Nani has tasted all kinds of football culture. From Portugal and England, to Italy, Turkey and the United States.
The Manchester United and Portugal great is now experiencing football in Australia via Melbourne Victory.
And after Saturday night’s season-opening triumph over rivals Sydney FC, Victory’s marquee man insists there is a serious appetite for football Down Under.
“I like the environment here. People say that there is no culture here about the football – but it’s not true,” said Nani, who was mobbed by a couple of selfie-seeking young Victory fans during his post-match TV interview at Allianz Stadium.
“Everywhere I go, everywhere I walk, people recognise me, people ask for photos and it’s nice.
“It was nice to see the kids running on the field. Obviously the security doesn’t like (it) but this is the passion of the game.
“So when you see that, we need to put ourselves in that position because we’ve all been that – one day we were kids and we wanted to do that as well.”
Nani’s A-League Men debut delivered an assist, a viral change room celebration and kids gatecrashing his interview but the four-time Premier League champion says he’s just getting warmed up.
He made an eye-catching appearance in the Victory’s dramatic 3-2 away win over the Sky Blues in Sydney last week, including a sumptuous assist for Chris Ikonomidis.
Nani will be keen to open his Isuzu UTE A-League account in his first home appearance against Western Sydney Wanderers this Saturday at AAMI Park.
“My main target for the moment is to be able to play every single game and start getting my confidence back and and then be more connected with the team,” Nani told reporters.
“Because it’s not easy, I just arrived in the club.
“The more you play, the more the players know you, the more you know the players and then the routines will be much more easy.
“Naturally when that happens, the goals and assists they will appear.
“I’m not really very happy because I did one assist – obviously I want much more and I know I need to work harder than what I did in the last game and that’s the target.”
Nani delighted in team-mate Ikonomidis’ impressive cameo and expected the goals to flow for Victory.
“Obviously we want to be a team who can score goals, who can create a lot of chances,” he said.
“We’ve been doing that and we showed that in the last game.”
The 35-year-old has already shown his personality off the pitch.
On Saturday, broadcast cameras captured Nani dancing and revelling in Victory’s post-match dressing room celebrations, dressed only in his undies.
“That was a derby, so when you win the derby you need to celebrate – and especially when it’s in that way,” he said with a grin.
Nani is set to star in the first episode of A-Leagues All Access airing Thursday 7.30pm AEDT on 10 Play and KEEPUP, following the star Victory marquee’s move Down Under, and first taste of Isuzu UTE A-League action in Saturday’s Big Blue.
