Massimo Luongo

Massimo Corey Luongo (/ˈmæsɪmoʊ luˈɒŋɡoʊ/ MASS-ih-moh loo-ONG-goh;[4][5] born 25 September 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Sheffield Wednesday[6] and the Australian national team.

Massimo Luongo
Luongo with Australia in 2018
Personal information
Full name Massimo Corey Luongo[1]
Date of birth (1992-09-25) 25 September 1992[2]
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Sheffield Wednesday
Number 21
Youth career
2004–2010 APIA Leichhardt Tigers
2011 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Tottenham Hotspur 0 (0)
2012 → Ipswich Town (loan) 9 (0)
2013 → Swindon Town (loan) 7 (1)
2013 → Swindon Town (loan) 5 (2)
2013–2015 Swindon Town 76 (10)
2015–2019 Queens Park Rangers 145 (10)
2019– Sheffield Wednesday 39 (3)
National team‡
2014– Australia 43 (6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:13, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 January 2019

Born in Sydney, Luongo played youth football for APIA Leichhardt Tigers before moving to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur, where he started his professional career. Following a loan spell at Ipswich Town, he played on loan at Swindon Town, a move which was eventually made permanent. He joined current club Sheffield Wednesday in 2019.

Luongo has played for the Australia national team since 2014 and has made 34 appearances. He was a member of the squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and played a central role in Australia winning the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where he scored in the final and was named player of the tournament.

Early life

Luongo was born in Sydney. His father Mario is of Italian heritage and mother Ira Luongo is of Indonesian heritage. He attended Waverley College. He is the youngest of three children; he has a sister Angela and a brother Tiziano.[7] In addition to holding an Australian passport, Luongo also has an Italian passport.[8]

According to Luongo himself, his maternal late great grandfather was Sultan Ambela Abu'l-Khair Sirajuddin of Bima Sultanate based in Sumbawa, this qualified him to represent Indonesia, even though he was never selected for the Garuda.[7]

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Luongo signed for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2011 after impressing on trial, and went on to make nine appearances for the under-18 team during the 2010–11 Premier Academy League season, scoring three goals. He made his only appearance for the first team on 20 September 2011 in a 7–6 penalty shootout loss to fellow Premier League club Stoke City in the third round of the League Cup, replacing Sandro after 70 minutes. Luongo had his penalty attempt saved by Thomas Sørensen, resulting in the defeat.[9]

On 6 February 2012, he was called up to a league match for the first time, remaining an unused substitute as Tottenham earned a goalless draw away to Liverpool.[10] Thirteen days later he was included in the squad for the last time, again unused in a goalless FA Cup fifth round match away to League One team Stevenage.[11]

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 23 July 2012, Luongo joined Championship side Ipswich Town on a season-long loan for the 2012–13 season.[12] He made his debut on 14 August in the first round of the League Cup, playing the entirety of a 3–1 win over League Two club Bristol Rovers at Portman Road.[13] Four days later he played his first professional league game, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Blackburn Rovers and making way for Andy Drury after 70 minutes.[14] On 28 August, in the second round of the League Cup against Carlisle United at Brunton Park, he scored from outside the penalty area to put Ipswich ahead with his first professional goal, but Carlisle scored a late equaliser and won 2–1 after extra time.[15]

The loan was terminated on 9 November after new Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy said that he wanted a 'different type of player'.[16]

Swindon Town

On 28 March 2013, Luongo signed for Swindon Town on loan along with fellow Spurs trainees Nathan Byrne and Dean Parrett.[17] The very next day he went straight into the squad to face Oldham Athletic and play the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at the County Ground.[18] On 16 April, Luongo scored his first goal for Swindon in a 4–1 win over Crewe Alexandra, heading in Gary Roberts' cross.[19] He opened the scoring on 4 May in the 70th minute of the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Brentford, but in added time conceded a penalty by fouling Harry Forrester; Kevin O'Connor converted it for a 1–1 draw.[20] Swindon eventually lost the tie in a penalty shootout.

Luongo signed a season-long loan deal with Swindon Town on 2 July 2013 and was handed the number 4 shirt.[21]

At the end of August 2013, Swindon signed Luongo on a permanent three-year contract having agreed a fee of £400,000 with Spurs.[22] He scored six goals in 44 league appearances that season, including a first professional brace in a 5–2 home win over Port Vale on 2 November.[23] In the following campaign, he got just as many goals but in 34 matches, as Swindon lost the play-off final to Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

Queens Park Rangers
Luongo in 2016

On 28 May 2015, Luongo joined Queens Park Rangers, along with Swindon Town teammate Ben Gladwin, both signing a three-year deal.[24] QPR head coach Chris Ramsey was Luongo's youth coach at Tottenham.[25] He made his debut in the first game of the Championship season on 8 August, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 defeat at Charlton Athletic.[26] Luongo played 30 league games in his first season – 32 overall – but did not score. His performances earned him a place on the FIFA Ballon d'Or longlist for the 2015 campaign.[27]

He scored his first goal for QPR in a 5–1 win over Rotherham United on 18 March 2017.[28] Following Nedum Onouha's ruptured hamstring injury that November, Luongo was handed the responsibility of captaincy.[29]

International career
Luongo playing for Australia at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

Being able to play for Australia, Indonesia and Italy, he chose to represent his birth country, Australia.

Luongo represented the Australian under-20 team twice but was not selected for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[30]

He made his debut for the Socceroos on 6 March 2014 as a second-half substitute for captain Mile Jedinak in the 3–4 loss to Ecuador at The New Den in London.[31] He was selected for the 23-man Australia squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil by manager Ange Postecoglou,[32] but did not feature in any of their three matches as they were eliminated in the group stage.

