Source : ABC NEWS
Chef Vini Capovilla has learnt a thing or two catering for the Socceroos at four World Cups. And one is finding out if they like his food.
He does that in two ways — if they eat everything he gives them, and by checking the level of the Vegemite.
The meal room has photos of every socceroos team at every World Cup from 2006 to 2022. (Supplied: Football Australia)
The less Vegemite eaten, the better he’s doing.
“The focus is on performance and also the safety of the players,” Capovilla said.
“But there is a third factor that I think is key, and that is their wellbeing, their wellness.
“Vegemite is a staple food. We cannot escape from it.”
The life of luxury
For the 2026 World Cup, Australia nominated the combination of Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club and the luxury Claremont Country Club in Berkeley.
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And they got it.
“FIFA prioritised a number of teams with their team base camps selection, so having qualified directly and falling in pot two for the final draw, we were prioritised in our team base camp selection choice,” said Football Australia head of teams Gary Moretti.
“The combination of the training site with all the performance requirements and the quality of this hotel as a resort-style hotel was critical as Australia’s home away from home for the World Cup.
“It has a first-class gym area, excellent recovery area, we can also do yoga and stretching. The pool is big enough to do recovery in.”
Memorabilia hangs through the halls of the Claremont Country Club to remind the players of the Socceroos’ past achievements. (Supplied: Football Australia)
Walking through the resort and country club, with its rumoured $60,000 joining fee for normal people, there are numerous reminders of the Socceroos’ history in World Cups.
In the dining room, the walls are decorated with pictures of Australia’s teams at tournaments past, while in hallways hang original jerseys from every World Cup.
The Socceroos occupy two floors of the hotel, which FIFA is largely paying for.
The stairs linking the two levels have a strategically placed photo of Matt Leckie and Rhylee McGree, taken just after Leckie’s goal against Denmark put Australia through to the knockout rounds in Qatar.
All the jerseys hanging on the walls were donated and are originals, from 1974 through to the 2022 campaign. (Supplied: Football Australia)
A constant reminder of what has been achieved, and an inspiration to go further.
“Qualifying for a World Cup is never taken for granted and you have to value that,” Moretti said.
“That homage to those successful periods, those successful eras is critical to us. The players walk past it every day.
“All our technical staff from Poppa [Tony Popovic], [Paul] Okon, Foxy [Hayden Foxe] down, are all former Socceroos. So they are also included in that imagery.”
The players have a recreation room with a pool table, ping-pong, darts and a PlayStation. No laptops or work is allowed in the room.
There is also a coffee bar, which has been a big hit, with Cammy Devlin currently the clubhouse leader in the latte art competition.
The recreation room contains a ping-pong table, a dart board, some recovery equipment, computer games and even a barrista. (Supplied: Football Australia)
Every player has their own room, which was a decision made due to the duration of the stay at the hotel.
In shorter windows, Socceroos players would share rooms.
Where the (nutritional) magic happens
Outside of scheduled training sessions, players have a lot of freedom to sight-see or relax.
But there are two non-negotiable things the players must be present for — lunch and dinner.
The dining hall has a serving station where Vini and his staff dole out the meal of the day.
The Socceroos are required to eat lunch and dinner together, though they have a more flexible breakfast schedule. (Supplied: Football Australia)
Managing the nutritional needs of elite athletes requires constant communication with the Socceroos dietician Julie Meek, as they work out how to ensure each player’s needs are met.
“We always meet together and discuss every player individually. We try to focus the catering individually,” Capovilla said.
“We know each player and what they like, where they are going to go. So we play a little bit with their minds to get them to eat precisely what they need to eat.”
As the players exit the dining room, they walk past a giant quote from Johnny Warren.
“A champion team will always beat a team of champions.”
The Socceroos are hoping everything they do makes them into a champion team.
