Poletti 
Giacomo Izzo (L) and Alessandro La Verghetta (R) during the Pararoos pre-World Cup training camp. Photos: Mark Avellino/Football Australia. Graphic Design: Round Ball Australia
Pararoos coach Kai Lammert selected three Western Australian players in his 14-player squad for the IFCPF World Cup, and two of them, Alessandro La Verghetta and Giacomo Izzo, share a unique connection.
La Verghetta, who has already represented the Pararoos at a World Cup, is not downplaying the honour of being selected again, but also said when he found out he was selected, it brought about a sense of calmness.
“It doesn’t come often. We don’t get many games throughout the whole year, so being selected for the World Cup is a big achievement for this year,” he said.
“I feel like I’ve put in the hard yards alongside the other 13 players. It’s a sense of achievement.
“We go throughout the whole year training, we make a lot of sacrifices, so when I got that call, it was a sense of relief, but also all the hard work I’ve put in, it has obviously shown, but now I’ve got to put even more hard work in for the World Cup.”
This will be La Verghetta’s third World Cup, which he says feels different, and that both of his prior experiences have helped him grow in vastly different ways as he prepares for this one.
“My first World Cup, I got injured in the warm-up and I got ruled out for the whole tournament,” he said.
“I learnt a lot off-field. How we could support the boys off-the-field, away from football, even though being semi-involved.
“I learnt a lot in terms of being there for the team. We talk about being a family… this is a family environment for me.
“This is my safe environment where I look up to half of these blokes because I’ve never had a role model in my life with [Cerebral Palsy].
La Verghetta said that he made some stride with his second World Cup and was able to get minutes, and coming off the back of the IFCPF Asia-Oceania Championships where he started the majority of games, he knows his job is not done.
“I have a sense of responsibility where I’m accountable for my actions and how I can control my emotions and that extends to how we can control each other’s emotions on the field, if we’re cool, calm, collected, but still have that desire to win.”
Giacomo Izzo was introduced to CP Football through La Verghetta, who’s parents grew up together, with Izzo going to one of the open days in Western Australia after being brought down by La Verghetta.
“His Dad and my Dad grew up together and they were always good mates, and both of their kids have Cerebral Palsy. That’s pretty crazy,” Izzo said.
“He just brought me down one day, [and] I met all the coaches there and they were pretty happy with me and I got classified,” Izzo said.
“I wasn’t allowed to go to my first Nationals, which was 2018, because I was 12-years-old, but the next year I went when I was 13.
“I made my debut there, and scored a hat-trick against South Australia. Being a 13-year-old it was pretty crazy I reckon.”
The 18-year-old said being selected was a crazy feeling, and that the prospect of his first cap for the national team coming at a World Cup was unreal.
“It’s insane to be honest, I didn’t think I would get this far,” Izzo said.
“Even walking on the park would be a dream, making my family proud, debuting for Australia, it would be hectic.
‘Words can’t describe how I would be feeling that day.”
Being from Western Australia in a sport which already has a lack of visibility, it reduces the ability for someone like Izzo to get noticed, but a strong campaign by Football West at the 2024 National Para Football Championships helped to increase that visibility.
Izzo, who won the tournaments golden boot and was recognised as young player of the tournament, said that the recognition was good.
“Since [we’re] from WA, it’s pretty far away so no one really pays us much attention,” he said.
“Us at Nationals, [we did] pretty good, so I reckon it’s good that we’ve got all this attention on us.”
Being the most experienced of the three Western Australian’s selected (Rafferty Bacon is the third selected and has only one cap to his name), La Verghetta has stepped into a sort of de-facto leadership role where the other two WA players can lean on him for advice with that state-based connection is a newer experience for him, but one he considers an honour.
“Being there when I was there age, I had the likes of Chris Barty, [Nicholas] Prescott, they helped me shape to what I want them to be within the team.
“I’ve seen them grow from when they were 13-years or younger, even Giacomo, I knew him before [I knew] CP football existed.
“Watching them grow [into] young adults, one making their debut, one coming back into the team, it makes me want to push them and push myself even harder, because if they can achieve something like this…
“[In] years to come, they’re only 18, I’m only 23, we’ve got the world at our feet at the moment. The balls in our court to write our history and to write our script about the future.”
The Pararoos begin their IFCPF World Cup campaign against the USA on Monday November 11 at 7:30pm AEDT. All Pararoos and ParaMatildas games will be available to watch on the Football Australia YouTube channel throughout the World Cup.