Australia, insurance, car, home, live, holidays

The world’s fastest man,Usain Bolt,and Australia’s shortest footballer,Josh Nisbet.Credit:Getty

Nisbet was with Mariners teammates when coach Mark Jackson told him he had been selected. “The club got notified,and they did a good job in presenting it in front of everyone in the team,” Nisbet said on Monday. “It was a very nice moment. The reaction of my teammates was a really nice feeling.

“A few nights ago,when I first found out,I couldn’t really sleep. I was just laying in bed thinking about how one day I wasn’t really playing and the next day I’m in the Socceroos.”

Nisbet has always had talent,but it was often overshadowed by his height,and he struggled to convince coaches he could perform for Central Coast’s first team. He got there eventually during Alen Stajcic’s tenure,and excelled under Nick Montgomery throughout the club’s title-winning 2022-23 season.

In 2024,under Jackson,he has adopted a more attacking role that has returned a league-high seven assists from 21 games and goal of the week for his opener in this month’s 3-0 win over Macarthur.

“I’ve transitioned into a different position,and it’s allowing me to show other spots in my game that haven’t been seen before,” he said. “But I’m just enjoying my football – and I think that’s the most important thing – and the performances have been following.

“It’s probably just confidence. You’re playing in the league,and you’re playing well,and then you keep building on that. And because you’re doing so well,you don’t really think about playing,you just think about enjoying the moment. That’s what I’ve done.

“I’ve come here to try and push my way into the squad,and with the training sessions I can hopefully do that. I understand that I wasn’t the first picked,but football’s a funny game,and if you impress things change.”

Watch every match of the UEFA Champions League,UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League on Stan Sport. All the action streaming ad-free,live and on demand,with select matches in 4K UHD.

Sports news,results and expert commentary.Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

License this article