kevin muscat in football+

8/6/2019 Kevin Muscat in Football+

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EVIN MUSCAT

game o top le

ootball in Melb

draw against J

May. There we

in the crowd to see the nal group m

disappointing 2011 Asian Champion

in May. Muscat himsel is struggling

the Victory’s exit the 37-year-old sig

State League team Sunshine Georg

where he started out.

Muscat played his rst proession

club, a little over 21 years earlier, ag

was named in the starting line-up a

in the National Soccer League beor

Hindmarsh Stadium. Adelaide City,

biggest names in Australian soccer

Tobin, Milan Ivanovic, Sergio Melta,

and Carl Veart – won that game 4-1

o a rough-and-tumble career. With

earless – and to some, reckless – d

epitomised the re in the belly o Au

as much as anybody who has w

Gold over the past ew deca

orward to a coaching ro

Victory, Muscat refec

looks to what migh

thing is or s ure

with him than

+ What do

the highlig

It’s a dicult

so many thing

Lietime riends

played at, but all

sticks in my mind

World Cup qualier

2001. A number o th

that made it memorab

it was a World Cup qualier; i

my amily and riends were there; in

made a contribution to my career wa

the penalty or the 1-0 result. It was

gave me an opportunity to say thank

players can only dream o. There ar

Getting all the way to the FA Cup Fin

promotion to the Premier League w

and also captaining my country.

W h a t e v e r y o u

t h i n k o f K e v i n

M u s c a t

h e i s a n i c o n o

f A u s t r a l i a n

f o o t b a l l. A f t e r

r e t i r i n g a s a

p l a y e r a t t h e e n

d o f l a s t s e a s o

n,

h e l o o k s b a c k

o n h i s c o l o u r f u

l

c a r e e r w i t h B o

n i t a

M e r s i a d e s

a n d p e e k s

a t h i s f u t u r e

Kevin Muscat In

Lo

m o at

m...mages MIKE BAKER + GETTY IMAGES



FOOTBALL+

TheMUSC

YeAr1973 Born in Eng

in Australia as a b

1989-1990 Sun

(9 app, 0 goals)

1990-91 Austra

1991-92 Heidel

(18 app, 0 goals)

1992-96 South

(73 app, 6 goals)

1996-97 Crysta

(53 app, 2 goals)

1997-2002 Wol

Wanderers (180 a

2002-2003 Ran

2003-2005 Mill

2005-2011 Mel(122 app, 28 goa

National team

1991-93 Austral

(9 app, 0 goals)

1992-96 Austra

(15 app, 1 goal)

1994-2006 Aus

(51 app, 10 goals

ow did it eel going rom that high

ainst Uruguay in Melbourne to the very

appointing deeat in Montevideo ve

ys later? [ Australia lost 3-1 and missed

on the 2002 World Cup]

as a massive, massive disappointment. Again,

ther World Cup campaign ailed. Ultimately, a

ult like that is pretty hard to take. A ew players

ed ater that which made it even worse but, you

w, they’re the breaks you get in ootball.

What else was disappointing in your career?

ok back and there really are not too many. I think

biggest one would be missing out on the squad

he 2006 World Cup. I was involved in every lead-

game beorehand but then when Guus Hiddink

ved, I was out o it. I admit I was hurt because,

any player does, I really thought I was still good

ugh to make that squad. But or one reason

nother, I wasn’t selected. That’s lie, and it’s

ainly lie in ootball. One coach can always think

erently to the next and you just have to take it. It

sn’t mean you like it.

you thought you were good enough to

in the squad, who do you think shouldn’t

ve been in it?

ve my opinion just as others have theirs. I just eel

y strongly I was certainly good enough to make that

ad. But, in the eyes o the person who mattered, I

sn’t and that’s how it goes down in history.

an I take you back to some o the other

highlights, such as qualiying or the FA Cup

Final with Millwall in 2004. As a kid growing

up in Australia, you must have had to pinch

yoursel that it was true.

I think my earliest recollection o watching ootball on

TV was the English game. I was only our or so when

the National Soccer League started and it wasn’t on

TV or many years but there was always the English

highlights and, o course, the FA Cup. I’d played in all

six rounds or Millwall but, unortunately, was injured

and couldn’t play in the Final. It was a disappointment,

but again, it’s just the nature o the beast.

+ What about Crystal Palace’s promotion to

the Premier League?

When you rst go over to England, you wonder

whether you’re good enough to play at that level, how

you’ll settle, whether you’ll even like the country or

where you’re living. I went rom the Atlanta Olympics

to Crystal Palace and it was a baptism o re. I played

44 out o the 46 league games in the season, including

the play-o nal. I didn’t have time to think about all the

other actors that can aect your perormance – such

as whether I elt settled or homesick – because I justhad to get on the pitch and play. I let to come home

to Australia the morning ater the play-o nal with the

promotion medal around my neck.

+ Who would you consider to be among your

best riends in ootball?

I’ve really made many, many, riends; the majority I’ve

played with at various times in the national teams. I’ve

played in two World Youth Cup Finals, an Olympic

Games and three World Cup campaigns so I have

some very longstanding riends. But the ones who

come to mind are Mehmet Durakovic, Steve Mautone,

Tony Popovic, Zjelko Kalac, Craig Moore, o course,

Aurelio and Tony Vidmar, Stan Lazaridis, Timmy Cahill

at Millwall. We’ve been through so many situations

together – I could keep going, to be honest. What’s

good is to see everyone taking their own path in terms

o what to do next and it looks like many o us will

also cross paths as coaches. The best thing that can

happen at this point in our ootball development is or

players like us who have had signicant careers to

start being part o the uture o the game o the eld.

