I played with Harry Kane and was nominated for Ballon d’Or alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – now I’m targeting Premier League return
Getting nominated for the Ballon d’Or while playing for Swindon in League One left Massimo Luongo, understandably, thinking it was a prank.
When the long-list for football’s most prestigious individual award was leaked in 2015, the Australian wasn’t the only one thinking his presence was a rather odd stitch up.
However, it soon turned out that the 59-player long-list was legitimate, and Luongo had made it on thanks to his AFC Asian Cup-winning exploits with the Socceroos.
“I didn’t even know if it was real, I thought it was someone trying to be funny,” he said.
“It’s obviously a big honour, not many people get on it, I can say I’ve been on the Ballon d’Or list now. I don’t know what to say about it… it’s a bit random.”
Admittedly out of place on a list that included Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, his youth career saw the now 31-year-old alongside a current Ballon d’Or contender, Harry Kane.
The pair came through at Tottenham’s academy before respective loan spells, but it wasn’t really until the 2015 tournament that Luongo started to find his feet under Ange Postecoglou with his nation.
Being named the player of the tournament and earning a move to QPR, Luongo has been one to watch in the Football League ever since, and now may be reaching his pinnacle.
Stints with Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesborough were followed by an arrival at his current home in Ipswich where things are going rather well.
Only promoted to the Championship this season, the Tractor Boys are now pushing for a top flight return, and understandably most of the plaudits are for manager and former Manchester United assistant Kieran McKenna.
The Northern Irishman was happy to pass some of that off to Luongo, though, especially after the Sydney native was
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