When you were at Leicester City briefly, how surprised were you when Martin O'Neill put you on in the final minute of the 1996 Division One play-off final? Were you annoyed that Leicester scored with the last kick of the game and you didn't get to become a penalty hero?
Joshua Waite, Orange
I wasn't surprised as that was the gameplan. During the week we'd done penalty shoot-outs and I was pretty good at saving penalties. The day before the match we did a penalty shoot-out and I saved about nine of the 15 penalties taken. So O'Neill told me that if it went to penalties I was coming on. To be honest I've never been so tired in my life. I ran on, ran to my goal, we scored so I ran up the other end to celebrate and then had to run all the way back to my goal. I was desperate for full-time!

You were supposed to be transferred from Leicester to Wolves with Steve Corica in 1996, but didn't get a UK work permit. Why not? Did you expect to have one granted? How disappointing was it returning to Sydney United?
Ethan Veale, Bowen
I spent about two years trying to get a UK work permit and that shows to the younger kids out there that they shouldn't just put their mind in one place as we've been bought up being told to go to England. I went to Leicester, but I had the choice to go to Leeds United and Celtic too. I chose Leicester as a platform to play and get some experience. Going back to Sydney United was disappointing as I left as the biggest ever transfer to leave Australia, only to be in England for six months. You start wondering if the chance will come again.

You nearly made it back to England in 1997 when then Socceroos coach Terry Venables wanted to take you to Portsmouth. Are you bitter you never got to play in England?
Sophie Townsend, Albury
England almost destroyed my career. I don't want to talk about sour grapes, but red tape cost me two years of my career. I'm actually glad I didn't play in England. My career taught me so many new cultures, I already know the English culture as we live it here in Australia. I got a taste of different cultures and lifestyles at my different clubs.

Hello from the Netherlands! We still remember you fondly. How do you recall your time at Roda JC?
René Held, Netherlands
Roda was the best four years of my career. My time there was unbelievable, I probably would have never left if the President wasn't such a tight arse and had put in some more money to buy the players we needed. We should have been a Champions League team, but the club didn't want to invest. Once they wouldn't add those one or two players which would have made us a Champions League side, then I was gone. I had some great mates there, we got close to the Champions League two years in a row and we won the Dutch Cup without conceding a goal which is a record. Great times!

Was getting relegated to Serie C1 with Perugia the lowest point of your career? And did you then expect it to suddenly turn into the highest point of your career when AC Milan hired you?
Will Thurgood, Mintabie
Perugia going bankrupt and getting relegated was my saviour actually. Panathinaikos offered €2.5m for me, Fiorentina offered €2.8m for me, but I was playing regularly at Perugia and they were not going to let me go. I didn't get paid for a year before the Milan offer came in. I was in Germany at the Confederations Cup when I got a phonecall telling me a big club in Italy was interested in me, so I assumed it was going to be a club like Fiorentina or Napoli. I said I was interested, but the club would have to pay Perugia a transfer fee. I was told the club that was interested would have no problem covering a transfer fee. When I got told it was AC Milan, I said, "Yeah right". However they flew to Germany and we did the deal.

Why did you move to Milan? Wouldn't have playing consistently been more appealing than riding the pine?
Tommy Sepentulevski, Casula
I'd had four fantastic years at Perugia and played really well, but I was getting to an age where I could have gone to Roma as first keeper as they offered me that, or go be second keeper at the biggest club in the world. The decision was quite easy really. Being second choice at Milan is much better than being first choice at a smaller club.

You've got Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup winners medals. How proud do you feel as the only Australian with all three? Where do you keep them? Are they on display in 'Casa del Spider'?
Jordan Stutchbury, Horsham
We've only just got back to Australia so they're not on display at the moment. I did take them onto SBS once to show people what they were playing for in the Champions League final. Once I get my house sorted they will go on display.

You described yourself as a bit of a team clown while you were at AC Milan. What was your best prank? Did they get your Aussie humour?
Shane Rule, Halls Creek
It took them a while to get my humour as it is the type of club where everything is so serious, but slowly they got used to my mentality and how I liked to do things to keep everyone happy, even after bad results. However I wasn't much of a prankster, I was just someone who wanted to make sure the place was fun.

After leaving Milan in 2009, why did you opt to play in the Greek Super League over the A-League?
George Constantinides, Melbourne
I didn't really opt to play there, my goalkeeper coach talked me into it. I'd done the pre-season with Milan over in America and once I got back I said, "I don't want this anymore, that'll do me". Milan then let me go for free, that's the sort of great club they are, and then I received a lot of calls from clubs. I ended up signing for Kavala, but the day I did I knew I'd done the wrong thing. I didn't want to come back to the A-League simply because I had a lot of niggling injuries, I'd dislocated my finger and had a problem with my knee. I didn't want to come back to the hard grounds of Australia, my reputation was so good and I saw what happened with John Aloisi.

You spent 14 years as a Socceroos goalkeeper, but only got just over 50 caps, should you have got more?
Mitchell Phillips, Longreach
Yeah, I should have got a lot more. I was at my peak as a player when Frank Farina was in charge, prior to him it was me and Bozza as the regular keepers. As soon as Farina came in, it was a Marconi keeper
in Schwarzer who jumped in front of everyone else and Farina never gave anyone else a chance.

Honestly, who was the best: Bosnich, Schwarzer or Kalac?
Nathan Quinn, Luddenham
As a shot-stopper, Bozza. He was a freak, simply amazing. Bozza got stuffed up by the new rule where you couldn't pick up the ball from a pass-back. When you had to use your feet that caused him a lot of havoc. In general play we all had different aspects. I always played for open teams at club level, so as an all-round keeper I had more quality. Schwarzer plays in defensive teams which provide good cover.

You've been quite vocal in your criticism of Schwarzer, how highly do you rate him as a goalkeeper? Do you like him as a person? Are you on speaking terms?
Tyler Nixon, Blackall
Me and Schwarzy still speak. We don't have a problem with each other. You have the Kalac supporters and the Schwarzer supporters. The way Guus Hiddink played both of us irritated both of us. We'd always exchange comments about each other through the papers and that was the beauty of the relationship. There are no problem and we still speak today.

How did you feel when Guus signalled for you to warm up just prior to the Uruguay penalties?
Ashley Symons, Frankston
Emmo [Brett Emerton] stuffed me. He came down with cramp. F**king hell Emmo, you cost me! That cost me my spot at the beginning of the World Cup too, as Schwarzer became the hero of the nation by saving the penalties. After that Hiddink had no choice but to play him. Leading into the World Cup I was on much better form. I'd even told Schwarzer which way to dive for the Zalayeta penalty as he was my teammate at Perugia.

What was going through your mind before the Kovac shot against Croatia in 2006?
Tommy Fabjancic, Blacktown
I saw the shot but it bounced in a naughty position just in front of me. It was a case of thinking if I should go down sideways or step across. I tried to go down sideways and it bounced up higher than I expected. After it went in you're filthy with the world, but it didn't cost us anything. It was one of those things, these mistakes happen. Being against Croatia wasn't ideal, but I've made worst mistakes.

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