Luongo was also selected in the 23-man squad for the Asia Cup to be played on home soil in Australia.[33] Swindon teammate Yaser Kasim was also called up for his home nation Iraq, meaning that the club would have to compete in their regular League One season without the two central midfielders for a month. He went on to score in Australia's 4–1 win over Kuwait in the opening game of the tournament, in addition to providing the assist that led to Tim Cahill scoring Australia's first goal of the match.[34] At the end of the game, he was named as man of the match.[35] Luongo also started in Australia's second group game against Oman, providing the assist for Robbie Kruse to score Australia's second goal in an eventual 4–0 win. He played in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final against South Korea, scoring the first goal from outside the box in a 2–1 win.[36] He was named as Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring two goals and assisting four throughout the tournament.[37]

In May 2018 he was named in Australia's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[38]

Career statistics

Club
As of 2 February 2021[39]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tottenham Hotspur 2011–12 Premier League 0000100010
Ipswich Town (loan) 2012–13 Championship 90002100111
Swindon Town 2012–13 League One 7100002091
2013–14 446103050536
2014–15 376102020426
Swindon total881320509010413
Queens Park Rangers 2015–16 Championship 300101000320
2016–17 351102000381
2017–18 366000000366
2018–19 413000000413
QPR total1421020300014710
Sheffield Wednesday 2019–20 Championship 273102000303
2020–21 120001000130
Sheffield Wednesday total393103000433
Career total 27826501419030627

International
As of 15 January 2019[40]
Australia national team
YearAppsGoals
201450
2015122
201673
201780
201871
201930
Total426
Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first.[40]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.9 January 2015Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia Kuwait2–14–12015 AFC Asian Cup
2.31 January 2015Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia South Korea1–02–1 (a.e.t.)
3.24 March 2016Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia Tajikistan1–07–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.29 March 2016Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia Jordan5–05–1
5.1 September 2016Perth Oval, Perth, Australia Iraq1–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.17 November 2018Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia South Korea1–11–1Friendly

Honours

Australia

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Sheffield Wednesday" (PDF). English Football League. p. 63. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  2. "FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017: List of players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 2 July 2017. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. "Massimo Luongo". socceroos.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  4. AFC Asian Cup (31 January 2015), Most Valuable Player presented by Toyota: Massimo Luongo, retrieved 17 November 2017
  5. AFC Asian Cup (31 January 2015), Most Valuable Player presented by Toyota: Massimo Luongo, retrieved 17 November 2017
  6. "Owls land Massimo Luongo!". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  7. "Asian Cup 2015: Massimo Luongo keeping Indonesia on edge with exploits for Socceroos". Herald Sun. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  8. Davutovic, David (17 February 2015). "Socceroos rankings rise leads young stars to English Premier League". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  9. Rej, Arindam (20 September 2011). "Stoke 0–0 Tottenham (7–6 pens)". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  10. McNulty, Phil (6 February 2012). "Liverpool 0–0 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  11. McNulty, Phil (19 February 2012). "Stevenage 0–0 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  12. "Spurs Midfielder Massimo Luongo Signs For Town". EADT. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  13. "Ipswich 3–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  14. "Ipswich 1–1 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  15. "Cumbrians claim cup victory". Sky Sports. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  16. "Ipswich Town end Massimo Luongo loan from Tottenham Hotspur". Sports Mole Limited. 10 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  17. "MASSIMO, DEAN, NATHAN JOIN SWINDON ON LOAN". tottenhamhotspur.com. Tottenham Hotspur. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  18. "Swindon 1 – 1 Oldham". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  19. "Swindon 4–1 Crewe". BBC Sport. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  20. "Bees snatch late draw at Swindon". Sky Sports. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  21. "Tottenham's Massimo Luongo and Grant Hall join Swindon". BBC Sport. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  22. "Luongo signs permanent deal". Swindon Town FC. 31 August 2013.
  23. "Five-star Robins rock Vale". Sky Sports. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
  24. "QPR sign Swindon's Massimo Luongo and Ben Gladwin". Sky Sports. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  25. "Midfielder Massimo Luongo joins QPR from Swindon". BBC Sport. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  26. "Charlton 2–0 QPR". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  27. "Socceroo Massimo Luongo on Ballon d'Or nomination: It's a bit random". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  28. "QPR 5–1 Rotherham". BBC Sport. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  29. "QPR, Championship, Massimo Luongo: Captaincy, 'I don't let anyone get away with anything'". Fox Sports. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  30. "Holger Osieck names Qantas Socceroos Squad for Germany Match". the real game. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  31. "Tim Cahill goes top as Socceroos implode".
  32. "Australia unveil final 23-man squad". RTÉ Sport. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  33. "Socceroos unveil 23-man Asian Cup squad". 22 December 2014.
  34. Kerr, Jack (9 January 2015). "Australia recover from slow start to beat Kuwait in Asian Cup opener". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  35. "Australia 4–1 Kuwait". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  36. "Australia beat South Korea after extra time". BBC Sport. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  37. "Australia's Massimo Luongo named Asian Cup's most valuable player". The Guardian. 31 January 2015.
  38. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced? - Goal.com".
  39. Massimo Luongo at Soccerway
  40. "Massimo Luongo". NFT. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  41. "League One Team of the Year: Five Bristol City players selected". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  42. "Four S. Koreans named to team of tournament at AFC Asian Cup". Yonhap. 2 February 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.