At his first press conference since signing with Adelaide United, Tomi Juric is thrilled to be returning to the Club and was looking forward to playing under Carl Veart.
Juric experienced a brief stint with the Reds when he joined midway through the 2012/13 season where he scored two goals in seven games.
- READ MORE: Veart hails Juric’s qualities
Now 29 and after spending the past five years abroad playing in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Bulgaria, Juric believed the time was right to come back to Australia.
“I guess it’s nice to begin another new chapter where I began my first new chapter in Australia,” Juric told reporters at Coopers Stadium after recently completing his mandatory 14-day quarantine period.
“I’m happy to be back and I’m happy be out of this quarantine, and breathe in some fresh air and be back in a familiar place where I had a good time.”
Juric revealed he was quickly convinced Adelaide was the ideal destination following discussions with Director of Football, Bruce Djite, and Veart.
He added that the fact he shares a very similar philosophy to Veart’s – one of an attacking style – made the decision extremely easy, coupled with the fact he plays in the same position that the 50-year-old once did.
“I just spoke to Bruce (Djite) and I spoke to Carl (Veart) about the situation of the Club and just kind of really felt like the right fit at this point in time,” he said.
“What I’m after in my career which is obviously minutes, games and getting things back on track.”
The former FC Luzern forward has been capped 41 times by the Socceroos while netting eight goals, but has not been in the national team set up since the end of 2018.
He said his main focus first and foremost is to perform consistently and the rest will take care of itself.
“I think that will come in itself, as long as I do my job as well as I can here,” Juric, who has featured in three major tournaments for his country, admitted.
“Get regular minutes, get on the scoresheet as much as I can, help the squad move forward and achieve a good result this season.
“And I think all the Socceroos things – they’re not my first plan at this point in time – but I’m sure that’ll come around when I deserve my chance.”
Juric added he hopes to play an attractive brand of football and is confident that can transpire which will get the Reds supporters excited.
“It’s just basically to play some attacking football, something exciting a good brand of football,” he said.
“And we hope to bring that to the fans especially in this hard time and get everyone to the stadium and start to enjoy football again.”
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