They are the baby-faced albeit experienced duo who may be timing their run to perfection for club – and country.
Chris Ikonomidis and Matthew Spiranovic’s displays in the 1-0 win away to Perth Glory last Wednesday night signify their growth trajectory, in what have been individually and collectively challenging debut seasons at Melbourne Victory.
The sight of Spiranovic carrying the ball from defence highlighted his growing fitness and confidence levels. And while Ikonomidis, 26, could did not provide anything spectacular for the highlights reel, he worked hard and appears to be edging closer to that breakout performance he is craving.
With the ex-Glory and Socceroos teammates being two of Victory’s most important players, their well-timed runs sets up an all-star Aussie-flavoured showdown against Melbourne City in their final derby meeting of the regular season.
A 20,000-plus crowd is expected at AAMI Park, with City buzzing after a 4-0 mauling of Sydney FC in Wednesday night’s grand final replay, the same night Victory moved into third place with the Glory win.
The 15-point gap is deceiving, with Victory having four games in hand.
“It’s been challenging. Us players, we don’t really get our schedules for the game until a couple of weeks before. The start of the season was blocked quite a lot which means it all got condensed into a few months,” Ikonomidis said.
“Our bodies have been tested with games every few days. You just have to pay extra attention and make sure you’re ready for the games.
“For me personally, I want to be on the pitch as much as possible and perform to help my club Victory and hopefully that translates into getting the opportunity to help the Socceroos get through to the World Cup.”
Victory and City’s two clashes this season have been epic – bumper crowds, and tactically and physically enthralling battles on the pitch, ending in 2-2 and 1-1 draws, a far cry from last season’s 6-0 and 7-0 humiliations for Victory.
Spiranovic, 33, has played 12 games this season, which is more than some may have expected after a two-year hiatus post-Glory.
But his performances, particularly in big games such as the FFA Cup final win over Central Coast, the Asian Champions League clash at Vissel Kobe and both derbies – often with limited preparation – indicates he will play a crucial role in the run home.
He was also sounded out to join the Socceroos for the recent World Cup qualifiers, before they revealed he had COVID.
Speaking after the recent derby stalemate, Spiranovic hinted that he was becoming accustomed to the rigours of regular games once again.
“It’s a little bit sore and sorry at the moment but I’m over the moon to get through these two games (derby and Vissel Kobe), especially with the travel and the fast turnaround. Hopefully onwards and upwards from here and consolidate,” Spiranovic said.
“It was a tough game, they always are. Similar to the last derby, everyone put their bodies on the line. We showed great character. It was a brave effort to hold on.
“The games are coming thick and fast.”
Victory coach Tony Popovic said both players are looking good, a month out from finals.
“Spira’s recovered well from COVID. And see a little turn in Chris and a lot of that is confidence in his body. It’s not the ability, the ability is clearly there,” Popovic said.
“Very similar approach to Marco (Rojas), it’s taken half a season but we’re finally seejng Marco put consecutive 90 minute games together.
“Chris we feel is getting close to that, to start doing that. We can’t force it, we need to try and stay one stap ahead. We sense if there’s some fatigue, we have to take him out, but he’ll get to the point soon where he can run out a full game and show the quality that he has.”
Ikonomidis, who’s had his own injury challenges this season, is hoping to return to the form that helped him lead Glory to the Premier’s Plate and a home grand final in 2019 under Popovic.
He felt momentum was building at Victory in a busy, COVID-affected campaign.
“There’s definitely something at Victory that’s brewing, that’s special this (season). We got a taste of it with the FFA Cup (win). I feel we’re happy with where we are but we’re not entirely happy,” he said.
“We definitely have the squad, and the staff and the club size to be challenging for every title. So I’m expecting a big finish and big few years to come for Victory.
“We’ve got loads and loads of games coming up in the next two months, we’re playing every few days almost with Victory and there’s also some massive national team fixtures coming up.”
City’s schedule is about to get busier, as they depart for the Asian Champions League group stage next week, in Thailand, before returning for the last two games of the regular season then finals.
Whether they retain top spot upon their return to Australia will depend on second-place Western United’s results. Victory will need a near flawless regular season run home to catch City, although Saturday night’s result will be decisive in terms of framing finals advantage in any head-to-head clash.
