Tony Popovic
Maybe it’s the pelting rain. Or the howling gale and the muddy training pitches in the distance through the misted windows.

As Tony Popovic eases his lean, 194cm frame down at the corner table of the sparse lounge overlooking Sydney FC’s Macquarie University training base, thoughts of harsh English winters flood back.

“Yeah, I miss it,” he says thinking for a moment before breaking out into a smile. “I miss the atmosphere and playing. I probably miss everything that comes with playing football over there.

“There’s always a real buzz in front of those vocal fans… they are real passionate about football. They do live for it. I miss the intensity, the high pressure. That is enjoyable. I thrive on that and it probably brought the best out of me.”

Popovic played 123 times for Crystal Palace over five seasons, a stint that included rising to become the Eagles’ captain and playing for the London club in the English Premier League.

The 34-year-old’s chiselled, yet grizzled, facial features betray his Croatian heritage and the hard years toughing it out in at Crystal Palace. Yet despite his affable demeanour and easy smile, the guy known as “Poppa” has some blunt, fatherly advice for Sydney FC’s youngsters chowing down at tables nearby after a tough session under new coach John Kosmina.

“If a lot of these young boys went over to Europe now, they’d get a rude shock. They’d still be miles behind – not so much for their ability but about the whole package of being a professional in Europe,” he explains before adding slowly, “You have to be ‘on’ every single match. A bad training session and you could be out.

“It’s ruthless over there – everyone wants your spot. You’re an outsider coming from Australia and you’re coming to take an Englishman’s spot. So, he’s not just going to give it to you, is he? You’ve got to go through your settling in period and you may not be spoken to, much. You’ve got to get beyond that.

“And also over there you play 40 to 50 matches a season. While here, what is it, 21 rounds and the finals, then you have four, five months off? By this stage of the season in Europe, I would’ve played 21 matches already.”

Popovic’s reality check is what another seasoned pro – Sunderland’s Dwight Yorke – was keen to stress during his stint in A-League football at the same club.

“I’d probably agree with Dwight that it is something they probably don’t realise here,” Popovic notes.

“Over there, a young player probably trains six, seven times longer and harder than a young player does here. And a lot of that initiative is taken on himself. Because they [the Aussie youngsters] haven’t been brought up in a professional environment, it’s hard for them to see this.

“However, once you prove on the field you’re worthy of your spot, it becomes much easier. Once you can handle that – as we’ve seen with some of the Aussies – they’ve gone on to do very well. That’s why us returning Socceroos need to educate and guide them,” adds Popovic glancing at FC’s fringe youth players. “I’ve always been a leader wherever I’ve played, I enjoy that role. If a young player asks me to try to help him, I’ll do it.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Popovic says it’s been a challenge making the transition to being a Sydney FC player.

“When you come back and you see things around the organisation around training, it’s…” he pauses, “…very different to what you’ve been used to.

“I’m not saying it’s not good – and it’s improving daily here – but compared to the level I’ve seen in Europe there is still a big gap. Such a gap that any Australian young player that went there right now would find it difficult because of the intensity.

“Look, your mental approach has to change. You probably have to accept things that you probably weren’t used to before,” he adds. “You still set yourself high standards but it’s tough to adjust.”

Despite his cautionary words, Popovic is encouraged by an A-League he feels is heading in the right direction, starting with the media.

“I noticed it after the first match against Central Coast in round one, there was about 30 to 40 media after the game at the press conference,” he says. “I’d never imagined that would be possible while I was still playing the game. It’s been a nice change. And it’s refreshing to see the crowds all across the league.

“Obviously, here players have improved technically and physically since the A-League began which enables them to put more quality into the training sessions. So it is an improvement, but it’s still way off Europe.”

Popovic’s view of his fellow A-League Socceroo returnees is measured, saying they’ve all needed time to adjust just as he has. “In general the boys have done well and have settled in well: [Craig] Moore, [Danny] Tiatto and of course Kevin Muscat, who’s been here from the start. I think that once you get into the groove of it in the first month or two, you see what the games are about.”

Interestingly, however, Popovic makes the judgment that Sydney United – his former NSL club which he left a decade ago to pursue his overseas career – would beat Sydney FC if they enjoyed all the benefits of being a professional club like his current employer.

