Massimo Corey Luongo ( ; born 25 September 1992) is an Australian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and the

Australia national team Sport is an important part of Australia that dates back to the early colonial period. Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, association football, cricket and tennis are among the earliest organised sports in Australia. Sport ha ...

. Born in Sydney, Luongo played youth football for

APIA Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...

before moving to England to play for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, where he started his professional career. Following a loan spell at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

, he played on loan at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, a move which was eventually made permanent. After four years at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

, he joined

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in 2019. Luongo has played for the

since 2014 and has made over 40 appearances. He was a member of the squad at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

and played a central role in Australia winning the

2015 AFC Asian Cup The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015. The tournament was ...

, where he scored in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

and was named player of the tournament.

Early life

Luongo was born in Sydney. His father Mario is of Italian heritage and mother Ira Luongo is of Indonesian heritage. He attended

Waverley College , motto_translation = Virtue alone ennobles , location = 131 Birrell Street , city = Waverley, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , type = Independent early learni ...

. He is the youngest of three children; he has a sister Angela and a brother Tiziano. In addition to holding an

Australian passport Australian passports are travel documents issued to Australian citizens under the ''Australian Passports Act 2005'' by the Australian Passport Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), Department of Foreign Affairs and ...

, Luongo also has an

Italian passport An Italian passport is issued upon request to an Italian nationality law, Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its Biometric passports, biometric version ha ...

. According to Luongo himself, his maternal great-grandfather was Sultan Ambela Abu'l-Khair Sirajuddin of

Bima Sultanate The Sultanate of Bima (كسلطانن بيما) was a Muslim state in the eastern part of Sumbawa in Indonesia, at the site of the present-day regency of Bima. It was a regionally important polity which formed the eastern limit of Islam in this ...

based in

Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there ...

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Luongo signed for

in January 2011 after impressing on trial, and went on to make nine appearances for the under-18 team during the

2010–11 Premier Academy League The 2010–11 Premier Academy League Under–18 season is the fourteenth edition since the establishment of The Premier Academy League, and the seventh under the current make-up. All teams played the other teams in their group twice and play 10 ...

season, scoring three goals. He made his only appearance for the first team on 20 September 2011 in a 7–6

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss to fellow

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, replacing Sandro after 70 minutes. Luongo had his penalty attempt saved by

Thomas Sørensen Thomas Løvendahl Sørensen (born 12 June 1976) is a retired Danish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Sørensen started his career with his local side Odense BK. After impressing on loan at Vejle Boldklub and Svendborg he was signed by En ...

, resulting in the defeat. On 6 February 2012, he was called up to a league match for the first time, remaining an unused substitute as Tottenham earned a goalless draw away to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. Thirteen days later he was included in the squad for the last time, again unused in a goalless

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

fifth round match away to League One team

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 23 July 2012, Luongo joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a season-long loan for the 2012–13 season. He made his debut on 14 August in the first round of the League Cup, playing the entirety of a 3–1 win over

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internation ...

. Four days later he played his first professional league game, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and making way for Andy Drury after 70 minutes. On 28 August, in the second round of the League Cup against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

Brunton Park Brunton Park is a football stadium and the home of Carlisle United. It is situated in the city of Carlisle and has a certified capacity of 17,949. The ground opened in 1909. Brunton Park's grandstand burned down in 1953 and the stadium floode ...

, he scored from outside the penalty area to put Ipswich ahead with his first professional goal, but Carlisle scored a late equaliser and won 2–1 after extra time. The loan was terminated on 9 November after new Ipswich manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later ha ...

said that he wanted a 'different type of player'.

Swindon Town

On 28 March 2013, Luongo signed for

on loan along with fellow Spurs trainees Nathan Byrne and Dean Parrett. The very next day he went straight into the squad to face

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

and play the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at the County Ground. On 16 April, Luongo scored his first goal for Swindon in a 4–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, heading in Gary Roberts' cross. He opened the scoring on 4 May in the 70th minute of the first leg of the play-off semi-final against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings w ...

, but in added time conceded a penalty by fouling Harry Forrester; Kevin O'Connor converted it for a 1–1 draw. Swindon eventually lost the tie in a penalty shootout. Luongo signed a season-long loan deal with Swindon Town on 2 July 2013 and was handed the number 4 shirt. At the end of August 2013, Swindon signed Luongo on a permanent three-year contract having agreed a fee of £400,000 with Spurs. He scored six goals in 44 league appearances that season, including a first professional brace in a 5–2 home win over

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

on 2 November. In the following campaign, he got just as many goals but in 34 matches, as Swindon lost the play-off final to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Queens Park Rangers

On 28 May 2015, Luongo joined

, along with

teammate

Ben Gladwin Benjamin Thomas Charles Gladwin (born 8 June 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for League Two club Crawley Town. Gladwin has played for 11 clubs including Swindon Town (three previous spells), Queens Park Rangers, ...

