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When FourFourTwo first heard FC Utrecht’s Aussie trio of Tommy Oar, Adam Sarota and Michael Zullo were living in a house together in Holland, our imagination ran away with us a little.

Images of a bachelor pad with dirty boots, pizza boxes, PlayStation games and DVDs all over the place and a big Aussie flag hanging out on the balcony came to mind. Three teenage footballers living unsupervised in a foreign country? How did they luck into that one? And more to the point, how did the club allow it?

Thankfully, the reality is a little bit more refined, with the former Brisbane Roar stars living in what looks very much like a Dutch stately home. Each player has their own self-contained apartment within the house, living close enough to see each other every day but with enough privacy to have their own space.

Situated just outside the pretty student town of Utrecht, the Aussie boys’ house is part of a larger estate which features stables, a large barn and an assortment of farmyard animals.

It was the childhood home of the FC Utrecht owner, sold when he was younger but re-purchased a few years ago and now converted into beautiful, high-ceilinged apartments to house the club’s foreign signings.

It’s not your typical footballers’ house but then Tommy, Adam and Michael are not your typical footballers.

After attending a ‘training experience’ at FC Utrecht last year, the trio impressed enough to win themselves contracts with the Europa League-bound side. All three ‘trainees’ signing with a club after a trial is virtually unheard of but it speaks volumes of not only these young players’ talents but also of a maturity beyond their years.

Despite all three having their own distinct personalities – Oar is quiet and thoughtful, Sarota is animated and friendly while Zullo is the most talkative of the group – they clearly click off the field as much as they do on it.

As FourFourTwo settles down to chat to lads about their experiences living together in a foreign country, breaking into the Utrecht team and stepping up for the Socceroos, it’s hard not to believe them when they say they haven’t had an argument in the nine months they’ve been living together.

So how do three Aussie lads end up in what looks like a posh Dutch stately home?

Tommy: Originally we were all living in the same house not far from here but I think it’s a better situation now that we’ve all got our own apartments. It means we can have our own privacy and do our own thing. Also we all have family coming over fairly often during the year so that helps too, in that we can have people to stay without being on top of each other. We’re still in the same building so we get to see each other all the time. It’s perfect really for what we want to do. It’s not so much that we were on top of each other in the old place but now we don’t have to be concerned about having people to stay and how it will affect the other two. It’s the best of both worlds. We’re all together so we can hang out whenever we want but we also have the individual space when we need it.

Adam: In the old place there was only one shower and you had to go through my room to get there which wasn’t the best. So this now is luxury compared to the last place.

So is there a ‘mum’ of the group who tells people to tidy up or a ‘dad’ who tells the others off?

Michael: Not so much that. We all work together really well – we’re all similar in many ways but there’s also a lot of differences in our personalities too. At times there’s going to be things we do differently but, to be honest, I can’t actually remember a time when we’ve had an argument about anything. And we’ve been living together for nine months so that’s not too bad. It’s turned out pretty well I guess.

So who’s the tidy one out of the group?

Tommy: Zulls’ room is pretty spotless. Adam is pretty tidy as well. I reckon I’m the messiest…

Adam: Yeah, Tommy’s the dirty one! [laughs] And Michael is the one who likes to cook out of all of us… [laughs again]

Michael: A lot has been made of me liking to cook and I just want to say that it has nothing to do with any kind of feminine trait! I just like good food.

Adam: I think it comes down to Michael being the only one who can cook something that we’re willing to eat. Me and Tommy can’t really cook at all. We do all the cleaning up – it’s a good system. Zulls cooks and we do all the cleaning afterwards.

So what’s your ‘go to’ dish, Michael?

Michael: [pause] I don’t know really…

Tommy: Pasta, I reckon.

Michael: Yeah, that’s right. I like to make a good pasta dish. You know, on a Sunday afternoon, you can let the sauce cook for four or five hours. It’s fantastic actually. I’m not going to lie. I’m gonna put that out there.

So what’s the best and the worst thing about living with each other?

Adam: The best thing is that because we’re all in the same situation, we can rely on one another a lot when things get tough. If one of us gets homesick then there’s always someone to talk to who’s been through it as well. The worst thing is… I’m not sure now but maybe when we were living with each other there were little things that annoyed each other but now we’re living by ourselves more there’s no real negatives to speak of.

Tommy: I think half of the reason that we came to the same club was that we would be able to live together. It helped it become less of a culture shock, so from that perspective I don’t think there is a negative to the situation.

Michael: For me, when a footballer moves to another country, he’s usually by himself, unless he has a wife or a girlfriend. But for us, when we have to do something like go to the shops, then we can do it together. If you want to go out for dinner at night, then we can go out the three of us instead of going out by yourself which would obviously be a pretty lonely experience. That is a huge bonus.

Were you all good friends while you were at the Roar?

Tommy: We all knew each other back in Brisbane but naturally it has progressed since we’ve been living together. At the end of last season at the Roar, Adam and I were room-mates for away games.

Adam: I’ve known Michael since I was 10. We’ve always played in the same teams back at home and our parents are pretty close. My dad speaks to his dad a lot.

Michael: Moving to a foreign club with another Aussie or someone you knew would’ve been a really positive thing but to have to guys from the same team that you know well is as good as it gets when it comes to moving to another country. It changes everything. It makes everything so much easier.

