OVER the past two decades Australia has been blessed with a generation of players who led the nation to consecutive World Cups. FourFourTwo takes a look at the clubs responsible for this production line of stars and whether we'll ever be able to match the talent we produced in the 'golden era'
Names like Ned Zelic, Paul Okon, Mark Viduka, the Vidmar brothers, Zeljko Kalac, Steve Corica and Jason Culina stand out in the pantheon of Australian football.
Each enjoyed long and successful careers overseas, and each has made a positive impact to the national team. But what do they and many other players who have worn the green and gold in the past two decades have in common?
Each player was the product of successful local football environments, and each played their first senior team football in Australia before departing.
Since the establishment of the A-League in 2005, it has been common practice to downplay the role of the National Soccer League (NSL) in Australia’s football history. Some prefer to conveniently forget the NSL even ever existed. But what cannot be forgotten is the part that the NSL clubs, and several in particular, played and continue to play in producing some of Australia’s greatest football talent.
The track record of Sydney United, South Melbourne, Adelaide City, Marconi, Melbourne Knights and the Brisbane Strikers in the role of talent development for the Socceroos in the past 20 years is simply phenomenal. But how did these clubs produce the Vidukas, the Vidmars, Okons and Culinas?
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