Massimo Luongo had a fantastic season with Ipswich Town in 2023. Stuart Watson spoke with the Australian about his recent retirement from international football as well as the Championship promotion race.
Massimo Luongo is pleased that his international career with Australia came to an end on his terms.
The midfielder represented Australia at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. In the interim, he was named to the Ballon d’Or long list after featuring in the Asian Cup-winning campaign in 2015.
Injuries plagued him after joining Sheffield Wednesday in 2019, and he was no longer called up to play for his country. Following a near five-year hiatus, he was ultimately recalled in September after a revitalizing year with Ipswich Town.
The 31-year-old, who has 45 caps including outings against New Zealand and Bangladesh, was slated to compete in the Asian Cup in Qatar this month. Instead, he said that he will devote all of his future efforts to club rather than nation.
“I think after being out for about five years due to injuries and other things, I always thought, ‘I’ve done that and it was brilliant for me, if I get called up again, great, and if I don’t, I’ll just move on and focus on my club career.'” But there was a sensation in my stomach that it wasn’t truly my choice.
“Obviously I did get called up again and it was brilliant. But I’ve got a young family now and the kids are a bit older and they miss me when I’m away. Suddenly, I’m not playing as much as I’d like to for them and I’m away from my family for days or weeks at a time.
“I think it was a good time for me to just call it now and be able to relax and not stress about it. I can focus on my football here, my club football going forward, my family and just support them as I’ve always done. I was able to go out how I wanted to.”
When asked if he was concerned about losing his place in a Town squad that was soaring high at the top of the Championship table, Luongo said, “Yes and no.” Coming back from the Asian Cup in February and trying to catch up with everyone was definitely on my mind. I believe I’m at an age where I can’t afford to take my foot off the throttle, especially for this management.
“I’ve been to two Asian Cups; I played in the first (in 2015) but did not play in the second (in 2019).” I returned to the one I played in, and despite my youth, I was fatigued by the conclusion of the season.
My body just wasn’t what it was at the start of the season. The second one, when I wasn’t playing, I came back unfit.
“If I went away for four or five weeks, whatever it is, I don’t play, we don’t really train, and I come back and I’m having to catch up for at least a week, let’s say, maybe two weeks… In those two weeks, who knows, they (Ipswich) could have brought in a midfielder and the boys could be flying. I’d be happy to do my part in that scenario but I don’t think I could do my part off the bench if I wasn’t fully fit.”
Luongo arrived on trial with Ipswich soon before Christmas 2022, having not played a single minute for Middlesbrough during a three-month stint. After showing his fitness, he signed a short-term contract and had established himself in the team by February. In less than a year, his starting record in a squad vying for back-to-back promotions to the Premier League is an astounding W24 D8 L2.
“I think teams are levelling out now,” said Luongo, whose highest Championship finish has been 12th with QPR (15/16).
“You see Southampton are coming up – they’re on fire at the moment – and Leeds, Leicester are there. The teams that you would have probably said pre-season would be up there are up there.
“We’re probably the dark horses a little bit. There are clubs in the top six that would have been on someone’s automatic promotion list – West Brom, Sunderland and teams like that.
“It’s a tough league and always has been. My experience of this division is that getting into the top six and top two is so damned hard. Staying there, I’ve been told, is even harder and you can feel the other teams coming from behind and trying to catch us up.
“It’s just up to us to be just as good every week and keep the consistency up.”
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