Perth Glory recruit Chris Ikonomidis sees the benefit of Italy stint

[Glasgow]

Dynamic winger Chris Ikonomidis has launched his Perth Glory career in spectacular style.

Three games into the season and he is already touted as being back on the Socceroos radar and adding to his six caps.

He was man of the match in Glory’s 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar at nib Stadium on Saturday night, tormenting the visitors’ defence and setting up Andy Keogh’s opening goal.

Sydney-born Ikonomidis spent six years in Italy, mostly in the Lazio system, before returning to Australia for a brief spell at Western Sydney Wanderers and then signing for Glory.

But the 23-year-old, who last played for the Socceroos in 2016, is staying firmly grounded.

“Every player dreams of getting into the Socceroos set-up and that would be a huge honour,” he said. “Right now my focus is just our next game.”

Coach Tony Popovic was cautious about a rapid promotion to international ranks.

“It’s too early to talk about that,” he said.

“We sometimes want to give credit to the players but let’s not straight away talk about Socceroos when someone has one good game.

“You have to work and earn a Socceroos shirt. I think he has potential to be there and he has quality, but there’s work to do and he has to keep improving if he wants to get in there.

“You can see he’s a real talent. He’s a young player, he’ll be a lot better as the year goes on.”

Ikonomidis is combining well with Keogh and his cutback led to the captain’s opening goal.

“We’ve got a good relationship,” Ikonomidis said.

“We talk a lot in training and we’re always coming up with new ideas and movements that we can use.

“He’s an intelligent striker, he has played in big leagues. It’s easy to play alongside him.”

Ikonomidis showed there is more to him than just a winger.

He had a couple of shots from distance and topped the side’s tackle stats.

“I try and find space between the defence and the midfield lines,” he said. “That’s where I’m at my best where I can turn and run at defenders.

“I’ve been in Europe since I was 16 years old so you could say I’m a product of the Italian development system.

“Going through the youth ranks in Italy brings you up with a different technique and philosophy to football.”