Alessandro Diamanti had the football world talking after his incredible act of individual brilliance over the weekend.
The 39-year-old former Italy international scored one of the greatest goals in Isuzu UTE A-League history to help defending champions Western United to a 1-0 victory over Sydney FC – lobbing Socceroos goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne from almost halfway.
Diamanti’s impact down under, however, stretches beyond this incredible goal, with his body of work over four seasons at Western putting him among the top echelon of A-League Men’s imports.
READ: DIAMANTI’S PERFECT REPLY TO BALOTELLI AS FOOTBALL LEGENDS FROTH ON VIRAL A-LEAGUES MOMENT
The crew on this week’s Isuzu UTE A-League podcast debated the question: Where does Diamanti sit among the best foreigners we’ve seen and what criteria has to be met to enter the top tier?
READ: THE BEST FOREIGNERS TO PLAY IN THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: PART ONE
READ: THE BEST FOREIGNERS TO PLAY IN THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: PART TWO
READ: THE BEST FOREIGNERS TO PLAY IN THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE: PART THREE
Join James Dodd, KEEPUP’s Tom Smithies and Sacha Pisani as they dissect Diamanti’s stunner as part of this week’s episode of the Isuzu UTE A-League Podcast.
Listen below, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you consume your podcasts
Dodd: “If we talk about age, a certain 39-year-old stole the show at the weekend, Sach. John Aloisi is going to be the subject of A-Leagues All Access this weekend. So it’s going to be fascinating to see the dynamic of the dressing room and how he handles them. The big question marks over the likes of Aleksandar Prijovic and Leo Lacroix this season as well but did you see enough from from Western United at the weekend… to suggest that maybe they are properly turning the corner now?
Pisani: “Well, this game on the weekend had a real sort of feel of last season. And how they won a championship, these 1-0 wins. A lot of talk about Western and their struggles this season defensively and Leo Lacroix. But when you look at their form, they’ve actually only lost one of the last six. Which can probably get overlooked, they aren’t playing the greatest.
Just on Diamanti, I want to talk about him. He’s been playing more of a bit-part role these days. But what he’s overcome with that knee injury that ruled him out of the Grand Final last season, at the back end of that, almost 40 years of age and to have two goal of the season contenders this season, says a lot about the man.
“I want to ask you two where do you think he ranks us in our best imports that have come to the A-League? I think he would have to be right up there. He hasn’t spent a lot of time at clubs. But to be here four years here says a lot. I think he has to be in the conversation for one of the best imports.”
Smithies: “Well, for the benchmark is of imports is two-fold. The difference they make in terms of do they make their team more successful but also do they bring people off their feet or do they make people excited?
“Those are the best attackers… whether you obviously talk about (Alessandro) Del Piero, (Shinji) Ono but also players like Youssouf Hersi and those over the years who have made the fans excited and Diamanti undoubtedly makes the fans excited. He gives us clips. He gives us moments that go beyond the A-League fan base that can appear anywhere, and every sports fan can go ‘wow, that was amazing’.
“We got another one on Saturday but there’s been plenty of them in the time he’s been here. He’s great value, he’s always always good for a quote. He’s always happy to do media, he’s just good value for the for the A-League. So I think he’s right up there.”
Dodd: “Yeah, I think he is. Also it’s not just the star dust that he sprinkles on the pitch. It’s the fact that if you look around this league, fans of every single club like him and they appreciate the character that he is. The fact that he broadcasts his life on social media to basically just say ‘this is me, this is how I operate… I love this country, I love living in Melbourne’.
“I think it’s family are settled here as well. It would be really easy for a player of his age and his calibre and his standing to be upset, maybe suffering a big injury and maybe looking to call it quits that’s happened with certain players in the past.
“The fact that he is, like Sach said, been able to almost, not bite his tongue, but the fact he’s been able to really grin and bear it and pursue this this return to the football team, despite having that injury and knowing that his role is changing and knowing the manager wants to try and evolve the team. It speaks volumes of his character.”
