HE’S a rising star with a penchant for big moments, and an innate ability to make those moments matter.
Marco Tilio is Melbourne City’s teenage star who joined the eventual A-League Champions at the beginning of the 2020/21 season, bringing with him his proven track record for finding the back of the net at youth level for his former side Sydney FC.
Tilio would go on to play a pivotal role in City’s Premiership/Championship triumph in 2020/21 – but on Thursday, July 22 his services were required for a different task: to help guide Australia to a stunning Olympic victory over footballing giants Argentina.
Coming off the bench, Tilio’s impact was swift, efficient and executed with the clinical edge A-League fans have grown used to seeing from the emerging talent making waves both at club and international level. Tilio struck the all-important second goal for Australia in the shock 2-0 win, coming off the bench for Graham Arnold’s side in the 79th minute and striking gold one minute later with his second touch of the game.
Read on as a-league.com.au looks back at some of Tilio’s most pivotal A-League performances to date!
Marco Tilio is the youngest men’s goalscorer for Australia at the Olympic Games.
Yep, you read that right.
19 years 10 months 30 days
or 238 months 30 days
or 1039 weeks 0 days
or 7,273 days
or 174,552 hours
or 10,473,120 minutes
or 628,387,200 seconds#ARGvAUS#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/P3V1rM5SSm
— Subway Socceroos (@Socceroos) July 23, 2021
In the 2019/20 Foxtel Y-League campaign Tilio collected the league’s Golden Boot before netting a brace in Sydney FC’s Grand Final triumph over Melbourne Victory.
Less than one month later Tilio would get his first taste of senior football, debuting in the A-League for the Sky Blues against Central Coast Mariners. 18 years of age at the time of his debut, Tilio entered the contest with Sydney leading 1-0 over the Mariners. His entrance came in the 88th minute, and by second-half stoppage time the Sky Blues had two more goals on the board.
The first was scored by Tilio himself, less than two minutes into his A-League debut. The exciting young prospect then set up Harry Van der Saag for Sydney’s third in a 3-0 win, ending his dream A-League bow with a goal and assist to his name notched in a matter of minutes.
READ: A-League aspirants show their worth on Olympic stage
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6135107030001
Fast-forward to the 2020/21 A-League campaign, and an off-season move from Champions Sydney FC set Tilio a new challenge at a City side heartbroken by Grand Final defeat to the Sky Blues in 2019/20.
Tilio was made to bide his time before getting a regular run in City head coach Patrick Kisnorbo’s side. It was a 10-minute cameo off the bench in a 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix which lit the fuse for his end-of-season heroics.
Tilio proved he was a player Kisnorbo could bank on throughout the second half of the season when he was introduced to his side’s clash with the ‘Nix with scores locked at 2-2.
This time it took the teenager three minutes to make the breakthrough – a long wait in comparison to his similar escapades off the bench. He ghosted into the box to head Scott Galloway’s cross from out wide home, putting City 3-2 ahead and wrapping up the three points in a tough test on the road.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6246672597001
Two games later Tilio showed out for City once more, however his impact was overshadowed by Jamie Maclaren’s five-goal haul in an unforgettable 7-0 destruction of Melbourne Victory.
Tilio didn’t write the headlines on that day, but his half-hour showing would have caught the attention of Kisnorbo, who continually searched for ways his side could improve despite their dominant form throughout the 2020/21 campaign.
One way Kisnorbo got a lift from his side late in the season was to hand Tilio a greater role after his Wellington winner and blistering cameo against Victory. In 27 minutes Tilio notched two assists, won his side a penalty which Maclaren converted and forced a pivotal turnover in midfield to set City on their way to score once more. Tilio was involved in four out of City’s five goals in the second stanza in yet another destructive performance off the bench.
MORE: How every A-League Olyroo fared in Tokyo 2020 triumph over Argentina
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6249255534001
Tilio went on to feature heavily in Kisnorbo’s plans as star striker Maclaren departed for Socceroos duty during the 2020/21 Finals Series. Tilio scored one of two goals in City’s 2-0 Semi Final win over Macarthur FC before impressing in a 3-1 Grand Final win over his former side Sydney FC.
After his Olympic heroics on Thursday night, Tilio continued to show his willingness to take control of whatever situation presented to him, without any fear of the moment at hand.
