Joey Lynch Close Joey Lynch is a Melbourne-based sports journalist and AYA cancer advocate. Primarily working on football, he has covered the Socceroos, Matildas and A-Leagues for ESPN for over a decade. Sep 15, 2026, 11:25 PM ET MELBOURNE, Australia -- In a moment of serendipity that wouldn't become apparent until almost two months later, one of the first stops that new Melbourne Victory men's boss Giovanni Savarese made in Australia was Lakeside Stadium.

Arriving Down Under after agreeing to become the 11th permanent coach in the A-League Men giants' history and watching them dispatch Tasmanian side Kingborough Lions in their opening Australia Cup fixture, the Venezuelan headed to Albert Park to get a look at Victory's Original Rivalry foes, Adelaide United, who were opening their cup campaign away to South Melbourne. And beyond the football -- his view was that South Melbourne's 2-1 "cupset" of the Reds was a fair result -- one thing that struck the coach was the ambience of it all. Not just the spectacular lakefront location (he's in for a treat when he plays the Central Coast Mariners), but also the celebrations of Hellas in the stadium; the Greek flags in the stands, the tales of the players and coaches that have passed through the club, and the story of the club's 68-year history that dot the walls.

It transported him to his teenage years, in collegiate offseasons in Long Island, New York.- MLS Power Rankings: Chicago's slide continues, Nashville cements top spot- Overy joins Sydney FC from Manchester United to chase Socceroos dream- 'What else can we do?': South Melbourne knocking on A-League door again"It took me back to when I was 19-years-old, and I was in New York, and I played for the Greek Americans [Greek American Atlas Astoria]," Savarese reflected. "It reminded me of the history and the tradition of other cultures that come to a country. Seeing all the Greek flags and the people there. In a stadium that is in a location that is insane -- how perfect that location is is unbelievable.

And then hearing from my staff and other people, the amount of people that have played for that club and the history and the coaches that have been there in the past-it was great to go and watch the game." We now know that Savarese is going to get another, albeit much more hostile, look at those fans on Oct. 10, when Victory face South Melbourne in the final of the Australia Cup, likely at AAMI Park. It's a huge game, not just because silverware and a spot in next year's Asian Champions League Two will be on the line, but because it's a fixture dripping with narrative: the two biggest rivals in Australian football to have never played in a competitive fixture, finally locking horns. On one side stands Victory, standard-bearers of the A-League and either the biggest or second-biggest club in the country, depending on how successful they are in arguing with Sydney FC.

In the other corner is South Melbourne, historic powers banished from the Australian top-flight two decades ago, but who have never stopped advocating for their return, with their latest attempt by way of assuming collapsed Western United's licence, building up a head of momentum. Fortunately, Savarese knows the importance of a good storyline. Over the past couple of decades, the new Victory boss has oft found himself juggling a whistle with a microphone, providing analysis of Major League Soccer -- first with ESPN and then Apple TV.

His role in the media, in fact, continued right up until he signed his contract at Victory, inking the deal in Miami while working for radio broadcaster Fútbol de Primera during the FIFA World Cup. But throughout his time away from it, the dugout, albeit the right dugout, remained where he wanted to be."I was a commentator, but I was a coach," he said. "I was looking for the right adventure, the right club for me to be able to be part of. And there were some opportunities.

There were some situations I felt that maybe were not the right ones....".