Josh Cavallo Photo: IC

Australian midfielder Josh Cavallo said that he was overwhelmed by the outpouring of global support after coming out as the only known gay men's footballer playing in a top-flight league.

The 21-year-old, who plays for Adelaide United in Australia's A-League, said on social media on Wednesday, "I'm a footballer and I'm gay."

His decision to go public won plaudits throughout the footballing world and beyond, with legendary Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic tweeting, "You are a champion. Football is for everyone. Big respect."

Antoine Griezmann, ­Marcus Rashford, Raphael Varane, Gerard Pique and David de Gea all tweeted their support.

"Huge respect to Josh for doing this," tweeted Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson.

"It's courageous and shares an important message that everyone deserves to be themselves no matter what."

Major clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan all applauded Cavallo, as did world governing body FIFA, while Spanish giants Barcelona thanked him for "taking a huge step forward." 

"Your courage contributes to normalising diversity in the world of sports," Barcelona said.

Cavallo, who has represented Australia at under-20 level, said he was stunned by the response.

"I want to get a message across to the world to show that it doesn't matter who you are, what you believe in or what culture or background you come from, everyone is accepted in football," he told Sky Sports. "It should be based on your talent, not on what you look like or believe in.

"At the end of the day we are in 2021 and it's time to change this in football. To have this day today, I'm so overwhelmed and happy with the response I've received."