EXCLUSIVE: FC Utrecht's Adam Sarota has looked back on his first season in European club football, including a frightening incident which saw him attacked by opposition fans.
The 22-year-old Australian, who won his first-ever Socceroos call-up last month after an impressive run in the Utrecht first-team, caught up with au.fourfourtwo.com to reflect on his debut season in the Dutch Eredivisie.
While the ex-Brisbane Roar midfielder recalls his Socceroos call-up with glee, he's far less fond of his memories of a harrowing experience where was set upon by opposition fans following last month's Dutch Cup semi-final at FC Twente.
The incident was widely condemned in the Netherlands after one of Sarota's teammates was beaten and robbed by Twente fans.
“It was the Dutch Cup semi-final and we ended up losing the game, so the home fans should've been happy,” Sarota said.
“It was me, two other players (Frank Demouge and Ismo Vorstermans) and Tommy Oar's brother. We were walking to our car parks but they were a bit further away than normal and we had to go past the fans corner where they drink after the game.
“I put my beanie on and pretended to be on the phone. We were walking and all of a sudden I heard in Dutch someone saying 'Two Utrechters', I wasn't sure if I understood properly so I looked at Frank who was with me and he was like 'we have to go, we have to go' and I turned and I could see literally about 40 people running towards us.
“I started running with Frank and went to a more secure place. Once we got there we thought 'where's Ismo?' We couldn't find him, we tried calling him. Security looked for him, but we couldn't find him.
“We thought maybe he's at the car waiting for us and that's where we found him.
“He said someone yelled out he's from Utrecht and all of a sudden someone just grabbed him, they punched him in the back of the head and he got kicked a couple of times, then they stole his phone and then he somehow got out.
“He also heard them say something about us and that's when all of them ran towards us. That's when he got away.”
None of the players were seriously injured in the incident but Utrecht lodged an official complaint to the KNVB while the Dutch media condemned the Twente fans involved in the attack.
With the benefit of time, though, Sarota is calm about the attack.
Sarota added: “Everything's fine now. At the time I was a bit worried and scared.
“Looking back it's one of those things you'll never forget. Something like that hasn't happened for a long time.”
Asked if there's a lesson in it, Sarota laughed: “Hopefully next time they'll give us better car parks.”
On a more positive note, the Cairns-born midfielder looked back on his debut Socceroos call-up.
Sarota won his call-up after impressing Australia coach Holger Osieck during the training camp in Duisburg before being invited to join the first-team squad in Moenchengladbach for the Germany friendly.
The Utrecht man was an unused substitute in the friendly but recalled being in the changerooms after the memorable 2-1 win.
“Holger was pretty delighted because he's from Germany,” he said. “It was actually pretty funny being in the changeroom with everyone and just singing. It was great.
“Everyone was expecting Germany to beat us. We proved that we are not that bad of a footballing nation.”
Sarota continued he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the Australian camp, particularly rubbing shoulders with some high-profile but down-to-earth Socceroos, like Harry Kewell and Lucas Neill.
“You never know what to expect. I'd seen them on TV and I'd always looked up to them,” Sarota said.
“When I was actually at the camp and met a couple of the guys they were pretty down to earth. I don't know if that's because they're Australian but they were pretty easy to talk to. There was no real big 'I'm this, you're that', I spoke to them like they were just another person, so it was really good.”
Sarota also spoke with Osieck about his further prospects with the Socceroos.
“He said if you keep doing what you're doing then there's no reason why you can't come to the next Socceroos camp,” Sarota said.
“It's the same with everyone if you're playing first-team football with your club then you're always a chance for the Socceroos.”
Sarota's Utrecht host Vitesse Arnhem in the Eredivisie on Sunday.
Related Articles

Socceroos midfielder embraces move to England

Cardiff City snap up sought-after Socceroos starlet
