Portsmouth FC's very own "Messi" can guide them to the play-offs - he has huge motivation too | OneFootball

Adrian Segecic has started well on the South Coast - as the Aussie targets a place at next summer's World Cup

Portsmouth have been big fans of bringing in Australians over the last couple of years.

Since the arrival of Sporting Director Richard Hughes, Pompey have had no fewer than seven players who either hail from down under or represent the Socceroos at international level.

There have been mixed fortunes for them, with then-Manchester City loanee Alex Robertson being a huge success in Pompey's League One promotion-winning season before an injury at the back end of 2023 forced him to miss the rest of the campaign. Likewise, Kusini Yengi scored some important goals in that title-winning year before struggling with injuries last season in the Championship.

However, Samuel Silvera will go down as one of the worst Pompey loanees of recent history, with him being booed off the pitch in a defeat at Bristol City last December, unsurprisingly signalling the end of his loan from Middlesbrough - whilst the likes of Jacob Farrell and Thomas Waddingham are still young players who will no doubt continue to grow with age and time.

However, there is one man that Pompey have brought in that has instantly hit the ground running - and there are many signs that point to this being a masterstroke of a signing by John Mousinho and Hughes.

Adrian Segecic has enjoyed a strong start at Portsmouth

The Westmead-born 21-year-old was, unsurprisingly, relatively unheard of when he was brought to these shores by Pompey in the summer - but there's reason to believe that the entire division will certainly be well aware of his prowess soon enough.

The man dubbed the 'Aussie Messi' was on target in Portsmouth's opening-day 1-0 win at Oxford United, with a beautiful sweeping finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after Jamie Cumming had saved Colby Bishop's initial one-on-one opportunity.

Segecic, at 5ft 8in, is only an inch taller than the Argentine legend, hence why the comparisons could start to be made without a ball being kicked. However, his style of play is similar in some ways to the great man - with Segecic able to use his small stature to keep hold of the ball and either create opportunities for himself or his team-mates, as was exhibited by this beautiful assist when playing for the ASEAN All-Stars against Manchester United earlier this summer.

That, added to a couple of impressive pre-season showings, shows why Pompey may well have brought in a gem for this season. The aims for Pompey, agreed on by most of the supporters, are pretty simple really - avoid being in a relegation dogfight (alas, it took until October last year for Pompey to win their first game of the season, so that monkey is now off their back.)

As well as avoiding defeat in the two fixtures against their arch-rivals Southampton, as the South Coast derby returns in the league this campaign for the first time since the 2011/12 season.

However, if Saturday's result was anything to go by - which also saw the return of the centre-back duo of Conor Shaughnessy and Regan Poole, a duo that have never lost a game when they've played together, then maybe Pompey could even be outsiders to nick a play-off berth in what is still their second campaign back at this level.

Adrian Segecic has World Cup motivation - it could have big Portsmouth effect

Segecic, despite having Croatian heritage, has represented Australia in multiple different youth age groups but is still yet to make an appearance for the senior side, though that is expected to change before the end of the year if he continues this form up.

And, of course, it is not lost on him that it is a World Cup year - and there's no doubt that he'd certainly be in manager Tony Popovic's plans for the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer should he continue his excellent start to life in England.

The World Cup will doubtless be a huge source of motivation for Segecic, and his own desire to feature in the game's most prestigious tournament could also have a positive effect for Portsmouth, who could see the winger's performances elevated in an added bid to impress.

There's no doubt that fans of the Australian National Team will know all about him following his Golden Boot-tying season in the A-League last campaign, but now Pompey - and wider English football - are starting to realise just how much of a talent Segecic is.