MILDURA City’s Cosimo Cirillo is now in line to be the Australian Pararoos first-choice goalkeeper following the retirement of Christopher Pyne.
But the humble teen says it was just a privilege to be able to learn from a Pararoos great.
The 18-year-old sat on the bench for Saturday’s 5-0 win by the Pararoos, Australia’s senior men’s national football team for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, or symptoms acquired from stroke, over Canada at Sydney’s Cromer Park in what turned out to be No.1 custodian
Pyne’s 103rd and final international match.
Pyne, 35, became the first Pararoo to bring up 100 caps when the Pararoos took on host nation Spain at the IFCPF World Cup this year and now bows out after two decades at the top level.
“He’s a leader, I train with him as a goalkeeper … we kind of worked off each other on how to improve our weaknesses and how to improve ourselves as a goalkeeper.
“Someone like that who has played over 100 caps is doing something right, for me to learn off him was the main thing and to understand what the Pararoos meant to him and other people and where it’s come from, it’s really special.”
Pyne is one of only four men for both the Pararoos or Socceroos to wear the green and gold 100 – alongside the likes of Tim Cahill, Mark Schwarzer and David Barber (who brought up his 100th Pararoos cap at the weekend).
“There was a rumour he might retire after this one but I didn’t think it would be that close. We had a private meeting (on Sunday) and he gave us the news and we were all a bit teary because he explained why he did it and what the Pararoos meant to him,” Cirillo said.
“I think he’s a real pioneer of the Pararoos, he’s one of the first ones to ever play for them, he’s someone I’ve looked up to and it’s a bit of a shock he’s retiring.
“He could have kept going.”
Harking back to Saturday evening’s historic fixture, the first time the Pararoos had played on Australian soil since the Sydney Olympics, Cirillo was rapt to have been a part of it.
“It was awesome, just awesome. I don’t think we’ve had something like that for a long time,” he said.
“We had over 1000 people come, they filled up the stands … it was awesome.
“I didn’t get to play but it was a great atmosphere and, hopefully, something like that will happen again.”
The Pararoos now turn their attention to the 2020 IFCPF Nations Championships in July and July next year near Barcelona in Spain.