What makes Tony Popovic a particularly interesting “Returning ’Roo” is that he also spent six seasons playing football in Asia. After more than 150 appearances at the credentialed football factory of Sydney United in the NSL, his European stepping stone was the up-and-coming J.League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

“Their facilities were better than most clubs in Europe but it was a mixed bag for me due to injuries. [Former Socceroo coach] Eddie Thomson was the coach at the time. I was fortunate that the club saw enough of me as a person and player to offer me another two years on my contract. In the end we made a couple of cup finals. I look back on it fondly but it was a stepping stone for my European career.”

After gaining enough Socceroo caps – and experiencing a different kind of football lifestyle over 87 appearances in Japan – Popovic was able to launch himself into English football.

At national team level, he really only cemented himself with the Socceroos during the last World Cup qualifying campaign. And all those years toughing it out came to the fore when his country needed it the most – the last 20 minutes in Montevideo, in November 2005. Alongside Tony Vidmar and Lucas Neill, Popovic and the Socceroo defence fended off a ferocious Uruguayan onslaught to hold Los Celeste to an advantage of just one goal.

The Uruguayans knew they needed that second goal and pounded Hiddink’s men with everything they had. But Poppa and co stood firm like heroes in a war movie, with Popovic’s last ditch block on a Uruguayan forward in the final, frantic few minutes proving to be a heart-breaker for the home side.

Coincidentally, just prior to signing with Sydney FC, Popovic played one season in the Qatar league with Al-Arabi. Then-Uruguayan coach Jorge Forsatti was also coaching in the tiny gulf country at the time and the pair would often run into each other.

“He’s a very nice man. I met him and his family there and we spoke about those two World Cup qualifiers. He was very nice about it and he did remember me!”

In the Green and Gold, there were other glorious moments too. His 1995 full debut against Colombia, his headed goal against Beckham’s England in London in 2003 – “I wore my Aussie shirt to training for a week after that” – and, of course, the World Cup 2006 appearances in Germany.

Popovic said adieu to his 58-cap career four months later in Brisbane against Paraguay in a friendly. And he scored with a trademark header to bring the house down with just minutes to go, although one of Popovic’s successors, Michael Beauchamp, spoiled the party by gifting the Paraguayans a late equaliser with an own goal. For a player born on the 4th of July, Poppa certainly went out with a bang.

Mentoring has been a key element in Popovic’s rise from NSL to J.League and the Premier League.

“I came through at Sydney Croatia [United] when I was 16 and had the likes of Graham Arnold, Alan Hunter, Mark Jones [current assistant coach at the Jets], Ivan Petkovic and Manis Lamond helping me on and off the park.

“And [Alex] Tobin and [Milan] Ivanovic in the national team. They took me under their wing. I was very fortunate to come through at that time, with Eddie Thomson who blooded me as a 21-year-old as well as bringing me in as the youngest player in that Olyroo team of 1992 as a 19-year-old.

“I just feel it’s my duty to help these boys… to encourage them and show them, if they want to make it, the hard work they really have to do.”

Well, they should make use of him while they can, with the Sydneysider leaving the door open for a return to Europe – and even Crystal Palace – in a potential coaching capacity.

“Possibly,” he says when quizzed. “I gave the club everything I had and in return they were great for me. I got on well with the fans. I think they saw a player who went out each time and gave his best every week.

“They knew what they were getting from me and I became captain of the club, which was a great honour, particularly as I was an Australian. I’ll always remember my time there, and maybe one day I’ll go back. Hopefully I can get back to Europe in some capacity. If it was Crystal Palace, it’d be great.”

Who said the returning Socceroos were all home for good? Craig Moore
It wasn’t meant to be this way. Queensland Roar captain Craig Moore’s A-League debut in the opening round of the season had been touted as the return of the prodigal son. From English Premier League and Socceroo World Cup glory to the Sunshine State, it was the feel-good story of the off-season. Instead, the return turned into a horrible nightmare.

Moore’s first ever club game on home soil ended on 68 minutes when he clattered into Adelaide starlet Nathan Burns. A second yellow then a red card were brandished by referee Ben Williams as ugly scenes broke out on the park.

“Frustration got the better of me,” recalls Craig Moore some months after his sorry trudge down the players’ tunnel at Suncorp Stadium. “It was my first game and I wasn’t happy with the way it had gone for us and was eager to do well. In the end I got a second yellow which I was disappointed with at the time. There was a little bit of contact. These things happen.”

His coach and former national team boss Frank Farina took him aside and had a word the following week and since then, Moore has been measured. Clinical. Efficient.

