Franco Lino’s patience and persistence paid off when he finally got a first-team opportunity with Melbourne Victory last weekend, and he’s hoping for another chance on Saturday at AAMI Park in a game that holds extra significance for the 20-year-old left-back.
Having battled injuries since returning to Victory on loan in July from Norwegian club Viking, Lino made his first appearance of the season in his team’s 4-1 home win over Macarthur FC.
Starting on the left side of the Victory’s defence, Lino was impressive for 80 minutes before being replaced by veteran Adama Traore.
“I enjoyed it. It had been a while since I played in a Melbourne Victory shirt,” said Lino, whose most recent of his previous six A-League appearances for the club had been in January 2024.
“I was more eager than nervous. It had been a while and I’d been just waiting for my chance, and when I got on to the pitch, I was just so happy.
“You’ve just got to be patient. If you work every day your chance will come, and you just have to be ready. I felt that I was ready.”
Victory coach Arthur Diles was delighted for Lino.
“I’m really proud that we got him on the park, and he did ever so well,” Diles said.
However, with first-choice left-back Jason Davidson available again this weekend after missing Victory’s past two games, Lino is unsure if he will get any game time in his side’s battle with Central Coast Mariners.
“’Davo’ is back. so that brings more competition for spots in the team, which is good. so we’ll see what happens.” he said.
If Lino does get game time, he will embrace the chance for minutes even more than normal due to it being Victory’s U-NITE Multicultural Round, which this year runs in collaboration with the Victorian Multicultural Commission and is part of the start of Victoria’s 2026 Cultural Diversity Week.
“It’s very important. There are a lot of players from everywhere playing in this league and it’s important to show that diversity in the league,” said Lino, whose family moved to Australia from South Sudan.
“They came here to give us a better life. I’m thankful to my parents for that.”
A Victory win on Saturday will move the Melbourne club eight points clear of the sixth-placed Mariners, who are unbeaten in their past eight matches.
“We have all the belief. We’re just taking it game by game,” Lino said.
“They’re a good team and we’ll respect them … but we’re not too focused on them. We’re most focused on us.”
