Massimo Luongo

Massimo Corey Luongo (/ˈmæsɪmoʊ luˈɒŋɡoʊ/ MASS-ih-moh loo-ONG-goh;[3][4] born 25 September 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Sheffield Wednesday[5] and the Australian national team.

Massimo Luongo

Luongo with Australia in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Massimo Corey Luongo[1]
Date of birth	(1992-09-25) 25 September 1992[1]
Place of birth	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Sheffield Wednesday
Number	21
Youth career
2004–2010	APIA Leichhardt Tigers
2011	Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2013	Tottenham Hotspur	0	(0)
2012	→ Ipswich Town (loan)	9	(0)
2013	→ Swindon Town (loan)	7	(1)
2013	→ Swindon Town (loan)	5	(2)
2013–2015	Swindon Town	76	(10)
2015–2019	Queens Park Rangers	145	(10)
2019–	Sheffield Wednesday	27	(3)
National team^‡
2014–	Australia	43	(6)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:27, 22 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 January 2019

Born in Sydney, Luongo played youth football for APIA Leichhardt Tigers before moving to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur, where he started his professional career. Following a loan spell at Ipswich Town, he played on loan at Swindon Town, a move which was eventually made permanent. He joined current club Sheffield Wednesday in 2019.

Luongo has played for the Australia national team since 2014 and has made 34 appearances. He was a member of the squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and played a central role in Australia winning the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where he scored in the final and was named player of the tournament.

Early life

Luongo was born in Sydney. His father Mario is of Italian heritage and mother Ira Luongo is of Indonesian heritage. He attended Waverley College. He is the youngest of three children; he has a sister Angela and a brother Tiziano.[6] In addition to holding an Australian passport, Luongo also has an Italian passport.[7]

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Luongo signed for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2011 after impressing on trial, and went on to make nine appearances for the under-18 team during the 2010–11 Premier Academy League season, scoring three goals. He made his only appearance for the first team on 20 September 2011 in a 7–6 penalty shootout loss to fellow Premier League club Stoke City in the third round of the League Cup, replacing Sandro after 70 minutes. Luongo had his penalty attempt saved by Thomas Sørensen, resulting in the defeat.[8]

On 6 February 2012, he was called up to a league match for the first time, remaining an unused substitute as Tottenham earned a goalless draw away to Liverpool.[9] Thirteen days later he was included in the squad for the last time, again unused in a goalless FA Cup fifth round match away to League One team Stevenage.[10]

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 23 July 2012, Luongo joined Championship side Ipswich Town on a season-long loan for the 2012–13 season.[11] He made his debut on 14 August in the first round of the League Cup, playing the entirety of a 3–1 win over League Two club Bristol Rovers at Portman Road.[12] Four days later he played his first professional league game, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Blackburn Rovers and making way for Andy Drury after 70 minutes.[13] On 28 August, in the second round of the League Cup against Carlisle United at Brunton Park, he scored from outside the penalty area to put Ipswich ahead with his first professional goal, but Carlisle scored a late equaliser and won 2–1 after extra time.[14]

The loan was terminated on 9 November after new Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy said that he wanted a 'different type of player'.[15]

Swindon Town

On 28 March 2013, Luongo signed for Swindon Town on loan along with fellow Spurs trainees Nathan Byrne and Dean Parrett.[16] The very next day he went straight into the squad to face Oldham Athletic and play the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at the County Ground.[17] On 16 April, Luongo scored his first goal for Swindon in a 4–1 win over Crewe Alexandra, heading in Gary Roberts' cross.[18] He opened the scoring on 4 May in the 70th minute of the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Brentford, but in added time conceded a penalty by fouling Harry Forrester; Kevin O'Connor converted it for a 1–1 draw.[19] Swindon eventually lost the tie in a penalty shootout.