As he says, it’s not about being fantastic, it’s about being consistent. “I don’t want to be a player who doesn’t do well. If anything, I showed I still have a fire in my belly,” he says of his red card. “I want to come back and win things, I’ve always been like that. The day that leaves me is the day I should hang up my boots.

“I didn’t have the full pre-season like the rest of the lads and I’d come off quite a lengthy break. To be honest, I was a bit underdone. Being honest is Craig Moore’s stock in trade. It’s why he’s so respected. He’s an intelligent, no-nonsense professional whose experience at 31 is proving invaluable for Queensland Roar.

That’s why Moore doesn’t distance himself from comments made earlier in the season about how the A-League needs to improve on the park.

“There are improvements to be made and for me, those improvements are in the thought processes,” he argues in his unique Scottish-Australian accent. “Seeing passes before you get the ball. The leagues in Europe, the one- and two-touch football – it’s impressive because people know their passes before they get the ball. For me, this is one area that we need to improve on. And at times, that’s very hard to coach because it comes down to a player’s instinct.

“But it’s important to push that and try to educate players to know what they are going to do before they get the ball, because that tends to slow the game down.”

Coincidentally, around the time Moore made these comments, the FFA released its National Football Development Plan. In it, the FFA advocates a nationwide plan for junior footballers to play on small-sized pitches. Moore supports this concept.

“This would definitely have a positive impact on younger players. That education of playing in tighter areas… And remember, no-one can travel as quick as the ball can. The best teams can move the ball.

“A lot of the training needs to be in possession in tighter areas. You really need to learn to hold onto the ball in tighter areas. The decision making has to be quicker. Otherwise you’re going to get caught,” he adds. “It’s about knowing your options before you get the ball and it’s also about other players getting in early positions to want to take the ball as well. It works both ways. You need the movement off the ball as well.

“At the Roar, we’ve been working hard on when we win possession, we try to maintain that rather than trying to play killer balls straight away. You work hard to win the ball so you try to keep it.”

However, keeping Australia’s best young talent is never going to change, forecasts Moore, who left Australia when he was 17 after starring in the 1993 World Youth Championships. He says it’s a fact of football life for this part of the football globe.

“Obviously our game will come on in leaps and bounds over the next few years. But the unfortunate thing here is we’re still going to lose the likes of your Burns and [Bruce] Djite. Because I can’t see clubs in Australia being able to compete financially. And Burns is way ahead of anyone his age right now.

“Let’s face it, young players’ dreams are to become professional footballers and do well for themselves. As long as we continue to improve and educate players, that’s the most important thing.

“I see the same potential as to what I’ve seen in the UK in terms of ability. Though in Europe they become a lot more streetwise, a lot earlier than here. Younger players here are a little more naïve but in a good way. For example, knowing how to kill the game off and not let teams get back into games in the last 10 minutes.

But Moore’s also keen to point out the positives. “I have been impressed by the standard. It’s been better than anticipated in terms of the ability of the players.”

Apart from a controversial six months in 2005 at Borussia Moenchengladbach, which released Moore after he had a falling out with management, it’s been a career that’s seen him play in the English Premiership with Newcastle and the Scottish Premiership at Glasgow Rangers where he got to play in the European Champions League. Oh, and he’s a World Cup goalscorer too.

“It was a strange thing, but I had no nerves,” he says of his first half penalty against Croatia at the 2006 World Cup. “I’m normally quite nervous before a game, which I feel is a good thing because you know you’re going to have a good game if you have nerves. It was adrenaline with that penalty. I knew we needed to get back into the game as soon as possible. It was a great opportunity and my thoughts at that time were just to make good contact with the ball.

“I was very, very confident but I’ve also shown you can miss them,” he laughs, in reference to his miss against the Newcastle Jets in round nine this season.

Moore is a firm believer that the key to the Socceroos’ success was Guus Hiddink’s brutal fitness regime.

“We were in unbelievable shape. We couldn’t have been any fitter to be honest. He worked us so hard that after training, players were just in bed sleeping trying to regain all their energy for the next session.

“What he brought to the squad was fierce competition and competitiveness for places. And that’s always a good thing, whether it be club or national team football. It wasn’t a training session, it was like a game. You played under match conditions.”

Over the years, the Aussie spirit inside Socceroo camps has been a key to Moore’s love of the Green and Gold.

