Evergreen striker Bruno Fornaroli has left the door ajar for a once-unlikely Socceroos recall after scoring four goals, including a magnificent rabona, to lead Melbourne Victory to a 5-3 A-League Men win over Newcastle.
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Victory were down 1-0 when Fornaroli went on a rampage, with two well-taken finishes in the eighth and 31st minutes followed by a 40th-minute penalty at AAMI Park.
But the best was in the third minute of first-half added time, when Adama Traore's squaring cross put the ball behind Fornaroli but the striker curled his right leg behind his left to flick it into the back of the net.
Fornaroli, 36, now has five goals for the season as outright golden boot leader.
The Socceroos start their World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh at AAMI Park on November 16.
Fornaroli earned two caps against Japan and Saudi Arabia in 2022 and insisted he wasn't done yet.
"Why not? I'm not closing the door. I made my debut at 35 years old, maybe everyone thought that it would never happen in my career," Fornaroli said.
"I keep pushing, I showed it's never too late to reach something that you want.
"And I'm working hard. After that, it's up to Arnie (coach Graham Arnold) to call me or to see if he needs another number nine.
"Of course, I will keep working hard for this, it would be special."
Victory coach Tony Popovic added: "Let's not get carried away.
"Players should always dream.
"... We've had a good start and if that's his dream, and if we can help support him to get there, then I'll be the first, if they play in Australia, in the stands to watch him. So why not?"
The rabona was the highlight of the night in front of 13,663 fans, including a packed north terrace.
"It was the only thing I could try in that in that point and of course I'd already scored three goals and I said 'why not?'" Fornaroli said.
Popovic insisted he wasn't surprised by the 36-year-old's "special" heroics.
"If we start saying he's 36, well then we treat him like a 36-year-old which means we tell the player that he's too old, that he can't move, that he can't play, that he can't score," Popovic said.
"He doesn't want that. He wants to be treated as a player that 'I perform, I play.' And if we can promote an 18-year-old why can't a 36-year-old play?"
Fornaroli's first-half heroics came after the Jets took the lead in the sixth minute through Mark Natta.
Nishan Velupillay scored a wonderful solo goal in the 55th minute to help Victory to a 2-0 start to the season.
Newcastle winger Clayton Taylor scored a brace, netting in the 49th and 75th minutes and had another header contentiously chalked off for offside.
"I've known Clayton for the best part of three, four years and nothing surprises me with that," Jets coach Rob Stanton said.
"Even though it's his second game, I kind of expect that from him.
"He's just a player that his best moments are better than a lot."
Australian Associated Press
