Melbourne Victory have an increasingly strong chance to win the Australia Cup after defeating Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday to move into the quarter-finals, as other A-League rivals have fallen elsewhere at pace.

The Victory’s last trophy came in this competition in January 2022; should they fail to win this time, that drought will stretch beyond five years. They have gone close – losing three finals across competitions in that time – but look primed on this occasion with a settled squad, with just one of Saturday’s starting eleven new to the club this season.

There is, however, a new man in the dugout. Former-Venezuela striker Giovanni Savarese arrives in Australia as little-known among the Victory faithful, but can ingratiate himself with success over the coming weeks. They’ll be one of just two A-League sides in the quarter-finals; expectations are rising.

‘Certainly, [the Cup] is a priority for us. With the Asia qualification that comes with winning the Cup, it shouldn’t and can’t be dismissed’, Didulica told Box2Box.

‘It does come at an awkward time. That was only our second competitive game and we’ve played 120 minutes in quite tough conditions; it’s not easy to make sure players are fit enough to get through 120 without burning them out by the time the A-League season proper starts.

‘But we’re quite determined to go as far as we can and hopefully win it. We lost the [Cup] final the year before last, two of the last three A-League Grand Finals, so we’re pretty keen to get some silverware.’

Savarese is the club’s first permanent foreign manager since Marco Kurz, whose 2019 appointment pre-dated Didulica’s arrival. Australians Tony Popovic, Patrick Kisnorbo and Arthur Diles precede Savarese; as such, his signing represents a change of direction in recent times.

There is a school of thought Australian clubs – and particularly one of Victory’s size – should generally back their own, both in support of the local game, and acknowledgment that the intricacies of its unique market are likely harder to navigate for non-natives, at least initially.

But Didulica is confident Savarese’s background has him strongly positioned to handle the task. Five years as manager of New York Cosmos and over six at Portland Thorns in the MLS saw him win four trophies, while his playing career took him through Italy, the UK, Venezuela and the US.

‘I loved Giovanni’s profile as a coach. Growing up in South America before spending his formative playing years in Europe meant a really diverse education in football’, said Didulica.

‘In the A-League you’re constrained by the salary cap, roster rules, caps on foreigners. Equally you’ve got a really eclectic roster mix. We have Juan Mata at one end, one of the all-time greats of the modern era and then three-to-four kids who are eighteen years old, participating in their first professional experience… and that’s quite similar to an MLS roster as well.

‘So having the ability to bring all these disparate threads together is a key skill Australian coaches do innately, can be more of a challenge for European coaches, but I think we’ve got a really happy medium with Giovanni.’

Didulica also spoke on outgoing manager Arthur Diles, who led the club to two finals series including the 2025 Grand Final in his near-two seasons as manager, but did not have his contract renewed in May. He made it clear he wanted to continue at Victory, and has since been appointed manager of Vietnam’s Cong An Ho Chi Minh City.

‘It was a board decision, ultimately. Arthur had been a great steward of the club during his time as head coach, the eighteen months before that working with Tony Popovic. We gave him the opportunity and confidence to see his contract through.

‘Ultimately we had our home final, which is sort of the minimum expectation. With the contract coming to an end, it was thought from the board to get a reset. But certainly Arthur did a great job and everyone at the club is really fond of him, and we’re very thankful for his contribution during his time at the club.’