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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While both keepers had their backers, Schwarzer revealingly tells how he managed to keep his emotions in check for the duration of the tournament. Being dropped for the Croatia game was obviously a bitter pill to swallow, and it took him far closer to boiling point than anyone probably realised at the time.
“My wife complains at times that I’m too diplomatic… maybe not that I’m too diplomatic but too controlled in my emotions and I think that under those circumstances it’s the nature of my job. I think that it’s a definite strength to have that control, because that’s what I did.
“I thought I can let this take over me, or I’ve just got to make sure I can control it as much as I possibly can and obviously be very disappointed (if dropped) but, you know, deal with it and put it to one side and look at the greater picture. And the greater picture was us being in the World Cup, representing our country and hopefully getting through to the final 16.”
Tame or not, the duel of words with Kalac was just the first part of the Middlesbrough’s post-Cup controversy.
While Schwarzer is full of praise for many parts of Hiddink’s management, he was open in his assessment of the Dutchman’s man management. Schwarzer claims he and Kalac were left in no man’s land as to who would be first-choice.
“I think that if you ask Zeljko the same question, I think he would say the same thing,” reveals Schwarzer. “He would have been a lot more comfortable with knowing beforehand and with good notice [too]. I think if you look at the bigger countries that participate in the World Cup… I know with Germany there was a debate for probably 18 months as to who was going to be the number one goalkeeper. One week before the tournament they made a decision to be clear to everybody. And then Croatia, they had three goalkeepers they weren’t sure of and one week before the tournament they made a decision on who would be the number one.
“I think that it would affect you.It did affect us definitely and I think that we could have performed at an even higher level had we had been given that opportunity to know who was playing one way or another. You could concentrate on getting to your peak performance and fitness and being mentally 100 percent for the biggest tournament of your life.”
While he’s the only player to have spoken out, Schwarzer says that he was not alone with his feelings. Josip Skoko and Stan Lazaridis have both admitted to being devastated at not seeing any game time.
“I do know with the outfield players, there were a few players that felt the same way,” he says.
Hiddink himself has addressed the pair in his own book, Dit Is Mign Weerald (This Is My World). While it not dramatically stinging, it is blunt.
“I really wasn’t convinced that either of them could do a great job,” says the Dutchman. “They had strengths but there were some key weaknesses too.”
In the book, Hiddink also concedes he felt he’d made a mistake opting for Kalac in the Croatia game, and that he realises it could have cost our place in the knockout rounds.
Speculation still lingers that Guus may return to lead Australia to South Africa when his contract with Russia expires following Euro 2008. With Schwarzer’s commitment to remain the country’s top keeper until 2010, would he change his view if it meant playing under Guus again?
“No, not at all,” he happily assures. “As I’ve said, I respect Guus as a coach and I said I think he’s a very good coach. But there are certain aspects of his coaching… not his coaching, but his man management skills, that I didn’t agree with and I thought that it could have been dealt with differently.
“People have tried to say, ‘you’re obviously not happy with Guus’. Well that’s not entirely true. If you read what I have said and take in the context of the book and the context of the whole thing, you’ll understand, you’ll see that I rate the guy; I love the guy. It’s got nothing to do with that. It’s my observations and obviously it was directly related to the incidents that I made that assumption, and my opinion.”
Discover what makes Mark a smarter saver… find out about the NAB iSaver account at www.nab.com.au
“My wife complains at times that I’m too diplomatic… maybe not that I’m too diplomatic but too controlled in my emotions and I think that under those circumstances it’s the nature of my job. I think that it’s a definite strength to have that control, because that’s what I did.
“I thought I can let this take over me, or I’ve just got to make sure I can control it as much as I possibly can and obviously be very disappointed (if dropped) but, you know, deal with it and put it to one side and look at the greater picture. And the greater picture was us being in the World Cup, representing our country and hopefully getting through to the final 16.”
Tame or not, the duel of words with Kalac was just the first part of the Middlesbrough’s post-Cup controversy.
While Schwarzer is full of praise for many parts of Hiddink’s management, he was open in his assessment of the Dutchman’s man management. Schwarzer claims he and Kalac were left in no man’s land as to who would be first-choice.
“I think that if you ask Zeljko the same question, I think he would say the same thing,” reveals Schwarzer. “He would have been a lot more comfortable with knowing beforehand and with good notice [too]. I think if you look at the bigger countries that participate in the World Cup… I know with Germany there was a debate for probably 18 months as to who was going to be the number one goalkeeper. One week before the tournament they made a decision to be clear to everybody. And then Croatia, they had three goalkeepers they weren’t sure of and one week before the tournament they made a decision on who would be the number one.
“I think that it would affect you.It did affect us definitely and I think that we could have performed at an even higher level had we had been given that opportunity to know who was playing one way or another. You could concentrate on getting to your peak performance and fitness and being mentally 100 percent for the biggest tournament of your life.”
While he’s the only player to have spoken out, Schwarzer says that he was not alone with his feelings. Josip Skoko and Stan Lazaridis have both admitted to being devastated at not seeing any game time.
“I do know with the outfield players, there were a few players that felt the same way,” he says.
Hiddink himself has addressed the pair in his own book, Dit Is Mign Weerald (This Is My World). While it not dramatically stinging, it is blunt.
“I really wasn’t convinced that either of them could do a great job,” says the Dutchman. “They had strengths but there were some key weaknesses too.”
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| "Big hands, I know you're the one" |
In the book, Hiddink also concedes he felt he’d made a mistake opting for Kalac in the Croatia game, and that he realises it could have cost our place in the knockout rounds.
Speculation still lingers that Guus may return to lead Australia to South Africa when his contract with Russia expires following Euro 2008. With Schwarzer’s commitment to remain the country’s top keeper until 2010, would he change his view if it meant playing under Guus again?
“No, not at all,” he happily assures. “As I’ve said, I respect Guus as a coach and I said I think he’s a very good coach. But there are certain aspects of his coaching… not his coaching, but his man management skills, that I didn’t agree with and I thought that it could have been dealt with differently.
“People have tried to say, ‘you’re obviously not happy with Guus’. Well that’s not entirely true. If you read what I have said and take in the context of the book and the context of the whole thing, you’ll understand, you’ll see that I rate the guy; I love the guy. It’s got nothing to do with that. It’s my observations and obviously it was directly related to the incidents that I made that assumption, and my opinion.”
Discover what makes Mark a smarter saver… find out about the NAB iSaver account at www.nab.com.au
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