Future Socceroos – Part 1

As promised, I bring you an analysis of the future of the Socceroos, from the incumbent player/s to those who hold the future of the national team in their hands (or feet – the oldest joke in football journalism…). I’ll do this in a four part series – namely goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers – and today I start with probably the easiest of the four, the Goalkeepers.

In the past fifteen years, Australia has been the lucky country in terms of possessing quality goalkeepers in the national team. Firstly there was the tussle for the prized #1 shirt between Zeljko Kalacs and Mark Bosnich, and then the emergence of a certain Mark Schwarzer further added healthy competition between the sticks.

However, with the infamous ending to Bosnich’s career, and the recent international retirement of Kalac, the cupboard is looking a bit bare behind Schwarz.

Incumbent: Mark Schwarzer
Born in 1972, Shwarz made his name firstly with Marconi of the old NSL, before moving abroad to several clubs in Germany, then to Bradford, and finally settling down at Middlesbrough in 1997. He spent the next eleven years at the Riverside and gained cult status there by playing a record 367 games to become the Premier League’s longest serving foreigner. After declaring his need of a fresh challenge, Schwarz moved to fellow Premier League side Fulham at the start of the current season, thus ending one of the longest relationships in the Premier League.

Schwarz made his international debut against Canada in the 1994 World Cup Qualifiers. He came on after first choice Robbie Zabica was sent off in the first leg, and in the second leg he began his love affair with penalty kicks when he save two of the Canadian’s efforts from the spot to send the Green and Gold into the next round… against the Argentineans. He did not play these next two games, and of-course history will show that the Argies tagged us for a 2-1 aggregate win.

Schwarz’s biggest moment in the Green and Gold was no doubt the dramatic saves he made against Uruguay in the famed World Cup play-off match in Sydney in 2005. Saves against firstly Dario Rodriguez, then magnificently against Zalayeta, paved the way for John Aloisi to smash home his spot kick and send us back to the biggest stage of football.

Even though he’s 36, Schwarz says that he’s keen to play on till at least South Africa, and with the current form he’s been showing, there should be no problems with that. Let us pray that he doesn’t suffer any major injuries.

Potentials:
Adam Federici – Feds is the current back up to Schwarz, and with good reason. Having been on Championship side Reading’s books since 2004, he is finally getting the chance to shine this season. Feds had a decent Olympic Games, and was one of the few to come away from Beijing with their heads held high. This was followed by a two month loan spell at Southend United, before an injury to Reading first choice Marcus Hahnemann resulted in Feds playing an extended spell between the sticks. He has been capped for Australia at U20 and U23 levels, but has yet to make his full debut. However, there is no doubt that Feds will play for the Green and Gold soon, and still just 24, he should have the #1 jersey for a long time to come.

Eugene Galekovic – at 27, Galekovic is relatively old to be classed as a youngster, but his meteoric rise in the past two years from reserve keeper at Melbourne to A-League’s Goalkeeper of the Year for Adelaide deserves a mention. Galekovic shows fantastic reflexes, and during the Red’s run in the ACL this season he also displayed a cool head and a sense of maturity beyond his experience. Often, he was the calming presence behind a battered Red’s defence. Made his international debut with the disappointing 0-0 draw with Indonesia last month, and didn’t really have much to do. To truly be considered, he needs to move abroad, as Pim simply does not rate the A-League high enough to warrant Galekovic as a genuine challenger to Schwarzer.

Brad Jones – Unlucky. Played second fiddle to Schwarz at Boro, and was expected to take over the #1 jersey when the big Aussie went to Fulham. However, poor form and injuries has meant that he is again playing reserves behind English youngster Ross Turnbull. He did himself no favours when he made a howler in his international debut against Uruguay in 2007 which effectively gave the South Americans’ the win. However, he’s still only 26, so he should have opportunities in the future.

Dean Bouzanis – Definitely put this kid on lay-by, as he is only 18 and has yet to crack into the Liverpool first team squad. However, crazy old Rafa has said that Bouzanis is the best keeper in the world for his age, so he might be onto something here. There has been a tug-of-war between the Greeks and us for his national representation, but the word from his own mouth was that he wants to play for Australia, and only went to the Greek camps for experience.

Other notable mentions:
Danny Vukovic, Central Coast Mariners, 23
Tando Velaphi, Perth Glory, 21
Michael Petkovic, Sivasspor (Turkey), 32

Who should be the next Socceroos goalkeeper?
( polls)