‘I can’t afford to take my foot off the throttle at all,’ Luongo says of putting…

Massimo Luongo had a fantastic season with Ipswich Town in 2023.

Stuart Watson spoke with the Australian about his recent retirement from international football as well as the Championship promotion race.

Massimo Luongo is pleased that his international career with Australia came to an end on his terms.

The midfielder represented Australia at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. In the interim, he was named to the Ballon d’Or long list after featuring in the Asian Cup-winning campaign in 2015.

Injuries plagued him after joining Sheffield Wednesday in 2019, and he was no longer called up to play for his country. Following a near five-year hiatus, he was ultimately recalled in September after a revitalizing year with Ipswich Town.

The 31-year-old, who has 45 caps including outings against New Zealand and Bangladesh, was slated to compete in the Asian Cup in Qatar this month. Instead, he said that he will devote all of his future efforts to club rather than nation.

“I think after being out for about five years due to injuries and other things, I always thought, ‘I’ve done that and it was brilliant for me, if I get called up again, great, and if I don’t, I’ll just move on and focus on my club career.'” But there was a sensation in my stomach that it wasn’t truly my choice.

“Obviously, I was called up again, and it was fantastic. But now that I have a young family, the kids are a little older, and they miss me when I’m gone. Suddenly, I’m not playing as much for them as I’d like, and I’m gone for days or weeks at a time.

“I think it was a good time for me to call it now so that I could relax and not worry about it.” I can concentrate on my football here, on club football in the future, and my family, as I always have. I was permitted to go out however I pleased.”