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Is it good to be living with team-mates? Do you talk about football all the time?

Tommy: To be honest, not really. We don’t go out of our way not to talk about football but we all have other interests as well.

Michael: I think it’s because we’re Australian, we’re all pretty easygoing. While we realise football is our livelihood, I think if you focus too much on it then maybe you put too much pressure on yourself. You need to take a break from work in any walk of life.

So how is it for a young guy to move to a foreign country and immediately have to concentrate on establishing yourself in a football team? Was it daunting? Was there a part of you that was worried about the move?

Adam: For me, it wasn’t a massive deal as I used to live in Germany. I lived in Cologne for two years and I did that by myself, so I knew what to expect. Also the culture shock hasn’t been that big as I thought, because they speak a lot of English here. It makes it hard when you’re trying to learn the language as everyone speaks to you in English.

Tommy: At the start it was different but slowly we’ve all got used to it. It’s helped that we’ve had our families come and visit us, and Michael and I have been back to visit them at Christmas.

Michael: I did take me a bit of time to get used to it, because this is my first time living away from home. It’s a long way from Australia, there’s no two ways about it, and I’ve always been very close to my family and friends.

How’s speaking the language going?

Adam: We can understand the football terms pretty well, when they’re being shouted on the field. And a little bit of general Dutch.

Michael: We’re not bad. I think we’re getting there. It’s quite a difficult language to grasp and it’s made harder because we’re never really out of our comfort zone as literally everyone here speaks English. And not just to communicate with you – most people speak it to a level that is really impressive. Even the elderly people speak English so we know we can always use it if need be.

Adam: And when most people start a conversation they begin by speaking English anyway, so then of course, I’m going to reply in English to them!

Have you been getting out and about?

Michael: Yeah, we’ve been taking in a few concerts. Adam and I went to see Usher a few weeks ago in Amsterdam. It was on a Sunday and a couple of the boys in the team asked if we wanted to go and we said yes. It was only 40 euros. Then I heard a few of my friends went to see him in Brisbane and you had to buy tickets the minute they came out and some people were paying $250 for a ticket. From that point of view, it’s great if you’re into your music – so much cheaper and relaxed if you want to see your favourite artists.

Tommy: That’s one of the one things I’ve really liked about living here is that we’ve been to a fair few gigs since we arrived. In Australia it’s very expensive to see the big acts and the people who come don’t make it there very often. Here, because we’re so close to Amsterdam, we can go and see so many groups for a fraction of the price.

Adam: That’s one thing I didn’t realise about Tommy before I lived with him – how much he loved music. I knew he always liked it but I didn’t know to what depth. After training he’ll always be listening to his music and whenever there’s breaking news about his favourite bands, he always seems to know about it. He’s got a guitar too, so I guess I just didn’t know how passionate he was about it.

 

Have you seen much of the rest of Holland?

Adam: We go to the city [Utrecht] a lot and have coffee along the canals but we haven’t really had a chance to do the big touristy thing as we’re training and playing a lot of the time.

Tommy: When we play a team in Rotterdam, for example, we’ll obviously see a little bit of the town when we’re there but we’re there for the game, so there’s no time to look around. We’ve travelled to all parts of the country already but haven’t seen more that just the road to the stadium and back out again.

Michael: We’ve been to Amsterdam a lot. When we first got here it was hard to fathom that it was only 25 minutes away on a train and it’s a completely different city with its own culture and surroundings. And our Dutch teacher took us to his town and it was like a little tiny fairytale place. There’s so many places like that all around the country.

Adam: I think we’re at an advantage living in Utrecht as we’re in the centre of Holland and it’s not very far to drive to Amsterdam or Rotterdam to check out a new place.

How do you guys keep in touch with things at home?

Tommy: I speak to my family and friends a fair bit on Skype but that’s pretty much it. When I first moved over I guess I spoke to them every day but as I’ve been here longer it’s been less and less.

Adam: I use Skype for speaking to my family too but with most of my friends it’s Facebook.

Michael: We’re lucky that we live in a time when we have these things that allow us to communicate to people. Of course we’re missing out on things physically but in other ways you don’t feel like you’re too far away because you’re keeping in touch with what’s going on at home through the social network. And my parents call me about every five hours! Then if I don’t pick up, they immediately call his [points at Adam] parents to find out why I’m not picking up and then he doesn’t pick up... It’s a vicious cycle!

What do you miss most about Australia?

Tommy: The beach and the warm weather. I really miss the sun during winter. To be honest, it’s been quite nice here over the last few weeks but during the winter you just don’t see the sun for months. I don’t mind the snow – I actually liked it as it was a new experience – but on the really cold days when it was minus temperatures, it’s not nice.

Adam: I’m going to have to say family and friends because I think if they were here with me, then I’d enjoy being here just as much as I do home. Being so far away from them really makes me realise how important they are to me. I think I could be happy wherever I am as long as I had them with me.

Michael: It’s hard to put my finger on it but I just love my life in Australia. It’s a really enjoyable place to live, especially my suburb in Brisbane. I love living in West End. I miss the really simple things, like hanging out with a good friend or just hanging out doing nothing.

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This article appeared in the June 2011 issue of Australian FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.

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