Countdown to 22-23: from NSW to Denmark and back to WA, Perth Glory’s ‘new’ midfield partnership has been thousands of kilometres in the bonding, writes Matt Comito.
They both grew up in the west of Sydney, separated by seven years and a 10-minute drive.
But when Mustafa Amini and Zach Duncan first met, they were more than 16,000 kilometres from home.
It was in Aarhus, Denmark, where the two Aussie footballers began to refer to one another as family. Their careers intertwined, then split apart, before coming together once again: this time in Western Australia, at Perth Glory, ahead of the 2022-23 Isuzu UTE A-League campaign.
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Amini first met Duncan whilst the latter was on trial at AGF Aarhus in 2019. By then, Amini had spent four years in Denmark, firstly at Randers FC before joining bitter rivals AGF in 2016.
Amini was a capped Socceroo with significant European experience, having departed the A-League Men and Central Coast Mariners for German giants Borussia Dortmund as a teenager.
Eight years after departing Australia in pursuit of his European dream, there he was welcoming 19-year-old Duncan – formerly of Brisbane Roar and a regular Australian youth international – through the doors in Aarhus.
“I didn’t know him before he came,” Amini tells KEEPUP, sitting next to Duncan and reminiscing at Perth Glory’s training facility in Fremantle, Western Australia.
“Yeah, we didn’t know each other,” Duncan replies. “It was nice he was there, and it was obviously a benefit because they’ve seen other Australians in the club, and they liked Musty, so it just made everything for me going there and transitioning into the team so much easier.
“Obviously Musty has been so successful at AGF, he walks around the street and you walk with him people are like: ‘Oh Musty, Musty!’”
Duncan lived in a dorm room for the first 12 months of his Danish stay – but he was never far from Amini and fellow Australian Alex Gersbach, who joined Duncan in signing for AGF in July of 2019.
“It was really nice,” Amini says. “Once a week we used to do family dinners – we said family dinners – we would go to Alex’s house, and he would cook, or my house.
“That would be a weekly thing. It was quite nice.”
Amini laughs when asked if Duncan took on his share of cooking duties.
“Nah, we just looked after him. He was the little one – sometimes he did the dishes!”
Duncan arrived in Perth on loan from AGF. He’s in the third year of what has proven a testing four-year contract earned off the back of a 10-day trial in 2019.
A hip flexor injury suffered during his slender trial window left Duncan to head home with little hope of receiving a permanent move; such was his reluctance to believe it was possible that he signed for NPL NSW club Marconi Stallions upon his return to Australia.
But in his brief trial Duncan had convinced AGF to table a long-term contract, which he duly signed. He’s since garnered 24 Superliga appearances in between a pair of serious injuries.
The first came just 15 games into his AGF stint, when a crunching challenge suffered against Randers resulted in a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and a torn meniscus.
“It was a ball (passed) between centre-back and centre-back,” Duncan recalls. “The way we played, we had our (number) eight’s and they wanted us to jump (out of midfield to press), so I started to go – but I hesitated. Then I decided to go, and as I stepped my knee came in, and I continued through him and fell over. It was not so good.
“When I first did it I moved into (Gersbach’s) place for a little bit, a week and a bit in the initial time when I couldn’t really move, and they were looking after me then. I had met my girlfriend a month before also, so she was looking after me also.”
Amini replaced Duncan off the bench on that day in May, 2020. For Duncan, it was the start to a testing period in his career.
“After my knee injury that was 12 months out,” Duncan says. “Then I was back playing on and off for six months, just with little niggles and whatever. Then in January this year I broke my foot, and had surgery on my foot. I haven’t played football for a long time, so I spoke with (AGF) and decided I needed to try and get some games.”
Along came the opportunity for Duncan to return to Australia on loan, joining Amini in Perth to play for Ruben Zadkovich’s side.
It’s a move which Amini endorsed.
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After coming together in Aarhus, Amini watched the then-teenager flourish into an Australian U23 international, playing a crucial role in qualifying the nation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. Throughout their respective careers, the pair ticked off appearances for Australia’s U17, U20 and U23 sides, with Amini going on to earn eight senior caps in green and gold.
On a similar trajectory to Amini before injuries took their toll, Duncan has returned to the A-League Men to relaunch his bid to play European football, and for the Socceroos.
Amini helped convince Duncan of a Glory move to facilitate those dreams.
“That’s what the A-League is for,” Amini says. “He’s an Australian boy, he qualified for the Olympics, and had bad injuries. Now he’s just got to get his career back on track.
“(AGF) has given him the opportunities and said: ‘Right, you go to Perth and get your 26 games hopefully playing week in, week out’. Whether it’s 90 minutes, 70, 60, you’re playing weekly, which he wasn’t getting in Denmark. Then once he does go back, he’s ready to be in the starting team over there. That’s the plan, you know.
“You see for example when Daniel Arzani went (overseas), didn’t quite do it and has come back, and hopefully he does well at Macarthur and starts again. It’s a nice platform for Australians because it’s our home, to come back and play in a good league, nice stadiums, good pitches… Alright, it’s hot in summer and all that, but you’re still playing against good players.
Luis Nani is here – those kind of things are good, and the league itself is very physical with a lot of running. It’s perfect. I think it’s a perfect match.
“I spoke to him before he came, and I actually told him: ‘You can come, you can get games and hopefully you can go back’.”
Duncan connected with the Glory squad on their recent friendly tour of the eastern states, and is revelling in the opportunity to work alongside Amini once more.
“It’s always good to pick up stuff, what he does,” Duncan says.
“Just his leadership on the field, he’s very vocal and he’s always making sure you’re in the right spot. It really helps, off the ball and on the ball he’s in your ear, so it’s nice.”
“I’m picking up stuff from him as well!” Amini adds. “Like how to tackle. How to tackle and win headers.”
The pair reflect on their European memories fondly, and hope to create more as two key cogs in Perth’s engine room in 2022-23.
“(At AGF), we played in the starting team against big teams, and we won games,” Amini says.
“Against Brøndby IF and FC Midtjylland,” Duncan specifies.
Amini continues: “That was nice, to play against teams that were playing in the Champions League and Europa League. “I still remember before the game we were looking at each other going: ‘Let’s go. We’re two West Sydney boys, you know? That kind of stuff.”
Duncan adds: “Yeah, we’re from the same area in Western Sydney, maybe a 10 minute drive.”
“And now we’re going to go to Western Sydney, and…” Amini trails off.
And? Win? The pair just share a glance and a laugh – back in harness and ready for the next chapter.
Featured image credit: Tom McCarthy
FIXTURES: CHECK OUT GLORY’S EARLY RUN IN THE 2022-23 A-LEAGUE MEN SEASON
