John And Marco Maisano

Holland is where more and more young Australian players are looking to make names for themselves.

Zeljko Kalac is established as the #1 at Roda JC … Football 2000 Squad members Jason Culina and Joe Didulica call Ajax home, with Peter Zois a train ride away at NAC Breda … and now, the Dutch second division is home to two Victorian youngsters

Holland is where more and more young Australian players are looking to make names for themselves.

Zeljko Kalac is established as the #1 at Roda JC … Football 2000 Squad members Jason Culina and Joe Didulica call Ajax home, with Peter Zois a train ride away at NAC Breda … and now, the Dutch second division is home to two Victorian youngsters in the Maisano brothers, 21 year old John, and 19 year old Marco.

While both boys have called the Carlton Soccer Club home at different stages of their careers, John is the better known of the two, having played at Westerlo (Belgium) and Atalanta (Italy), and also having represented Australia at the World Youth (U-20) Championship in Nigeria last year … but he is the relative newcomer to Dutch football, having only recently signed with Helmond Sport.

More established in Holland but less known in Australia is Marco, who arrived in Europe as a raw 17 year old.

“I trialled at Anderlecht in Belgium, then NAC Breda when I-d just turned 17, but it was Eindhoven that worked for me and I signed a two year deal which finishes this year. I-m really happy at the Club, and I-d like to stay another season if they-re happy with me, because the way I look at it, there are hardly any 19 year olds playing full time in this League, so I-m just going to keep benefiting from the experience.

“I-ve made a few appearances in the first eleven, and was on the bench again last weekend … if I-m not playing with the firsts, then I-m playing with the reserves but training fulltime with the first team, it-s a great experience, and I-m sure another year will see me further develop as a player.

Meantime, John-s recent rollercoaster ride now sees him at a club just 40 minutes away, and hopefully back on track after an absence from soccer of over six months.

“I was at Westerlo on a good contract, and to cut a long story short, I listened to people I shouldn-t have listened to, and lost many months of football chasing a dream, waiting in Italy for a contract to come through - which didn-t.

“It was a hard lesson to learn, but equally, I have learned something from the experience, I-ve signed with Helmond Sport until the end of the season, the trainer here seems keen on me, and I-ve got to get on with things.”

Already close, John-s recent experience has brought the two brothers closer, with neither prepared to give an inch in the mutual admiration stakes.

“We-re best friends … I-ve looked up to him all my life, and people often ask me if I-m jealous of him and how his career has taken off, but I could never be jealous of John, I-m proud of everything he-s accomplished he-s always given me a goal to strive toward, and he-s always been there for me,” says Marco.

“It-s that encouragement that makes us so close, but it-s also the little things, like when I used to read newspaper articles about him, and they-d ask him who he looks up to, and he-d say his little brother.

“John registered at Springvale City when he was 6, and I remember going to watch his first training session when I was just 4, and my dad asked if I wanted to start playing soccer too and I did … if you see photos of John as a baby, there are soccer balls everywhere, all birthdays had cakes with soccer balls on them .. basically, he started the trend and I followed.” concludes Marco.

“My brother Marco, he influences me 100%,” returns John of his younger sibling.

“It-s just the way he is .. he came overseas when he was really young, he-s doing really well, and that inspires me to do well. I-ve tried to give him as much encouragement as possible, and set good examples for him, because in a lot of ways, I knew he looked up to me

“Now my ‘little- brother is bigger than me, living away from home and not used to being told what to do anymore - but if he-s saying good stuff about me then that-s good, because he-s not the type to tell me to my face!”

And the million dollar question? Who is the better player?

“You know, my father gets asked that question a lot,” says Marco.

“Firstly, there-s a two year difference in age, which is a lot of experience, but I-d have to say John-s the better player - the student can never be better than the teacher.”

“Having said that, I still see Marco Maisano going places in Europe - I don-t ask to be a Ronaldo, but if I can continue working on my game, and go after the bigger contracts, then that-s my dream fulfilled.”

“That-s not really as tough a question as it may sound,” adds John.

“I can say that I-ve had a lot more experience, and things may come a little more naturally to me because I-ve been in a lot of different circumstances.

“But I can definitely say that if my brother keeps going the way he is, he will be a bigger player than me - he just turned 19 two weeks ago, and I hadn-t accomplished half the things he has when I was his age - he speaks fluent Dutch, he cooks like a chef, and he-s much more open minded than I am.”