Brandon Borrello
Brandon Joel Gaetano Borrello is an Australian professional association football player who plays as a right winger for A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers and the Australia national team.
Borrello moved to Brisbane in 2011 where he played for Brisbane Roar, for whom he made his A-League Men debut in November 2013. In the following seasons, he established himself in the first-team and as one of Brisbane's most potent attackers, helping his side towards qualifications in both the A-League Finals Series and AFC Champions League. Borrello eventually moved to Germany where he remained for 5 years before moving back to Australia with Western Sydney Wanderers in July 2022.
Early life
Borrello was born on 25 July 1995 in Adelaide, Australia, to parents of Italian heritage, and grew up in Salisbury Downs. He began his football journey playing for local clubs in the Adelaide area, including Salisbury United, Salisbury Villa, Western Strikers, and Modbury Jets. From a young age, Borrello and his family avidly followed the "Socceroos" matches, fostering his passion for the sport. From then on, representing Australia on the international stage became his childhood dream.Borrello's initial football development took place at Salisbury Villa and later continued at the Royal Park-based Western Strikers, where he joined at the age of nine. Despite being part of the South Australian Sports Institute program, in 2011, Borrello's family relocated to Brisbane when Borrello was offered a soccer scholarship at the Queensland Academy of Sport that provided top-tier training facilities and coaching to further his development as a player.
In his high school years, Borrello attended St Columban's College and graduated from the college in 2013.
Club career
Brisbane Roar
2013–2015
In late October 2013, Borrello received his first call-up to the A-League squad for Brisbane Roar ahead of the clash against Melbourne Hearts on 3 November. He made his senior debut on the day, coming off the bench in the 74th minute, where Brisbane won 3–0 at Suncorp Stadium. Leading up to April 2014, Borrello still played within the youth squad for the A-League Youth tournemount where he was named NYL Player of the Year by the end of the 2013–14 season.Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Borrello would find a place within the first team following the absence of Besart Berisha who was out with an injury. On 8 November 2014, Borrello scored his first goal for the club where his lost 3–1 at home to Sydney FC. On 4 March 2015, he scored his first AFC Champions League goal, netting the only goal in the 2nd minute, in a 1–0 win over Urawa Reds, handing them their second consecutive defeat in the group stage. Four days later, Borrello scored the winning goal, his second that same week, in a league tie against Western Sydney Wanderers where he contributed to a 1–0 victory to put his club on 6th place in the league table and into finals contention. Following his decisive performances, Borrello was named March Nominee for Young Footballer of the Year.
Borrello was named as one out of five Young Footballer of the Year nominees at the end of the league season, but lost the award to Adelaide United's midfielder James Jeggo.
2015–2017
On 18 October 2015, Borrello scored twice to secure a 2–1 victory over Central Coast Mariners. Two rounds later, he scored two goals again, including a stoppage-time brace, to seal a 3–0 win against Adelaide United. By early November, Borrello contributed to a third of Brisbane's total goals, scoring 4 goals in 7 appearances and earning him the October nominee for the Hyundai A-League's NAB Young Footballer of the Year award. His lethal form in front of goal led his coach John Aloisi to give Borrello a permanent starting-position over Henrique on the wing, and tipped him for success into becoming a full Australian international in the future.On 27 December, Borrello scored his 5th goal of the season in a 3–1 win over Melbourne City. Following the match, Borrello didn't score for the remainder of the campaign and finished the season with 5 goals in 22 appearances. He missed out on the Young Footballer of the Year award for a second time, coming short of teammate Jamie Maclaren. On 10 February 2016, Borrello signed a two-year contract with Brisbane Roar. In the subsequent season, following a poor league start due to Maclaren's dip in form, Borrello scored the winning goal in Brisbane's 2–1 win against Perth Glory on 30 October 2016, to give his side their second win out of five rounds. However, for the next months, he found himself sitting on the bench, due to hamstring problems, leading him to lose a starting place within the squad.
After recovering by December, on 21 January 2017, Borrello retained his starting place and continued to contribute, earning Man of the match after assisting the winner to Maclaren, in a crucial 1–0 win over Wellington Phoenix to bring them eight points behind Melbourne Victory who sat second. His performance was described as brilliant by Aloisi, whilst Borrello afterwards stated it was “just a snippet of what’s to come”. On 30 January, in an AFC Champions League play-off match, Borrello scored a record 4 goals, the most scored by any A-League player, in a 6–0 thrashing against Global at Suncorp Stadium. In the next round, Borrello provided an assist and the winning goal, most notably in Carlos Tevez's debut, in a 2–0 away victory over Shanghai Shenhua, helping his side qualify to the group stage. He was nominated in January 2017 for the Young Footballer of the Year award for the 2016–17 season.
