Comprehensive Aussies Abroad Update

Welcome to this month's instalment of Aussies Abroad.  With most overseas leagues now in flight, we are seeing huge numbers of Aussies turn out each week across the globe. 

A series of friendlies held worldwide saw the Socceroos appear late March, along with several training camps, these are busy times at the national level.  With the Hyundai A League finishing for another season, congratulations to Brisbane Roar, we have also seen a lot of transfers abroad.  For a full listing of our Aussies Abroad, please see the attachment.

Club Level:   Starting in England, a good run for Everton but a European place looks increasingly unlikely.  Cahill is struggling a little with injury and didn't add to his scoring tally during March.  A logjam in the bottom half of the table, with Fulham, Blackburn, Villa and Blackpool still in relegation trouble.  Emerton and Schwarzer are seeing plenty of game time,  but the big news was Chris Herd (Villa) getting his first of hopefully many EPL starts. After a good run in the seniors post Asian Cup, Dave Carney seems to have dropped out of favour again. 

At Championship level, the playoff positions are starting to take shape.  Kilkenny is in and out of the starting XI at Leeds as they hold on to fifth position on the table.  The Federici-less Reading have put on a late charge to be sitting one game out of the play off positions with a game in hand. Garcia is back for Hull City who are in danger of missing the playoffs after recent poor form at home. The return of Rhys Williams, along with some goal scoring form from Scott McDonald, has seen Middlesbrough move clear of relegation danger. Despite some improved recent form by Sheffield United and Preston North End, our Aussie boys are still stuck in the bottom three of the Championship. 

A few Aussies may move up from League Two with both Chesterfield (Downes) and Shrewsbury Town (Cansdell-Sheriff) holding automatic promotion spots.  Alex Cisak (21) continues to lead the revival at Accrington Stanley.  They are now only three points short of the playoff positions with a game in hand as Cisak seems to have cemented his spot in goal.  Also a great month for Jamie Young (Aldershot Town) but the gap to the playoffs seems to big. 

Both Invicibile and Mooy are starting at their Scottish Premier League clubs but results have not been that good.  The boys on loan at East Fife, Matthew Park and Dylan McGowan, have contributed to a great month that has seen the club steer clear of relegation.  

Over to Italy, where Adrian Madaschi's Portosummaga have put together a few wins but still need a few more points to avoid relegation.  

Although Mitch Langerak has returned to the bench at Borussia Dortmund, they remain seven points clear at the top of the table.  Nikita Rukavytsya (Hertha BSC) is becoming know as an "assist king" as his team are also leading the second division by two points as we approach the business end of the season. 

Brett Holman's AZ have firmed up their place in Europe for next season, with Brett back starting every game.  Our boys at Utrecht have slipped back a little and need a few points if they too are to play in European competition next season.  All three, Oar, Zullo and Sarota have seen game time recently. Despite the fact that Sparta Rotterdam are struggling, James Holland's loan move has seen him get much needed senior football.

Although still placed mid table, worth noting the goal scoring contributions of Tomi Juric (19) at NK Croatia Sesvete in the Croatian second division over the past month.  

Across in Poland, a poor month has seen Ante Rozic's team, Arka Gdynia, slip into the relegation zone with Ante starting most games. 

With Scott Chipperfield back in the lineup, Basel claimed maximum points in March and now lead the Swiss league comfortably.  

Our players in Turkey are all struggling in mid table with Neill, Kewell and Jedinak featuring regularly. 

Before leaving Europe, a check of our players in Greece.  Nathan Burns has been playing at AEK as they have moved to third on the table. Paul Giannou's Kavala have lost the past two games to drop out of the European places. 

Plenty of news in Asia.  Firstly to Japan.  Given the tragedy that has unfolded over the past month, football is hardly a priority. The season did commence in early March but the rest of the month was then cancelled after the earthquake. 

The season in Korea is also under way with our new boys, Fyfe, Cornthwaite and DeVere all joining Sasa Ognenovski by appearing in that league. 

Indonesia is the big story as far as Aussies Abroad goes in Asia with many players making the move the new Premier League over the past few months.  In the LPI, Persema are top of the table with Robbie Gaspar playing a leading role, while Josh Maguire's Semarang are a further game back.  A host of ex-HAL players are now starting in this league each week, names like Susak, Vrteski, Barisic, Micevski, Agius and Karlovic.  

The season in China commences early April, with a handful of Aussies expected to commence their loan periods.

Between league games, cup ties, Asian Champions League and Socceroos commitments, Jon McKain has been a busy man at Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia). 

Last but certainly not least, South America.  Our sole "Aussie Abroad", Richard Porta is in form with his recent goals helping Nacional win the past four games and move to third on the table in Uruguay early in the season.

Club Competitions:

Europe

(UEFA Champions League) No Aussies remain.

(UEFA Europa Cup) No Aussies remain.

Asia

(AFC Champions League) Jon McKain (Al Nasr), Adam Griffiths (Hangzhou Greentown) and Josh Kennedy (Nagoya Grampus) all started their club's fixtures.

