From Scot to Socceroo in months
FOOTBALL: Had you suggested a few months back that Martin Boyle would soon be playing for a country he’d never been to, he would have laughed in your face.
But then, the lean, bearded son of a Balmain-born truck driver stumbled upon a nation offering a path to a fruitful international career.
After his two goals and an assist against Lebanon on Tuesday night in his Socceroos debut, the Hibernian flyer has no intention of looking back.
“If someone told me this was going to happen five months ago I would have laughed at you,” Boyle said.
“I’m really privileged the point I’m at and I’ll keep working hard ... and I can only get better.”
Aside from his goals, Boyle’s pace added an element of unpredictability to Graham Arnold’s new attacking system. “It felt natural,” Boyle said. “Arnie just said to go out there and do my best ... don’t try and do anything spectacular, just play my normal game.
“That’s what I did. I like to be positive, take players on and score goals. I’m out here to do a job and represent the country and I’ll give 110 per cent every time I step on that field.”
Arnold watched Boyle train with his club during a September visit to see teammates Mark Milligan and Jamie Maclaren in Edinburgh, and witnessed enough to sell the Scottish 25year-old the Australian dream.
That Boyle’s phone is “blowing up with messages” of support from Scotland tells him he’s made the right move.
“My fiancee is flooding with tears, she’s proud,” he said.
“I’ve got a nine-week-old baby at home and my daughter is extremely proud as well.
“When I get on the flight home it’ll all just come flooding back, but I’m extremely proud to represent this country.”