Juan Mata had been written off, another caught in the mire of Australian football despite being a World Cup winner. Ever-smiling, now the 38-year-old also has the last laugh, having won the A-League Men’s Johnny Warren medal, the award for the competition’s player of the year.
After receiving the accolade, the out-of-contract Melbourne Victory playmaker said he wondered at the start of the season whether he would even go around again.
“There is a time in your career where you start getting older and sometimes it takes more effort to get up in the morning, to go to training, and after last season in Sydney – I enjoyed very much the league, the lifestyle and everything but I didn’t play so much – I was thinking what I wanted to do with my life,” he said.
“But Melbourne Victory appeared and again I fell in love with football.”
Mata had endured a difficult introduction to Australia in 2024, after he signed with Western Sydney Wanderers following brief spells in Turkey and Japan. At the time, the arrangement made sense: both club and player – whose peaks were years past – were looking to bring joy back to football.
Yet Mata found himself unable to prove to then-Wanderers coach Alen Stajcic that he was worth a starting position, and played just 582 minutes across the season.
Undeterred by Mata’s first year in Australia, Melbourne Victory signed him. The club’s head of football John Didulica and coach Arthur Diles appreciated the former Manchester United and Chelsea player’s on-field qualities and dressing room presence, and Mata – deployed in a prominent attacking role – was a player reborn.
This season he played 1,684 minutes, scoring five times and assisting others for 13 goals, in a season of promise that ultimately ended suddenly. Victory were unlucky to lose to Sydney FC in the elimination final.
Mata said he would have traded the Johnny Warren medal for club success, and expressed his appreciation for the Melbourne club.
“They created a context and an environment in which I could enjoy football again,” he said. Everyone in the club, my teammates, they have a fantastic culture, and it is a privilege to be part of this.”
Mata’s future is uncertain. He said after receiving the award he would now take some time to consider his options. He is yet to confirm even whether he will play again.
“That’s the big question for me now, what I want to do in my life – if I want to keep playing or not,” he said. “It’s difficult to stop when you’re enjoying. It’s also a good time to stop when things are going well. That’s what I said [after he won] the Victory medal, and that’s the way I feel.
“So I want to go back to Europe, take some time, and make the decision. I’m happy here and the club is trying to do everything they can and I’m very grateful for that. I’m very grateful to the league also. I will take some time and decide, with a Melbourne coffee maybe.”