(AFC Cup) Tolgey Ozbey (East Bengal) started both legs and scored three times during the month

South America

(Copa Libertadores) Richard Porta appeared in both fixtures, however Nacional remain bottom of their group

Youth:    Starting with the players eligible for the U20 World Cup, Tomi Juric (Croatia Sesvete), Brent McGrath (Brondby), Bailey Wright (Preston North End), Sasa Macura (MTK Budapest II), Tommy Oar (FC Utrecht), Jason Davidson (Sporting Covilha) and Dylan McGowan (East Fife) all played senior football during the month. 

Turning to those players eligible for the Olympics, Lowry (Sheffield United), Cisak (Accrington Stanley), Herd (Aston Villa), Luke DeVere (Gyeongham), Holland (Sparta Rotterdam), McGowan (Partick), Mooy (St.Mirren) and Govas (Kozani) all saw plenty of game time at senior level.

A mention to the Aussie boys at Portsmouth, we had six players appear in a recent youth team fixture, that must be some kind of record.  Dylan Tombides (18) has pushed up to the West Ham reserves, while Jamie Maclaren (17) has done the same at Blackburn.  Adem Luz (17) is a regular in the youth team at CD Nacional (Portugal), as are Jackson Irvine (18) and Nick Feely (18) at Celtic U19's.

Injuries:-    Unfortunately a lot to note here. A return to the park for Rhys Williams, Richie Garcia and Daniel Leach after long injury breaks. Longer term injuries to Kisnorbo (Achilles), Federici (knee), O'Connor (shoulder), Milligan (groin), Gulum (knee), Jovanovic (hamstring), Esposito (broken leg), D'Arcy (ankle), Downes (knee) and Stambolziev are keeping these players out while Georgievski (back), Ireland (thigh), Gazet du Chattelier (knee) and Konstantinidis (ankle) should all be playing again in April.

National level :-    The Socceroos played a friendly late March with an impressive result beating Germany 2-1.  A very different looking team from that which was crushed in the same fixture during the World Cup, with several older players moving on and a new manager at the helm.  Great to see the boys back up well after the disappointment of losing the Asian Cup final. The game was held at the end of a training camp for fringe/future Socceroos where the likes of Inman, Baccus, Sarota, Madaschi and McGrath were under the microscope. A great initiative as we widen the search for players for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, one that is appreciated by both players and fans.  Expect similar camps to occur more frequently, with a gathering of Young Socceroos before the U20 World Cup in July.

Transfers :-    The completion of the Hyundai A-League has sparked a flurry of transfers, particularly to Asia.  A number of these transfers are short-term loans as players seek game time during the domestic off-season. The State Leagues have also resumed around the country, so several players have returned for those competitions.  The number of Aussies now playing in Japan, China, Korea and Indonesia is suddenly around 35.

Additions/changes to database: -      

Fred Agius (2 Feb 1984) - transferred to Cendrawasih FC, Indonesia

Andrew Barisic (22 Mar 1986) - transferred to Persebaya Surabaya, Indonesia

Robert Cornthwaite (25 Oct 1985) - transferred to Chunnan Dragons, Korea Republic

Bruce Djite (25 Mar 1987) - loan to Jiangsu-Shuntian, China

Dino Djulbic (16 Feb 1983) - transferred to Shaanxi Chanba FC, China

Troy Hearfield (31 Oct 1987) - loan to Pelita Jaya, Indonesia

Dean Heffernan (19 May 1980) - loan to Liaoning Whowin FC, China

Brad Jones (19 Mar 1982) - loan to Derby County, England

Mario Karlovic (29 May 1984) - transferred to Minangkabau FC, Indonesia

Robbie Kruse (5 Oct 1988) - transferred to Fortuna Dusseldorf, Germany

Adam Kwasnik ( 31 May 1983) - loan to Chengdu Blades, China

Jade North (7 Jan 1982) - transferred to FC Tokyo, Japan

Steve Pantelidis (17 Aug 1983) - transferred to Medan Bintang, Indonesia

Jacob Poscoliero (11 Apr 1990) - transferred to Sandona Jessolo Calcio, Italy

Mark Pullman (3 Mar 1991) - transferred to Rhyl FC, Wales

Jonas Salley (16 Mar 1982) - transferred to Chengdu Blades, China

Milan Susak (29 Jan 1984) - loan to Minangkabau FC, Indonesia

Lawrence Thomas (9 May 1992) - transferred to Sheffield United, England

Alex Wilkinson (13 Aug 1984) - loan to Jiangsu-Shuntian, China

Daniel Wilkinson (TBA) - transferred to Cendrawasih FC, Indonesia

Removed from database:-   

Anthony Costa (18 Jul 1986) - transferred to Parramatta FC, NSWPL

Spase Dilevski  (13 May 1985) - transferred to Adelaide United, HAL

Scott Gannon (12 Mar 1988) - transferred to Seaford Seahawks, SAFL

Joey Gibbs (13 Jun 1992) - transferred to Manly United, NSWPL

Daniel Sweeney (28 Jan 1992) - transferred to VTC, VPL