Luongo signed a season-long loan deal with Swindon Town on 2 July 2013 and was handed the number 4 shirt.[20]

At the end of August 2013, Swindon signed Luongo on a permanent three-year contract having agreed a fee of £400,000 with Spurs.[21] He scored six goals in 44 league appearances that season, including a first professional brace in a 5–2 home win over Port Vale on 2 November.[22] In the following campaign, he got just as many goals but in 34 matches, as Swindon lost the play-off final to Preston North End at Wembley Stadium.

Queens Park Rangers

Luongo in 2016

On 28 May 2015, Luongo joined Queens Park Rangers, along with Swindon Town teammate Ben Gladwin, both signing a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported to be £3.5 million.[23] QPR head coach Chris Ramsey was Luongo's youth coach at Tottenham.[24] He made his debut in the first game of the Championship season on 8 August, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 defeat at Charlton Athletic.[25] Luongo played 30 league games in his first season – 32 overall – but did not score. His performances earned him a place on the FIFA Ballon d'Or longlist for the 2015 campaign.[26]

He scored his first goal for QPR in a 5–1 win over Rotherham United on 18 March 2017.[27] Following Nedum Onouha's ruptured hamstring injury that November, Luongo was handed the responsibility of captaincy.[28]

International career

Luongo playing for Australia at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

Being able to play for both Australia, Indonesia and Italy, he chose to represent his birth country, Australia.

Luongo represented the Australian under-20 team twice but was not selected for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[29]

He made his debut for the Socceroos on 6 March 2014 as a second-half substitute for captain Mile Jedinak in the 3–4 loss to Ecuador at The New Den in London.[30] He was selected for the 23-man Australia squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil by manager Ange Postecoglou,[31] but did not feature in any of their three matches as they were eliminated in the group stage.

Luongo was also selected in the 23-man squad for the Asia Cup to be played on home soil in Australia.[32] Swindon teammate Yaser Kasim was also called up for his home nation Iraq, meaning that the club would have to compete in their regular League One season without the two central midfielders for a month. He went on to score in Australia's 4–1 win over Kuwait in the opening game of the tournament, in addition to providing the assist that led to Tim Cahill scoring Australia's first goal of the match.[33] At the end of the game, he was named as man of the match.[34] Luongo also started in Australia's second group game against Oman, providing the assist for Robbie Kruse to score Australia's second goal in an eventual 4–0 win. He played in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final against South Korea, scoring the first goal from outside the box in a 2–1 win.[35] He was named as Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring two goals and assisting four throughout the tournament.[36]

In May 2018 he was named in Australia's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[37]

Career statistics

Club

As of 22 July 2020[38]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Tottenham Hotspur	2011–12	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Ipswich Town (loan)	2012–13	Championship	9	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	11	1
Swindon Town	2012–13	League One	7	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	9	1
	2013–14		44	6	1	0	3	0	5	0	53	6
	2014–15		37	6	1	0	2	0	2	0	42	6
	Swindon total		88	13	2	0	5	0	9	0	104	13
Queens Park Rangers	2015–16	Championship	30	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
	2016–17		35	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	38	1
	2017–18		36	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	6
	2018–19		41	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	41	3
	QPR total		142	10	2	0	3	0	0	0	147	10
Sheffield Wednesday	2019–20	Championship	27	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	30	3
	Sheffield Wednesday total		27	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	30	3
Career total			266	26	5	0	13	1	9	0	293	27

International

As of 15 January 2019[39]

Australia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2014	5	0
2015	12	2
2016	7	3
2017	8	0
2018	7	1
2019	3	0
Total	42	6

International goals

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first.[39]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	9 January 2015	Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Kuwait	2–1	4–1	2015 AFC Asian Cup
2.	31 January 2015	Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia	South Korea	1–0	2–1 (a.e.t.)
3.	24 March 2016	Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia	Tajikistan	1–0	7–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.	29 March 2016	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Jordan	5–0	5–1
5.	1 September 2016	Perth Oval, Perth, Australia	Iraq	1–0	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.	17 November 2018	Lang Park, Brisbane, Australia	South Korea	1–1	1–1	Friendly

