When the draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup™ was revealed in Santiago in late May, Paul Okon-Engstler couldn’t quite believe how things broke.
Australia’s silky string-puller has a father with Italian roots while his mother is Cuban so when the draw, amazingly, grouped those three nations in the same section it set off all sorts of emotions.
“Exactly, exactly that, it was amazing. I was really hoping we would draw Cuba and Italy and it turned out that I got exactly what I wished for. Hopefully, I’ll be involved in those matches and get to play against two countries of my heritage.”
Being involved should be something of a given for the midfield dynamo who was among the tournament’s best as Australia downed Saudi Arabia to win the AFC U-20 Asian Cup earlier this year and qualify for the global youth showpiece. That positions the Young Socceroos as the leading light from a continent that consistently produces title contenders.
Indeed, an AFC nation has reached at least the semi-finals at four of the past five editions and Okon-Engstler is full of belief that Australia can maintain that record.
“I’ll be honest, I think if we play to our maximum capabilities then we can match up and beat any team, any country in the world. There’s no way we’re going to the World Cup thinking we’ve got a tough group and that’s it.
“We’re here with the thinking that if we play to our best, we can beat any of these countries. There’s not the thought that just because we’re from Australia we can’t be competitive and hopefully we’re able to prove that in Chile.”
That’s a mentality that head coach Trevor Morgan has been determined to instil in the side. Not only is there a fearless belief that Australia can go toe-to-toe with any opponent but he also encourages the side to play positively. That attitude of looking to push forward and set the tempo of the game is one that Okon-Engstler appreciates and which he feels suits the side’s temperament.
“The Asian Cup earlier this year really showed what we can do. That whole month is one I’ll never forget and probably the best month of my life. Going into the tournament, there was a lot of pressure on us to qualify because we hadn’t done it for so long.
“We have a lot of strong personalities in the team, which is good and if we combine those personalities together, we’re able to be a very strong and an aggressive team, which is what we want to be. We want to play forward, to be aggressive and I think if we do that, we give ourselves the best chance of winning.”
Winning at this level is something that the Young Socceroos haven’t done at all of late, having failed to qualify for the past four editions. In another full-circle moment for Okon-Engstler the last time that Australia were at an U-20 World Cup, his father, Paul, was the head coach.
That came back in 2013, half a decade after he had concluded a fine playing career that saw him earn 28 Socceroos caps and play in the top flight of the English, Italian and Belgian leagues.
Okon-Engstler is proud of the career his father, now the assistant national coach, had but insists he wanted to forge his own path in the game. With three younger brothers, including Italy U-16 international Gianluca – all in the academy set-up at Belgian side Club Brugge, where he also spent three formative years, football very clearly flows in the family veins.
“I was born in Belgium so that’s a country that is also very close to my heart and I’m the oldest of the four boys so we were always playing. I think a lot of my [technical qualities] come from that time, always having a good relationship with the ball, with different movements and manipulations and then as you get older you just become more and more comfortable.
“With my father also being a player, people think it’s natural to follow that same path but it wasn’t like that. He gave me and my brothers the option of being footballers but made it clear that there’s no half-in, half-out.
“The expectation was that if we were going to do it then we had to do it properly and give everything we had. If not, then we were free to find something else to do.”
That something else will have to wait now, as Okon-Engstler stands at the beginning of what promises to be a long career. At home in a deeper central role, the 20-year-old possesses superb technical qualities and a real comfort on the ball that will see him as the beating heartbeat of the Young Socceroos midfield.
Having recently left Portuguese giants Benfica to return to Australia, he’s also set to feature in his homeland for the first time, wearing the sky blue kit of Sydney FC when the new A-League season begins in October, which is another challenge to savour.
“I had the option to stay in Europe but I think that at this moment in my career, the chance I’ve been given by Sydney to come and play for the biggest club in Australia was the best next step for my development. I see it as a move forward as I’m trying to develop more as a player, and I think Sydney is the perfect place to do that.
“For now though the focus is on Chile and really going as far as we can at this World Cup and showing the world what Australia can do at this level.”
