Brisbane Roar forward Carlo Armiento made his return from an ACL injury to the Isuzu UTE A-League against Macarthur FC.
After 403 days, Carlo Armiento has made his return to competitive football.
It was in 2021/22 pre-season the then Perth Glory player was practicing 1v1’s with teammate Osama Malik. As both players ran past the ball, Armiento tried to turn the other way but felt that something wasn’t right.
Having done his right ACL at the age of 15, the young attacker knew what had happened.
An ACL injury to his left leg. He was out for the season.
Armiento was coming into the 2021/22 season off the back of strong inaugural season with Glory, which saw him score his first goal for the West Australian side against Shanghai Shenhua in the 2020 AFC Champions League Group Stage.
He then went on to add a further three A-League goals across his 22 appearances during the 2020/21 season.
However, despite the injury, Armiento has always had an optimistic lookout on what it has meant to him.
“It’s unfortunate but it is part of football,” said the Adelaide City junior. “I had to put in the hard work, I stayed in Perth I didn’t go back home to Adelaide, and I think I reaped the rewards on Saturday.”
Returning to competitive football in Brisbane Roar’s season opener against Macarthur FC last Saturday, the Adelaide-born forward played 63 minutes on debut for his new club.
Armiento was also named Macca’s Man of the Match for his efforts on the pitch.
Having only joined the Queensland club three weeks ago from Western Australia, the 23-year-old was glad to be back playing once again.
“It was fun,” said Armiento, who played his first A-League Men’s match since June 2021. “I think every footballer just wants to get out there and play.
“I’ve only known the boys for three weeks now so getting out there and playing with them was good as well.
“It’s been a quick transition, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Everyone’s made me feel welcome here and all the older boys have got around me, especially being one of the youngest in the team,” he added.
The versatile left-sided attacker caused all sorts of headaches for the Macarthur FC defence, especially feeding the ball into the box for Charlie Austin.
It’s a combination that has been in the cards since signing Armiento last month, and as the pair continue to work together, they feel confident that everything will come together.
“We had a chat after the game and he said, ‘Don’t worry, keep going it will click’,” Armiento said.
“I’m looking forward to working with someone of such a high calibre.”
Brisbane Roar face Melbourne City on Friday 14 October at Suncorp Stadium from 6:45pm AEST.
