With more experience at 21 than most players have in a career, Socceroo Mark Milligan has a maturity beyond his years. And the World Cup was just the start...
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Sometimes it’s hard to believe Mark Milligan is still so young.
A Hyundai A-League champion, World Cup Socceroo and one of the first names on the team sheet for Sydney FC, Milligan only turned 21 this August.
Sitting in a deep leather chair in his agent’s office in Kings Cross, his deep voice and thoughtful manner in which he answers my questions belie his tender years. Only the sparkling diamond stud in his ear can be seen as an indicator to his youth but even that could be written off as just a reverential nod to the dearly departed Dwight.
Milligan’s maturity is obviously something Socceroo coach Guus Hiddink saw when he selected the then 20 year-old to his Socceroo squad for the World Cup finals in Germany. It was a decision that not only shocked many pundits, but also Mark himself.
“I was in such a state of shock,” says Milligan, still looking a little incredulous at what happened. “I didn’t say much at all when I heard. I think my mum was much more excited. I was very quiet for a while, letting it all sink in.
“I was actually going to dinner with my mum. We were just driving out to a pub when Gary Moretti called me. I think I checked three times that it was Gary before I let him talk. I had an inkling before hand that it was coming but still the shock was unbelievable. You don’t expect that phone call at 7 o’clock on a Monday night.”
Although he didn’t get any time on the pitch during the Socceroos’ World Cup adventure, it’s an experience Milligan will never forget, having learnt things as a footballer he says will stay with him for the rest of his career.
And while ‘Millsy’ was happy to talk about his memories of the World Cup, Guus Hiddink’s influence and the collective belief that the team was going to do well, he really perked up when the subject of the next generation of Socceroos came up.
Like most men his age, there’s not much point dwelling on the past when there’s such a bright future to look forward to.
After being selected to the Socceroos, how was it hooking up with all these players you’d watched on TV for so long?
I came in for training a little bit early because I hadn’t really been playing that much, just state league with Sutherland, so I went down to Melbourne with Michael Beauchamp to do some work with Anthony Crea, the Socceroo fitness trainer. Stan Lazaridis and Josip Skoko were also there earlier, but the Sunday when everyone came in was really weird because I’d pretty much grown up watching all these guys play. Three World Cup qualifying campaigns of these guys trying to get through, and then I’m in the same team as them. It was very surreal.
I guess I felt a little out of place just standing around with them but the more you got to know them, the more you realise that they were just the same as me.
We heard you struck up a bit of a friendship with Stan. Did he take you and Michael under his wing?
Yeah, we had a lot of time together because there weren’t many of us there to start off with. We would go out to lunch and there was a lot of time to talk, not only about what was going to happen in the World Cup, but about his experiences as a player. As the camp went on, Michael and I had a few chats with Stan, right down to things about what to do with your money and what to look out for as a young professional – things that would help you out in life as well as football. And all the boys were like that.
I could have grabbed any one of them at any stage and had a chat to them about anything. They were all very helpful and very easy to get along with.
A Hyundai A-League champion, World Cup Socceroo and one of the first names on the team sheet for Sydney FC, Milligan only turned 21 this August.
Sitting in a deep leather chair in his agent’s office in Kings Cross, his deep voice and thoughtful manner in which he answers my questions belie his tender years. Only the sparkling diamond stud in his ear can be seen as an indicator to his youth but even that could be written off as just a reverential nod to the dearly departed Dwight.
Milligan’s maturity is obviously something Socceroo coach Guus Hiddink saw when he selected the then 20 year-old to his Socceroo squad for the World Cup finals in Germany. It was a decision that not only shocked many pundits, but also Mark himself.
“I was in such a state of shock,” says Milligan, still looking a little incredulous at what happened. “I didn’t say much at all when I heard. I think my mum was much more excited. I was very quiet for a while, letting it all sink in.
“I was actually going to dinner with my mum. We were just driving out to a pub when Gary Moretti called me. I think I checked three times that it was Gary before I let him talk. I had an inkling before hand that it was coming but still the shock was unbelievable. You don’t expect that phone call at 7 o’clock on a Monday night.”
Although he didn’t get any time on the pitch during the Socceroos’ World Cup adventure, it’s an experience Milligan will never forget, having learnt things as a footballer he says will stay with him for the rest of his career.
And while ‘Millsy’ was happy to talk about his memories of the World Cup, Guus Hiddink’s influence and the collective belief that the team was going to do well, he really perked up when the subject of the next generation of Socceroos came up.
Like most men his age, there’s not much point dwelling on the past when there’s such a bright future to look forward to.
After being selected to the Socceroos, how was it hooking up with all these players you’d watched on TV for so long?
I came in for training a little bit early because I hadn’t really been playing that much, just state league with Sutherland, so I went down to Melbourne with Michael Beauchamp to do some work with Anthony Crea, the Socceroo fitness trainer. Stan Lazaridis and Josip Skoko were also there earlier, but the Sunday when everyone came in was really weird because I’d pretty much grown up watching all these guys play. Three World Cup qualifying campaigns of these guys trying to get through, and then I’m in the same team as them. It was very surreal.
I guess I felt a little out of place just standing around with them but the more you got to know them, the more you realise that they were just the same as me.
We heard you struck up a bit of a friendship with Stan. Did he take you and Michael under his wing?
Yeah, we had a lot of time together because there weren’t many of us there to start off with. We would go out to lunch and there was a lot of time to talk, not only about what was going to happen in the World Cup, but about his experiences as a player. As the camp went on, Michael and I had a few chats with Stan, right down to things about what to do with your money and what to look out for as a young professional – things that would help you out in life as well as football. And all the boys were like that.
I could have grabbed any one of them at any stage and had a chat to them about anything. They were all very helpful and very easy to get along with.
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