forward admitted: “For me, I didn't even think about it one year ago when I was in Croatia. When I started playing much more games, scoring goals, it brought attention to them also.
“I had some contacts with them. We'll see. I hope they'll call me up. We'll see from there.
“I spoke about it the first day here, talking with Martin Boyle and Jack Iredale. They told me everything. We'll see. In March is the international break.
“I'm hoping the call comes. But who knows? It's been amazing so far. I couldn't have dreamed of a better start.”