A-Leagues All Access is back for episode two on Thursday 26 October in the new, easy to consume short-form format. Visit aleagues.com.au every Thursday, 7.30pm AEDT, for a new episode. Season II continues with Anything is Possible: a look at how Uruguay-born star Bruno Fornaroli became a Socceroo.
If you trawl through Bruno Fornaroli’s past social media activity, there is one image that stands out.
Back in April 2016, Fornaroli shared a photo with then-Melbourne City teammate Aaron Mooy. In the image, the Uruguay-born star is proudly holding one of Mooy’s Socceroos jerseys.
It wasn’t apparent at the time, but speaking on this week’s episode of A-Leagues All Access, the striker explained how this image was actually the start of a joke that eventually turned into reality.
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“I remember I asked Aaron Mooy to bring me one one national team shirt because I love it,” recalled the Melbourne Victory striker, who kicked off the 2023-24 Isuzu UTE A-League season with a goal away to Sydney FC in last weeks’ 2-0 win.
“He gave it to me and I put on the shirt and we start to joke, ‘he will play for Australia’.
“But I remember to call my lawyer in that time and I asked, ‘is there any change, can I play or be available to be selected’ because after of course is the decision of the coach.
“But she said to me it’s not possible, the FIFA rules are like this. You played Under-17s for Uruguay, so you’re not able to play for Australia.”
As the episode’s title suggests, Anything is Possible.
Playing for the Socceroos appeared beyond the realms of possibility for a footballer who was born in the small Uruguayan city of Salto – 503km outside of the capital Montevideo – and had represented his homeland at youth level.
He had also spent his formative years playing alongside legendary figures like Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani.
Fornaroli played for Uruguay’s Under-17s in 2003, meaning he was ineligible to don the Green and Gold due to FIFA rules. That was until the rules changed in 2020.
At the time, he was playing for Perth Glory.
“I remember one day after one game against Adelaide in Perth, I talked with a sport director and I said, ‘look I’m available to play with the national team, what do you think?’,” Fornaroli, who first arrived in Australia in 2015, explains on A-Leagues All Access.
“He said, ‘look I will tell them that you can be selected and of course it’s up to them if they want to call you’.
“Then they start the process you know. One day to the other I received the call from Arnie (Graham Arnold) and now it’s serious. Now it can come true. It was very, very special for me and something I’ll never forget.”
That impossible dream, which started out as a joke with Mooy, became a reality in March last year. Fornaroli was called up for a pair of crucial FIFA Men’s World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia.
He became the oldest debutant in Socceroos history after coming off the bench in a loss to Japan on March 24, 2022 – age 34 and 200 days. His family made the trip to Stadium Australia for the memorable night in Sydney.
Fornaroli also featured in the defeat away to Saudi Arabia in Jeddah four days later.
The story made international headlines and captured the attention of his close friend Luis Suarez – the former Liverpool and Barcelona superstar.
Fornaroli and Suarez first met as young boys pursuing footballing careers at Nacional, one of Uruguay’s biggest clubs.
“We have a group chat with another friends because Luis actually speaks English as well but my other friend doesn’t speak it,” Fornaroli laughed as he spoke. “Sometimes we speak English and then my other friend didn’t realise what we were talking about.
“Actually, he say to me he wants to come one day to visit more places because when he was here with Liverpool against Melbourne Victory, he loved it. Hopefully he can come one day after he stops playing and I can show a little bit of how beautiful this country is.”
Fornaroli is now fourth on the all-time Isuzu UTE A-Leagues goalscoring charts, with his 90th A-Leagues goal moving him level with Archie Thompson after last week’s strike against the Sky Blues.
His exploits Down Under have helped put the A-Leagues on the map. Just look at Suarez.
Mere hours before an El Clasico against Real Madrid in 2018, he and his Barcelona team-mates were watching the Melbourne Derby, when Fornaroli was still a City player.
Fornaroli said: “I received a message from him and I said what are you doing now, you have to play the derby in a couple of hours?
“It was the Melbourne Derby on the TV and he was getting a message.
“He took a picture and and said we are looking at the derby to learn something to show tonight.”
Watch A-Leagues All Access Season 2, Episode 2 on aleagues.com.au from 7:30pm AEDT on Thursday night.
