Starting for Socceroos in the Asian Cup an ‘amazing feeling’ for Fornaroli

Striker Bruno Fornaroli was handed his first start at this Asian Cup in Australia's 4-0 Round of 16 win over Indonesia on Sunday.

For the 36-year-old talisman it was a very proud moment, and he was pleased to be involved in the win.

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“Amazing feeling, I was happy to have the opportunity to start today, I think we did a great job, great win for us, we’re not going home we're going to stay here and make history for our country,” he said.

“I'm very proud and I think the lads today played good football, and we found a way to win another game.”

The match itself was a very physical affair as both sides went hard into every challenge throughout the ninety minutes.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1751555207522295866

Fornaroli said that didn’t bother the Socceroos as they are able to match that style of play.

“We put everything that we can, both teams have passion and we tried to fight for every single ball, even to the limit sometimes, it's very, very close and risky but we are here, we want to win and that's the way we have to play,” he said.

Whilst not scoring in the match, Fornaroli said sometimes the role of the striker is to bring teammates into the game more by opening space in the front third.

He added that this was somewhat expected going into the match and is a role he is happy to take on, although he is still dreaming of his first goal in the green and gold.

“Sometimes the game demands different things for me or for the striker, and in the end, there was one key chance for Duke tonight and that come in only the last 10 minutes, so sometimes we play a different role,” he said.

“Even if we are we are number nine, it doesn't matter, we are here to win, doesn't matter if we score, but I still believe my time will come in the national team so I will keep believing every single game.”

AFC ASIAN CUP QATAR 2023™ QUARTER FINAL

Every AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 match will be live on Paramount+