“There were times when maybe you go through tough spells at your club, or maybe you just needed that bit of variety. That was always a fantastic time to meet up with the boys and hear all the stories. It’s always good times and that was the real buzz about meeting up with the national team. Other national teams, like England, I feel as if the last thing they want to do is actually meet up together.”

However, Moore sounds like a man who has almost certainly come to a decision regarding his beloved Socceroos.

“If I committed myself 100 percent I’m sure I could do it. But I just believe, being back in Australia, for me to do it properly, I’d have had to have stayed in Europe.

“Realistically, you need to have come off the back of a big season of European football at the elite level. It’s one of those things. My gut feeling at the moment is no matter who comes in, I’ll not look to be a part of that.

“I’m not somebody who wants to play a bit part. I believe I’m still good enough, but being back in Australia with a long off-season… I do believe you need to be playing at the highest possible level to translate that into the international scene.

“I’d rather be in a position where I walked away on my own terms rather than somebody tapping me on the shoulder. I just feel it’s not 100 percent at the moment but the memories I have from the 2006 World Cup are going to be very hard to repeat.

“I feel I’ve achieved everything I set out to achieve. Not too many players win the Champions League or the World Cup and I’m just another who falls into that boat. But I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved.”

Besides, he’s not missing the UK. Not much, anyway. “I’ve done it for 14 years and there comes a time for me when enough’s enough. I had a good crack at it, but I’m more than happy to come back and hopefully have an impact on other players who have the same dreams as I did when I was a young boy.”Paul Agostino
Paul Agostino won’t be in Adelaide for very long. Well, not if hordes of adoring fans in the Bavarian capital of Munich have anything to do with it.

“The 1860 Munich fans are under the impression I’m coming over here for a couple of years, then I’m going back to Germany to take over as club director of football,” says the 32 year-old striker with a smile.

Unfortunately, the man who was affectionately known as fussballgott says he has plenty to achieve in his hometown Adelaide before he contemplates anything else.

A decade on from signing with Bayern Munich’s fierce rival 1860 in 1997, Agostino agreed to end his contract at the end of last season and return home to where it all started. And it was not just to any old A-League team: it was his hometown club Adelaide United.

His arrival was big news in an off-season dominated by returning Socceroos – but it was nothing like the splash he made on his final day in Germany. The big Aussie’s departure from the Allianz Arena wasn’t just a goodbye – it was an event; an emotional loss for the fans and a tearful auf wiedersehen.

A giant banner across one side of their massive stadium was unfurled before kick-off. It was still up when the game kicked off, obscuring the view of thousands of 1860 fans but they didn’t seem to care. They labelled him their Aussie fussballgott and eine legende, tributes you can see on YouTube along with Agostino’s best goals for club and country.

Agostino’s return completed the circle. It was at Hindmarsh Stadium – home of the Reds – that a skinny 16-year-old Agostino first hit the headlines back in 1992. It was his textbook finish that won the South Australian derby 1-0 for West Adelaide over Adelaide City – featuring current United assistant coach Carl Veart in the line up – that year.

A year later, Agostino’s fame spread via the World Youth Championships, held in Australia. Led by a bushy haired Kevin Muscat and marshalled at the back by a skinny 17-year-old AIS student called Craig Moore, the Young Socceroos took the country on a fun ride that went all the way to the semis.

And it was the South Australian’s headed goal against Uruguay at Suncorp Stadium in the quarters that is still talked about today. Put simply, it was an extraordinary piece of athleticism – part AFL screamer, part diving header, Agostino was almost horizontal when connecting with a cross over two defenders’ shoulders to level the tie 1-1. Australia went on to beat Los Celeste in extra-time.

The goal raised the roof and, more importantly, raised interest in the young Aussie at a time when Australian players were beginning to show up on European radars – Slater, Zelic, Okon… You could say Agostino was the Nathan Burns of that era.

With no A-League back then, a 17-year-old Agostino took the plunge and went overseas, signing for Switzerland’s Young Boys of Berne in 1993. It wasn’t a happy time.

“I nearly threw in the towel 10 times and I was going to take the next plane home to Australia,” he recalls. “But I stuck it out.

“It was a time when the Australian league was amateur and we’d train two or three nights a week. All the players had full time jobs. It was professional in Switzerland, I was very young. I didn’t understand the language. That was a really big learning curve, to learn about being a professional footballer, to learn a new language and culture.”

Three seasons, 29 appearances and four goals was the tally for his Swiss adventure. Not hugely impressive but it built a platform for a good European career.

