Australia’s opening match at the represents something of a homecoming for Cam Devlin.
After spending time in the lead-up to the tournament in Florida and Oakland, the Socceroos have touched down in Canada, a nation which Devlin credits as having ignited his love of the game as a child, as he explains to FIFA.
“I moved with my family to Canada, who were teachers, when I was nine-years-old and stayed for a year or so, I remember I had my tenth birthday over there.
“Before that I was really into rugby league, a sport that my father played so it was in Canada when I first got into football because they didn’t have rugby league to play.
“Honestly, they were some of the best memories of my childhood with playing football for the first time and that was kind of what started everything for me. I don't know if I would have even played it if I hadn’t gone to Canada.
“So, it’s really cool to be heading back to the country where it all started for me, it’s a real full circle moment.”
Those formative years were spent in Toronto, rather than Vancouver – where the Socceroos face Türkiye – but with his family still in touch with friends from their time in Canada, a sizeable crew is expected to make the journey west to watch Devlin and his Australia teammates kick-start their campaign on Saturday.
“Almost 20 years have passed since those days but the friends that my mum and dad had from that time who knew me as a kid will now get to come and watch me play for Australia. So I think that’s a pretty cool thing.
“I really have to thank my mum and dad because that move to Canada was where everything started for me, playing football at school over there.
“By the time that we then returned to Australia I had fallen in love with the game and just kept playing. A couple years after that I started making rep teams back home and everything kind of went from there.”
What began all those years ago in Canada, soon led to Devlin making his professional debut as a teenager with Sydney FC in his homeland, before he joined Scottish outfit Hearts in mid-2021. In the five seasons that he has spent in Edinburgh, the all-action midfielder has grown into an influential part of a side that pushed the might of Celtic all the way to the final day in the race for the league title this season.
While that defeat still stings, the Sydneysider now has another almighty challenge to get stuck into as Australia prepare to start their campaign at the global finals.
“Given how well we had done and then to have it taken away like that, it was the worst day of my career for sure. It hurt so much not to be able to bring the trophy back but if I look back on things, for a club like Hearts to be in that position was amazing. We gave people around the city and the fans a lot of joy so it was special to be a part of that.
“I’m in the fortunate position though of having gone straight from that into camp with the national team because I remember saying to my girlfriend that if we had gone on holidays I might have been non-verbal given how disappointed I was.
“Coming here now and having another focus I’m so grateful for, and there’s obviously no bigger carrot than the World Cup and we’re looking forward to have a successful time over here.”
While Australia have been, in recent times, regular qualifiers for the global finals what has eluded the nation is a deep tournament run. Heading into their seventh World Cup, and sixth in succession, the goal is to match or exceed a pair of last-16 finishes and that’s a target which Devlin – who turned 28 a week before the opening match - feels is well within reach.
“The mood has been really good and coming into camp is something that never gets old because it’s a moment of such immense joy and pride. Coming in though we knew that players would be cut and that was tough because we are like one big family with the Socceroos. So now we are playing for them, as well as our families and for the country.
“There’s been a bit of talk around the team externally but we know how much talent we have in this squad and that we have such a good group of staff and coaches behind us so I think if people are underestimating us, that's good because we can just focus on ourselves.
“I think we’d be silly to kind of put a limit on what we can do as a group. We’ve left no stone unturned in our preparation so we just want to go as far as we can and, like I said, I really feel there’s no limit to that.”
The one thing that Devlin won’t be revealing though is the location of a prized possession from Qatar 2022; a tournament where he didn’t see match action but did make off with an item that he has locked away for safe keeping.
“The Lionel Messi shirt? Oh, I just asked him. I always try to get shirts for memories and I was just lucky enough that he was there at the right time!
“My family have got it, you know, keeping it safe somewhere, best not to keep it with me in case I get robbed!”
Sources: FIFA Official