Honours

Australia

• AFC Asian Cup: 2015[35]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2014–15 League One[40]
• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 2015[36]
• AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2015[41]

References

1. "FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017: List of players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 2 July 2017. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
2. "Massimo Luongo". socceroos.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
3. AFC Asian Cup (31 January 2015), Most Valuable Player presented by Toyota: Massimo Luongo, retrieved 17 November 2017
4. AFC Asian Cup (31 January 2015), Most Valuable Player presented by Toyota: Massimo Luongo, retrieved 17 November 2017
5. "Owls land Massimo Luongo!". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
6. "Asian Cup 2015: Massimo Luongo keeping Indonesia on edge with exploits for Socceroos". Herald Sun. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
7. Davutovic, David (17 February 2015). "Socceroos rankings rise leads young stars to English Premier League". The Australian. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
8. Rej, Arindam (20 September 2011). "Stoke 0–0 Tottenham (7–6 pens)". BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
9. McNulty, Phil (6 February 2012). "Liverpool 0–0 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
10. McNulty, Phil (19 February 2012). "Stevenage 0–0 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
11. "Spurs Midfielder Massimo Luongo Signs For Town". EADT. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
12. "Ipswich 3–1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
13. "Ipswich 1–1 Blackburn". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
14. "Cumbrians claim cup victory". Sky Sports. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
15. "Ipswich Town end Massimo Luongo loan from Tottenham Hotspur". Sports Mole Limited. 10 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
16. "MASSIMO, DEAN, NATHAN JOIN SWINDON ON LOAN". tottenhamhotspur.com. Tottenham Hotspur. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
17. "Swindon 1 – 1 Oldham". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
18. "Swindon 4–1 Crewe". BBC Sport. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
19. "Bees snatch late draw at Swindon". Sky Sports. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
20. "Tottenham's Massimo Luongo and Grant Hall join Swindon". BBC Sport. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
21. "Luongo signs permanent deal". Swindon Town FC. 31 August 2013.
22. "Five-star Robins rock Vale". Sky Sports. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
23. "QPR complete double signing of Swindon youngsters Massimo Luongo and Ben Gladwin on three-year deals". Daily Mail. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
24. "Midfielder Massimo Luongo joins QPR from Swindon". BBC Sport. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
25. "Charlton 2–0 QPR". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
26. "Socceroo Massimo Luongo on Ballon d'Or nomination: It's a bit random". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
27. "QPR 5–1 Rotherham". BBC Sport. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
28. "QPR, Championship, Massimo Luongo: Captaincy, 'I don't let anyone get away with anything'". Fox Sports. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
29. "Holger Osieck names Qantas Socceroos Squad for Germany Match". the real game. 15 March 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
30. "Tim Cahill goes top as Socceroos implode".
31. "Australia unveil final 23-man squad". RTÉ Sport. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
32. "Socceroos unveil 23-man Asian Cup squad". 22 December 2014.
33. Kerr, Jack (9 January 2015). "Australia recover from slow start to beat Kuwait in Asian Cup opener". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
34. "Australia 4–1 Kuwait". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
35. "Australia beat South Korea after extra time". BBC Sport. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
36. "Australia's Massimo Luongo named Asian Cup's most valuable player". The Guardian. 31 January 2015.
37. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced? - Goal.com".
38. Massimo Luongo at Soccerway
39. "Massimo Luongo". NFT. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
40. "League One Team of the Year: Five Bristol City players selected". BBC Sport. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
41. "Four S. Koreans named to team of tournament at AFC Asian Cup". Yonhap. 2 February 2015.

External links

• Tottenham Hotspur profile
• Massimo Luongo at Soccerbase
• Massimo Luongo Interview
• Massimo Luongo Interview with The Guardian