, both signing a three-year deal. QPR head coach Chris Ramsey was Luongo's youth coach at Tottenham. He made his debut in the first game of the Championship season on 8 August, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–0 defeat at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Luongo played 30 league games in his first season – 32 overall – but did not score. His performances earned him a place on the

FIFA Ballon d'Or The FIFA Ballon d'Or ("Golden Ball") was an annual association football award presented to the world's best men's player from 2010 to 2015. Awarded jointly by FIFA and ''France Football'', the prize was a merger of the FIFA World Player of the Y ...

longlist for the 2015 campaign. He scored his first goal for QPR in a 5–1 win over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

on 18 March 2017. Following

Nedum Onouha Chinedum Onuoha (born 12 November 1986) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit for ESPN. He also works for Manchester City as a community ambassador. As a player he was a centre back, but could also play at right ...

's ruptured hamstring injury that November, Luongo was handed the responsibility of captaincy.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 8 August 2019, Luongo joined

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut the following weekend, coming off the bench against Barnsley. He scored his first goal for the club against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

, which was also his first start for the club. He was sent off in a game against

, but the red card was later rescinded. In his second season at the club he was injured several times, the first being in a game against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...

, returning on 7 December 2020. He was ruled out again for another five to six weeks on 24 February 2021. After another injury layoff, he would return to the squad at the start of 2022 with some impressive performances, winning the clubs January Player-of-the-Month competition, as well as appearing in two of EFL's Team of the Week after his performances against

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

. The club announced he was offered a new contract following the end of the 2021-22 season. On 22 June 2022, it was confirmed that he had rejected his new contract and would leave the club.

Middlesbrough

On 8 September 2022, Luongo joined

on a short term deal until January 2023

International career

Luongo represented the Australia under-20 team twice but was not selected for the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FI ...

. He made his debut for the Socceroos on 6 March 2014 as a second-half substitute for captain

Mile Jedinak Michael John "Mile" Jedinak (; ; born 3 August 1984) is an Australian former professional footballer who served as the captain of the Australia national team. He is currently the Loan Player Development Coach at Aston Villa. Jedinak was born a ...

in the 3–4 loss to

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

The New Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which ...

in London. He was selected for the 23-man Australia squad for the

in Brazil by manager

Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he moved ...

, but did not feature in any of their three matches as they were eliminated in the group stage. Luongo was also selected in the 23-man squad for the

Asia Cup The Asian Cricket Council Asia Cup is a men's One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket tournament. It was established in 1983 when the Asian Cricket Council was founded as a measure to promote goodwill between Asian countries. ...

to be played on home soil in Australia. Swindon teammate Yaser Kasim was also called up for

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, meaning that the club would have to compete in their regular League One season without the two central midfielders for a month. He went on to score in Australia's 4–1

win Win or WIN may refer to: * A victory Arts and entertainment Film * '' Win!'', a 2016 American film Literature * ''Win'' (Coben novel), a 2121 novel by Harlan Coben * WIN (pacifist magazine), published by the War Resisters League * WIN (wrest ...

over

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

in the opening game of the tournament, in addition to providing the assist that led to

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "his ...

scoring Australia's first goal of the match. At the end of the game, he was named as man of the match. Luongo also started in Australia's second group game against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

, providing the assist for

Robbie Kruse Robbie Thomas Kruse ( ; ; born 5 October 1988) is an Australian professional Association football, footballer who last played as a Forward (association football), forward for Melbourne Victory FC, Melbourne Victory and the Australia national ass ...

to score Australia's second goal in an eventual 4–0 win. He played in the

2015 AFC Asian Cup Final The 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final was a football match which took place on 31 January 2015 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, to determine the winner of 2015 AFC Asian Cup. It was played between South Korea and hosts Australia. Australia ...

against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, scoring the first goal from outside the box in a 2–1 win. He was named as Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring two goals and assisting four throughout the tournament. In May 2018 he was named in Australia's 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Luongo goal.''

Honours

Australia *

AFC Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2014–15 League One *AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player:

*AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament: 2015 * AFC Asian International Player of the Year third-place: 2015

Notes

References

External links

Tottenham Hotspur profile
*
Massimo Luongo Interview

Massimo Luongo Interview with The Guardian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luongo, Massimo 1992 births Living people Australian people of Italian descent Australian people of Indonesian descent Australia international soccer players Association football midfielders Australian expatriate soccer players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players English Football League players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 AFC Asian Cup players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players Soccer players from Sydney AFC Asian Cup-winning players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 AFC Asian Cup players Australian soccer players