1. FC Kaiserslautern
On 26 May 2017, it was announced that Borrello had signed a three-year deal with 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Kaiserslautern after his buyout clause was triggered. However, his initial months with the club saw him mostly sitting on the bench during the league campaign.It wasn't until 9 September 2017 that Borrello made his club debut, coming off the bench in the 57th minute in a 2–1 loss against Holstein Kiel at Holstein-Stadion. Despite making his debut, Borrello struggled to find consistent playing time under manager Jeff Strasser and only managed to make three appearances by the end of October, leading him to be delegated to the U23 team. Borrello's fortunes changed when he replaced Nicklas Shipnoski in the starting lineup and earned his first start for the club on 3 November 2017 against Bochum.
Under new manager Michael Frontzeck, following the departure of Strasser due to health problems, Borrello established himself as a regular starter within his system and on 28 February 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 away win against Darmstadt. The following match on 2 March, Borrello showcased an outstanding individual display against Union Berlin, when he scored the opening goal in the fifth minute, a volley from outside the box, putting his side 1–0 up. Later in the match, he won his side a penalty and provided an assist to contribute to a thrilling 4–3 victory for Kaiserslautern. His impressive performances drew attention, and he was even considered a potential candidate for the 2018 World Cup Australia squad by the media. However, he was ultimately overlooked by coach Bert van Marwijk in the final selection.
On 24 April, during a training session, Borrello suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in his right knee that ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Following Kaiserslautern's relegation to the 3. Liga at the end of the season, Borrello looked to depart the club and finished his campaign with 3 goals and 8 assists in 19 league appearances.
SC Freiburg
On 23 July 2018, Borrello made a move to the Bundesliga club SC Freiburg, for an undisclosed transfer fee, although some reports stated it was on free due to Borrello's working paper expiring sooner with Kaiserslautern than its initial date in June 2020. In terms of the contract, Borrello was not paid by the club at the time whilst he was rehabilitating and was instead paid by the employers' liability insurance association for the first few months. He did not play any competitive football or participated in training sessions until February 2019 when he started training with the second team.2018–2020: Comeback and Bundesliga debut
Continuing his progress and working towards a full recovery, Borrello featured for the U23 team for the remainder of the season. He made his competitive return on 21 February 2019 in a regional league match against TSV Steinbach. Borrello gradually increased his involvement with the U23s and by 13 April, he had made 6 appearances for the team where he had played the full 90 minutes in the last matches against Elversberg and Astoria Walldorf respectively. By the end of the season, Borrello had amassed a total of 9 league appearances solely with the second team.The following season marked Borrello's return to training with the first team, and in a symbolic gesture of his comeback, he shaved off his trademark beard. On 17 August, he finally made his long-awaited Bundesliga debut, starting in a 3–1 win against Mainz. In the early stages of the season, Borrello made 7 league appearances for SC Freiburg, with 4 of them being starts, helping the team accumulate 26 points in the league table. However, due to his relative inexperience and the need for further improvement at the top level, Borrello was eventually dropped from the squad by coach Christian Streich. Nonetheless, Borrello remained with the team for the 2020–2021 season and participated in the training camp in Austria to gain first-team experience before the possibility of loan offers was considered as part of his development.
2020–2021: Loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf
On 1 September 2020, Borrello joined 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf on a one-year loan deal. Just five days later, he made his unofficial debut in an exhibition match against Paderborn, where he provided an assist for the winning goal. His competitive debut for Fortuna Düsseldorf came on 12 September in a DFB Pokal tie against Ingolstadt, which his team won 1–0. Throughout the majority of the campaign, Borrello primarily made appearances off the bench. However, his performances garnered criticism from fans and media regarding his effectiveness in attack. Coach Uwe Rösler defended Borrello, stating, “I have no understanding for that. He is an absolute team player and has an enviable character.”On 7 March 2021, Borrello played a crucial role, contributing with an assist in a 3–1 victory against Nürnberg to help his side close the gap for a top 4 finish. This performance marked his first significant contribution after initially finding it challenging to adapt as a substitute. Subsequently, on 3 May, Borrello scored his first goal for the club just five minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 win against Karlsruher SC at the Merkur Spiel-Arena. Fortuna Düsseldorf finished the season in 5th place, with Borrello's performances excelling during the final phase of the campaign. Borrello returned to SC Freiburg following the expiration of his loan on 24 May.