Melbourne Victory defender Jason Geria hasn’t had much time off this pre-season, but the 20-year-old isn’t complaining.
Melbourne Victory defender Jason Geria hasn’t had much time off this pre-season, but the 20-year-old isn’t complaining.
Between Young Socceroos duty, a blockbuster against Liverpool and his Melbourne Victory pre-season commitments, Geria has had a busy few months not just at home but also abroad.
For now Geria’s attention turns to the rest of his side’s pre-season campaign and the round one Melbourne Derby.
“We are really buzzing for (the season opener), it’s the home-stretch now,” Geria said.
“At the start of pre-season you think there’s so long to go, but now we’re getting closer and closer and a couple more pre-season games and then we’re into it.
“The season goes so quick once you’re in it but now we are looking forward to Melbourne Heart at Etihad Stadium, it’s going to be a big game.”
Geria, along with Scott Galloway and Connor Pain, spent plenty of time on the pitch at the recent FIFA U20 World Cup and while the Young Socceroos failed to make it past the group stages, Geria said the experience was invaluable.
“It was a great experience and I was grateful to be apart of that – we went into that tournament knowing what we wanted to do… we were happy with how we performed but results wise we weren’t satisfied and we were really disappointed to bow out at the group stages.”
Speaking about his experience taking on English giants Liverpool, Geria said everyone was proud of the way the team performed, especially considering the younger squad that took on the challenge.
“It was surreal, to say the least. Playing against your idols like Steven Gerrard, that’s something you do on (EA Sports’) FIFA, you don’t really think you are actually going to do it in front of 95,000 people. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
