Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Marcus Neill is proud to have an iconic Socceroos name on the back of his shirt but dares to dream of forging his own path.
The son of former Socceroos skipper and Premier League defender Lucas is a promising striker who recently signed his first professional contract with Sunderland.
Now, the 18-year-old is set to lead the line for the Young Socceroos in U20 Asian Cup qualifiers against Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia, starting on Monday night in Vientiane.
“It’s a real big driver, trying to create my own journey and my own pathway,” Neill told AAP.
“But I also do feel proud to be the son of my dad and I want to follow his footsteps and hopefully more.
“But I want to drive my own journey and I’m a different type of player so it’s not gonna be Lucas Neill times two.
“He was obviously a defender and I’m gonna be something different hopefully.”
Marcus was only six when his father retired in 2014.
“I don’t remember watching him as a kid but I used to search him up like every other player,” he said.
“I used to watch all of his highlights.”
Neill has also seen the contentious penalty his father conceded to Italy’s Fabio Grosso at the 2006 World Cup.
“I think he was hard done by,” Neill said, then added, jokingly: “Maybe I would have gone down.”
Neill soaks up advice his father, who played against “all types of strikers” gives him – be it watching clips of his own game, learning about football’s “dark arts” or getting his diet right.
Explosive striker Neill is also inspired by players like Fernando Torres, Joao and competitive “animal” Jamie Vardy.
“I’m just hungry as ever and I go out every game like it’s my last and I just give 100 per cent always wanting to score,” Neill said.
“I’m obsessed with winning.”
Australia teammate Archie Trimboli, on the books at Brentford, also has a unique perspective.
The right-back is the son of prolific agent Frank Trimboli, who represents multiple top footballers – and managers like Ange Postecoglou.
“He (Postecoglou) was really supportive when I told him that I was representing Australia,” Trimboli said.
“He just said good luck and all the best and he’ll be supporting from Saudi.”
Both players understand the platform of youth international football, having seen Socceroos sensation Lucas Herrington’s rise to the World Cup and the Premier League at 18.
“Playing with Lucas two years ago, I could see his hunger and attitude and his hard work like any other player – so I think it can happen to anyone,” Neill said.
Trimboli added: “Showing that us Aussies have that real quality that can be right at the top level of the game is really inspiring, especially for a young player like myself.”
But first, Neill and Trimboli will tackle these qualifiers – then ideally next year’s Asian Cup, which doubles as qualifying for the U20 World Cup.
“It’s unbelievable to look ahead that far and think what we can do as a team,” Neill said.
“And I truly believe we can go far.”