“It wasn’t all high times, there were a lot of low times but you need that in your career. You need to experience the tough times to enjoy the good times.”

Agostino signed for Bristol City in 1995. The Robins were coached by ex-Scotland striker Joe Jordan, who perhaps saw a little of himself in Agostino. Jordan was one of the great British strikers of the ’70s and ’80s. Aggressive, hard working, strong in the air, Jordan could batter defences for the entire 90 minutes. And Big Joe was skilful, too. You don’t play for Leeds, Manchester United and have four seasons at AC Milan without having a bit of quality about you. And the now Portsmouth coach proved an effective role model for the young Aussie.

“He worked with me a lot one-on-one and he really improved my game,” remembers Agostino, who played over 80 times, netting 19 goals in two seasons for City. It also proved a master stroke in taking him to the next level in his career: the German Bundesliga.

It was at Munich 1860 that he met another mentor, German hard man Werner Lorant. “He was old school,” recalls Agostino fondly. “He took the club from the fourth division amateur ranks till they got to the Bundesliga. He took us all the way to Europe too. A bit like Joe Jordan, he was hard and honest. He was my best coach at 1860.”

The Aussie striker freely admits he’s not the greatest footballer to have ever pulled on the 1860 jersey. But it was his attitude that so endeared him. “I just try to be myself. My all-round package is probably the reason why

I stayed at 1860 for 10 years. It wasn’t because I had a great strike rate. It was the way I dealt with the younger players, the way I got on with the boys and my general play. I was always trying to help the club go forward.”

Under Lorant, the club cemented itself in the elite of German football and even made the Champions League qualifying round in 2000, before a Kewell and Viduka-led Leeds United knocked them out.

However, after a decade in the top flight, the club was relegated following the 2003/4 season. Agostino finished the last two seasons at 1860 in the second tier of German football and struggling to get a regular game. It was the right time to ship out. “I haven’t played for the biggest clubs in the world but I don’t regret anything I’ve done,” he adds.

On the international scene, Agostino won 20 Socceroo caps over a nine year period, the last in 2005. He insists he’s not unhappy with how his national team career panned out. And to be fair, given Mark Viduka’s emergence, it was always going to be difficult for him to gain a foothold in the Green and Gold.

However, let’s not forget it was Agostino who forced the foul in the box which gave Australia a penalty in the 2001 first leg World Cup qualifier at the MCG against Uruguay. At the same venue two years earlier, he destroyed Brazil with two beautifully taken goals in a 2-2 friendly in front of 70,000 fans who were let in for free after superstar Ronaldo was sent back to Europe days earlier.

Returning home earlier this year has provided Agostino with a clear perspective on how the A-League is progressing.

“TSV 1860 Munich has been going as a club since, well, 1860,” he explains, “whereas Adelaide United is only in its third season. So you can’t expect Adelaide to be running like a club that’s been going for over 150 years.

“I wouldn’t say the A-League is not as professional as Germany. I would say it’s just as professional. The effort they are making, you can’t ask for any more. You have got to take into consideration that you can’t expect players here to be doing the workload that these other leagues in Europe have been doing for years. You got to work them in slowly, but I tell you, there’s really not much in it.

“[Coach] Aurelio Vidmar has been to Europe as a player, he knows what he can do with his players and how much. At the end of the day you need results and the results we’ve been producing are an indication that we’re doing the right thing.”

It’s this graciousness that makes the big forward so universally liked. “I’ve joined a really, really good team here. A good bunch of players, with a good coaching staff as well. It’s been a smooth transition.”

However, Agostino’s return home has been blighted by injury. After arriving with a broken foot sustained in Germany, he worked hard to regain fitness but after two games back, a calf tear kept him out again.

Nevertheless, watching on, he has been able to ascertain the traits of a league still metamorphosing. “I would say it’s a bit more physical here, that definitely stands out. Not rough, but more contact. That’s the difference I’ve noticed. They’d blow a lot quicker for free kicks over there. But as far as pace and technique there’s not much in it.”

Leaving 1860 was a problem for the legion of admirers smitten by Agostino. He says he has no plans to return after his current two-year contract – but that won’t stop them.

“There are few more in the pipeline coming over,” Agostino says of the latest tourism wave to South Australia – 1860 fans making a pilgrimage to Hindmarsh Stadium to see their fussballgott in action.

They have their fans forums with news about how I’m going in Adelaide. And even though our colours are red [Bayern’s colours] they’ve forgiven me for that.”

Now, that is love.