Marco Arambasic: From Hakoah to K.V. Mechelen

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After cementing himself as one of the rising young guns of the Football NSW League One Men’s competition in recent years with Hakoah Sydney City East, 18-year-old ace marksman Marco Arambasic has swapped Hensley Athletic Field for the AFAS Stadium, home to Belgian First Division A side K.V. Mechelen.

It was a case of like father like son as Marco followed in the footsteps of his dad, a legendary striker during the National Soccer League days which saw him wear the K.V. Mechelen jersey in the early 90’s amongst several other European clubs.

Asked how the move to Belgium eventuated Marco stated that it was in fact thanks to his father’s contact with the club, that gave him an opportunity to show his worth in one of the toughest leagues in Europe.

“Fortunately, K.V. Mechelen is an old club of my fathers, and he contacted the club a few months back,” the young marksman stated to Football NSW.

“They then followed my progression during the recent NPL season watching matches via the live stream – they saw qualities in my game and offered me a trial.

“It was a case of training and playing trial matches, but I was thankful I got given the opportunity to sign a pro players contract at KV Mechelen until the end of the season with an option and will play in their second team, with the hope that I can ultimately sign a professional contract with their Senior Team in the future.”

Speaking from Belgium, Marco not only dealt with the pressures of performing well to earn himself a deal at the club, but he did all this whilst the Covid pandemic was at its peak earlier this year in Sydney prior to departing.

“I really felt when arriving in Belgium that it was like the great escape from Australia as it was really hitting home.

“From getting the paperwork done through our travel agent to being fully vaccinated, all this kept my parents on their toes.

“We had almost 6 full weeks of lockdown in Sydney before I arrived and the weeks leading into it was very challenging to find a good venue as we could only train in pairs so the program was very individual.

“My dad is a legend in that he gave up a lot of his time and energy in giving me good intense practice sessions.

“Other people who helped me along the way was my Hakoah coach Luka Hrzina and Tzlil our Strength and Conditioning coach at the club. Both gave me good training options and feedback that kept me focused. Also, Paul Okon sent me a volume running program from Club Brugge that definitely helped.”

Having mentioned both Luka and Tzlil as well as his father Zlatko, Marco was appreciative of how Hakoah Sydney City East dealt with the whole process that allowed him to pursue his football dreams in Europe.

“I want to give a special thanks to all the people on the Hakoah board and administration, in particular Paul Heilig for allowing me to leave during my contract period in August and sorting everything out with K.V. Mechelen and the transfer.

“I want to thank Luka (Hrzina) who believed in me and gave me my opportunities to play senior football. He always gave me the confidence to express myself even when I struggled at times adjusting to the tempo of senior football. I want to thank Tzlil for always taking my calls and helping me develop my speed endurance which I struggled with.
“I especially want to thank all the players at the club for being supportive teammates and helping me on the field. Especially James Demetriou and Connor Shaddock who always spoke to me individually and gave me the confidence to play my game taking risks even when sometimes it was not working well.”

A proud father, Zlatko, a former NSL star striker himself, was deeply proud seeing his young boy progress in his footsteps playing top flight football in Belgium.

“I am super proud of my boy,” Zlatko stated to Football NSW.

“He has proved over the last year his capacity to adapt and play at a higher level in the NPL and now for K.V. Mechelen to take him on a professional contract validates to all of us here, who believed in him and his qualities. Professional contracts are very hard to come by these days for Australian players so to have seen him get this was huge.

“Belgium has a good reputation with players in recent years and an easy country to assimilate in culturally. He will be challenged as a foreigner to play ahead of locals, I know this, however, ‘Nothing good comes easy’.

“I know it’s always difficult for a young man to follow in the shadows of his father and all the expectations that come with that. He has had to deal with this and the stigma that comes with it in a competitive environment. I believe he is his own man and will set his own goals and at least now by following in my footsteps, he has a few clear benchmark goals, that he can set for himself to continue his football journey.”