+ In a cast o stellar team-mates, who was

the team-mate you most admired?

Those who come to mind straight away are Paul

Okon, Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Mark Schwarzer.

They’re all great players but at some stage they

relied on me just as much as I relied on them to

win a ootball game. At some stage in an individual

game, or over the course o a career, you stand side-

by-side with a team-mate and you rely on each other

to get over the line. That’s what ootball is about.

+ Some o the developments in the o-

season or Melbourne Victory have been

some o the most encouraging in the past

eight years. How does it eel to be working

in a dierent capacity with people some o

your ormer teammates, such as Durakovic,

Mautone, and Francis Awaritee?

I think the act that we’ve got history helps.

Automatically, there is a level o trust and condence

in each other. We’ve got ourselves a good group o

people who won’t all agree with each other but who

will help create the best possible outcome.

+ What about the bust up in 1994 between

you and Awaritee ater losing an NSL nal

to Melbourne Knights?

I’m not shying away rom it. We were team-mates in

a losing nals match. Frannie spoke his mind ater

the match about how the deenders played; tempers

fared; it was nothing more. The story has tended to

grow arms and legs over the years but we’re good

mates. And Mark Viduka was on re or Melbourne

Knights that day!

+ How do you look b ack on the controversy

surrounding your career?

I don’t eel comortable about it. There are some things

I’ve done which are not memorable and that I don’t

rate, but I can say this – as a player, I’ve always lived on

the edge. I can say – hand on my heart – that I have

never intentionally gone in to a tackle to hurt someone;

I have always gone or the ball. You always wish that

a player like Matty Holmes hadn’t been injured and I

sincerely regret any player getting an injury.

+ Do you eel there is a tension between

how you deal with a controversy and how

others might see it?

I always took the view that people sitting in the

grandstands or on their leather couches are entitled

to their opinion. I don’t have an issue with that

[but] I don’t think they can actually tell what all the

circumstances are leading up to a situation. O

course, they’re going to orm a view about it or even

“There aresome thingsI’ve done thatI don’t rate, butI’ve always livedon the edge.Hand on myheart, I’ve neverintentionallygone in to atackle to hurtsomeone”



be guided into a view by commentators [but] I can’t

lose any sleep over that. I didn’t go into ootball to

make riends and be loved by everyone. I think i I

had, I wouldn’t have had such a long career or been

selected in national teams.

+ You debuted with the NSL as a 16 year old

and you were named a ‘Rising Star’ by FIFA in

two consecutive World Youth Cups . . .

I look at the players I grew up with, many o

whom are ar more talented than me, and I look

at the career I’ve had. Maybe I might have had

an opportunity here or an opportunity there, but

when I look at the act that I’ve played in two World

Youth Cups, an Olympics, World Cup campaigns,

captained my country at dierent levels, had a 21-

year proessional career including 12 years in the UK

and gone all the way to an FA Cup Final, I’m pleased.

I anything, I think I’ve over-achieved rather than

under-achieved.

+ You got on well with ormer youth coach

and Socceroos assistant Les Scheinfug.

Yes, I did. He’s still ‘The Boss’ to me. I think, to

date, his record is second to none. When he was

coaching youth teams, they nearly always qualied

and went past the group stage in World Cups. I

know many railed against his discipline and his

attitude but or young guys, in particular, it’s oten

what is needed.

+ What do you hope to achieve rom

this point as you move rom playing into

a coaching career?

I’m on a new path now and my attitude is to reach

or the stars. Whatever you want to do in lie, I think

i you can get close to reaching your dreams, it’s

going to be one hell o a journey. So my short-term

goal is to be the best possible coach I can be. As

I see it, I am serving an apprenticeship over the

next two years with the opportunity to increase my

knowledge; then I’ll assess where I’m up to and go

rom there.

+ How would you sum up the plans

or Melbourne Victory this coming

A-League season?

It’s exciting. Mehmet, Steve Mautone, Francis, and

me represent a resh and younger approach but we

also have experience across the board with good

local and international knowledge. We want to be

a successul ootball team. We have players and

a coaching team with ambition and we will have a

crack at winning the competition this season.

“The biggestdisappointment

would be missing

out on the 2006World Cup. I wasinvolved in everylead-up game but

when Hiddinkarrived, I was out

of it. I was hurt”1988

Charlton Athletic player Matty Holmes

requires four operations, a steel rod

and leg and skin grafts to repair ankledamage following a Muscat tackle.

Holmes received a settlement of

approximately $600,000.

1999

Norwich City striker Craig Bellamy

sustains a broken leg following a

Muscat tackle.

2001

Christophe Dugarry is sidelined for

two months with knee ligament damage

after a sliding tackle from Muscat

during what was supposed to be a

friendly between Australia and France.

2011

Melbourne Heart’s Adrian Zahra

sustained a serious knee injury

requiring surgery after what TV

commentators described as

“a sickening tackle” from Kev.

KevinMUSCAT: iS ThAT

ACCePTABLe?‘Muskie’ had his shareof run- ins with refereesand opponents (and formerSydney FC coach JohnKosmina) during his career.Here are the lowlights.

kevin muscat in football+

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