Mark Schwarzer caused a stir with his comments on Zeljko Kalac and Guus Hiddink. We met the Socceroo stopper to talk about his love of a different kind of beef: the good ol’ Aussie pie
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Football is built on rivalries, and Mark Schwarzer knows a thing or two about them.
The dust has well and truly settled on the Socceroos’ World Cup exploits but not, it seems, on a few issues that arose over in Germany.
If you read the papers, listened to the radio or watched TV last October you’d have noticed Schwarzer ruffling a few feathers. A few high-profile feathers.
Schwarzer’s book World Cup Destiny – not to mention his supporting interviews – raised a few eyebrows as he went to task detailing Guus Hiddink’s man management failings. He also, for the first time, went public about what he thought of Zeljko Kalac’s criticisms of his form leading into the tournament.
Up until then, everything seemed rosy. The interviews and footage beamed in from Germany showed a close-knit side: all laughs at training and players enjoying downtime. Indeed, the only stories to report anything distinctly negative were Kalac’s comments. But even those stories blew over and the games themselves rightfully dominated headlines.
Giving it back to Kalac in the book is understandable but having a go at the previously bullet-proof Hiddink. Where did that come from?
“The problem is when you write a book you’ve got to be honest and tell it like it is, and I think Mark has done that in the book and it comes out exceptionally well,” says Frank Farina, the man credited with bringing Schwarzer in from the Socceroo “wilderness”. “Some people might be upset about comments that were made but that’s what happens and that’s Mark Schwarzer. He’s honest. He’s not having a go at anyone – I just think he’s telling it the way it is.”
For his part, Schwarzer is adamant that the book hasn’t – and shouldn’t – create team disharmony. He maintains it’s merely a diary of his experience and, importantly is post-tournament; a reflection of Germany.
And the happy embrace Schwarzer shared with Kalac at the end of the Socceroos vs Paraguay match strongly suggested he was right. The pair – known for a rivalry stretching back to their junior days – seemed to bury whatever hatchet there may or may not have been, in that single moment.
“We have been rivals directly at club level probably from about the age of 11 years old so I suppose people do harp on that,” says Schwarzer. “I guess it’s a fact of life… when you get to the point with two goalkeepers who have made it to national level and you’ve come from the same area, that’s going to be the common denominator that people are going to look at.”
While media latched on to the passages in the book about Kalac and critics panned him for having sour grapes for including them, he insists nothing untoward has been said.
“I don’t think he’s got any reason to be upset with it,” he explains. “The only thing that I’ve said in a negative way towards him is that I felt that he was out of order making the comments about my form leading up to the World Cup at club level. I don’t think I’ve said anything in a negative way to him. I’ve even said that I felt sorry for him and the game against Croatia was a bit unfair and that it didn’t show a true reflection of him about what he’s capable of as a keeper.
“Whatever angle someone’s going to pick up on there’s always going to be someone in the press who is going to go with a question or a quote out of the book and take it totally out of the context. If he read the book, or the section that I’ve spoken about him in, then I don’t think he’d have any worries about it or any reason to be upset about it.”
Discover what makes Mark a smarter saver… find out about the NAB iSaver account at www.nab.com.au
The dust has well and truly settled on the Socceroos’ World Cup exploits but not, it seems, on a few issues that arose over in Germany.
If you read the papers, listened to the radio or watched TV last October you’d have noticed Schwarzer ruffling a few feathers. A few high-profile feathers.
Schwarzer’s book World Cup Destiny – not to mention his supporting interviews – raised a few eyebrows as he went to task detailing Guus Hiddink’s man management failings. He also, for the first time, went public about what he thought of Zeljko Kalac’s criticisms of his form leading into the tournament.
Up until then, everything seemed rosy. The interviews and footage beamed in from Germany showed a close-knit side: all laughs at training and players enjoying downtime. Indeed, the only stories to report anything distinctly negative were Kalac’s comments. But even those stories blew over and the games themselves rightfully dominated headlines.
Giving it back to Kalac in the book is understandable but having a go at the previously bullet-proof Hiddink. Where did that come from?
“The problem is when you write a book you’ve got to be honest and tell it like it is, and I think Mark has done that in the book and it comes out exceptionally well,” says Frank Farina, the man credited with bringing Schwarzer in from the Socceroo “wilderness”. “Some people might be upset about comments that were made but that’s what happens and that’s Mark Schwarzer. He’s honest. He’s not having a go at anyone – I just think he’s telling it the way it is.”
For his part, Schwarzer is adamant that the book hasn’t – and shouldn’t – create team disharmony. He maintains it’s merely a diary of his experience and, importantly is post-tournament; a reflection of Germany.
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| Before the heartbreak of 2001 against Uruguay |
And the happy embrace Schwarzer shared with Kalac at the end of the Socceroos vs Paraguay match strongly suggested he was right. The pair – known for a rivalry stretching back to their junior days – seemed to bury whatever hatchet there may or may not have been, in that single moment.
“We have been rivals directly at club level probably from about the age of 11 years old so I suppose people do harp on that,” says Schwarzer. “I guess it’s a fact of life… when you get to the point with two goalkeepers who have made it to national level and you’ve come from the same area, that’s going to be the common denominator that people are going to look at.”
While media latched on to the passages in the book about Kalac and critics panned him for having sour grapes for including them, he insists nothing untoward has been said.
“I don’t think he’s got any reason to be upset with it,” he explains. “The only thing that I’ve said in a negative way towards him is that I felt that he was out of order making the comments about my form leading up to the World Cup at club level. I don’t think I’ve said anything in a negative way to him. I’ve even said that I felt sorry for him and the game against Croatia was a bit unfair and that it didn’t show a true reflection of him about what he’s capable of as a keeper.
“Whatever angle someone’s going to pick up on there’s always going to be someone in the press who is going to go with a question or a quote out of the book and take it totally out of the context. If he read the book, or the section that I’ve spoken about him in, then I don’t think he’d have any worries about it or any reason to be upset about it.”
Discover what makes Mark a smarter saver… find out about the NAB iSaver account at www.nab.com.au
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