Despite the A-League season finding itself on the backburner due to the Asian Cup break, the Corner Flag is celebrating the ten and five year anniversaries of Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart/City respectively with a range of top ten/fives for each club.
In this instalment, we count down the briefest Socceroo stints by players that represented Melbourne Victory. This countdown takes into consideration regulation time minutes only, and the players did not have to be contracted to Melbourne Victory at the time of the Socceroo cap. Minutes are sourced from the Ozfootball website. And yes, we’re well aware there are 12* players in this squad. It’s for the sake of completing a final XI (see graphic on page two).
Top 10: Almost Signings
Top 10: Victory to Heart
Top 10: Biggest Flops
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Numbers 11&12: Ante Covic/Nathan Coe – 180 minutes each
Covic’s caps: Two
February 22, 2006. 3-1 victory (full 90′) against Bahrain (Asian Cup Qualifier)
March 22, 2008. 0-0 draw (full 90′) against Singapore (Friendly)
Coe’s caps: Three
January 5, 2011. 0-0 draw (on 46′) against United Arab Emirates (Friendly)
June 5, 2011. 3-0 victory (full 90′) against New Zealand (Friendly)
October 7, 2011. 5-0 victory (on 46′) against Malaysia (Friendly)
We’ll add both keepers, as on aggregate they played pretty much the same amount of minutes. Covic played two games of 90 consecutive minutes – one of which he captained for a while after a raft of senior players were off the pitch -, while Coe had one full game and two second halves. The latter is one of the few in this countdown to have earned their cap in the Osieck era, while the former couldn’t fathom Ange Postecoglou not considering selecting a 39-year-old for the Asian Cup after a few good Champions League appearances.
Number 10: Rodrigo Vargas – 180 minutes
Caps: Two
January 28, 2009. 0-0 draw (full 90′) against Indonesia (Asian Cup qualifier)
March 5, 2009. 0-1 defeat (full 90′) to Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier)
The outfield countdown starts at Vargas. The Victorian stalwart (never played in teams outside the state) had previously been named in squads to play World Cup qualifiers and a friendly against Ghana in early 2008, but only got his chance a year later when he started in two Asian Cup qualifiers. Both ended in disappointing results against teams that are considered Asian lightweights.
Number 9: Danny Allsopp – 122 minutes
Caps: Three
June 2, 2007. 1-2 defeat (on 84′) against Uruguay (Friendly)
May 23, 2008. 1-0 victory (on 64′) against Ghana (Friendly)
January 28, 2009. 0-0 (full 90′) draw against Indonesia (Asian Cup qualifier)
Allsopp averaged one Socceroo cap per season over three consecutive years (all while at Victory). Whilst the first two were brief cameos in friendly matches, his third and final cap was a full game in that ill-fated 0-0 qualifier against Indonesia, in which Pim Verbeek labelled Allsopp’s and Archie Thompson’s performances as “absolutely hopeless”.
Number 8: Matthew Kemp – 90 minutes
Caps: One
January 6, 2010. 2-2 draw (full 90′) against Kuwait (Asian Cup Qualifier)
Maligned at the beginning of his Victory spell, then begrudgingly respected, Kemp earned a Socceroos cap for his good form, then slowly declined again as a footballer until he experienced an unceremonious retirement from the A-League.
In this clash – which Kemp started – Australia blew a 2-0 lead after Luke Wilkshire and Dean Heffernan both scored within the first five minutes, with the Kuwaitis also scoring in a five minute spell (40’ and 44’).
Number 7: Daniel Mullen – 90 minutes
Caps: One
March 5, 2009. 0-1 defeat (full 90′) to Kuwait (Asian Cup qualifier)
The former Adelaide United defender seemed to have a bright future ahead of him in 2009. He won the A-League U-20 Footballer of the Year that year, and was capped for the Socceroos. Played in the same defensive line-up as Vargas in the disappointing loss to Kuwait in the dead rubber Asian Cup qualifier.
Fast forward six years and after spells in China, along with Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers, Mullen has never recaptured the form he had as a 20-year-old go-getter.
Number 6: Adrian Leijer – 27 minutes
Caps: One
March 22, 2008. 0-0 draw (on 63′) against Singapore (Friendly)
This cap happened while he was at Fulham, but it honestly feels like Adrian Leijer has never really left Melbourne Victory, and seemingly never will. Came on in the 63rd minute in a friendly game that was a real fizzer. Ernie Merrick once tipped him for bigger things and more international caps, but somehow that never eventuated. I wonder why.