Musti
If you haven't been paying attention to the third division of German football over the past few years, you could be forgiven for thinking Mustafa Amini had fallen off the face of the earth.
In 2012, barely aged 19, Amini left behind the A-League and the then-championship chasing Central Coast Mariners for a shot at the big time with Borussia Dortmund, the reigning Bundesliga champions.
Three seasons with their reserve team took him away from the public eye but his talents were being finetuned in one of the world's best developmental schools. Six months ago, he signed with Danish club Randers and hasn't looked back.
But this next fortnight marks the period where Amini aims to put himself back in the minds of the Australian public.
He is arguably the most critical component of Aurelio Vidmar's side at this month's Asian under-23 championships in Qatar, even training over Christmas with Sydney FC to keep himself fit during the Danish winter break.
While a title is on the line in Doha, the bigger goal is finishing in the top three and securing a berth at the Rio Olympics.
"I know how big it would be for Australia to qualify for any Olympics but this is just massive," he said. "We know that four years ago it didn't happen and what a disappointment that was. We don't want that to happen to us, to miss out again.
"It's also that much bigger when you're talking about Brazil. We know they're going to go crazy for the Olympics but especially for the football. We're just desperate to be a part of that."
First up on Thursday night (early Friday morning AEDT) is the highly touted United Arab Emirates, who qualified for the 2012 Games.
Three days later, the Olyroos will be heavily favoured to defeat Vietnam before finishing with the Socceroos' nemesis, Jordan, on January 20.
The top two teams from the four groups make the quarter-finals, with the two semi-final winners and the third-placed play-off winner all going to Rio.
The Olyroos have spent the past week preparing in Dubai but Vidmar's side has been hit with late withdrawals, the latest being being star attacker Chris Ikonomidis, who was denied a release by his Italian club, Lazio.
"Of course, it makes it harder losing top players but I honestly think we can do it, even without them," Amini said. "That's because the replacements, like Brandon O'Neill for Danny De Silva [blocked by his Dutch club Roda], are top quality. And those guys who've come in will be absolutely hungry to prove themselves."
Though Amini knows he fell off the radar of many during his time in Germany, he doesn't regret the time spent under Jurgen Klopp's tutelage.
"Even though I wasn't playing in the first team, I trained with the first team and that means you're with world-class players every day," he said. "A lot of people might not understand how much an impact that has on you, but that's up to five days a week competing with World Cup winners, Champions League winners – the best of the best."
Amini chalked up 57 matches in the third division over three years. But, as he rightly points out, it's "a much higher standard than people would think".
"People think that League One in England is a decent standard but dismiss the German third division. Yet they're exactly the same tier where Bailey Wright and Massimo Luongo were playing when they began getting called up for Australia," he said. "There's a lot of good players at that level and also a lot big, tough men who play a very physical and demanding style. It was something I had to adjust to but it helped me a lot. It was a real learning curve.
Danish football may not be the Bundesliga, but it is a step up from where he's been playing and Amini couldn't be happier with his start to life at Randers.
"It was time for me to make a decision and I wanted to be playing at the top tier and going to Denmark just ticked a lot of boxes," he said. "I'm at a good club, who are currently sixth in a strong European league and the national team is on the rise. If I do well there, I'll get back in the frame for the Socceroos. They've been so supportive of my goals with the Olyroos, which shows I've made the right decision."
.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/mustafa-amini-ready-to-fire-the-olyroos-from-doha-to-rio-20160113-gm4x4u.html
