Comprehensive Aussie Round-Up

Club Level:-    A very limited number of Aussies playing in Europe at this time of year.  Ante Covic has recently lost his starting place in goals for Sweden club Elfsborg, however a string of good recent results sees the club in the top three of that league.  Across to Iceland, where Dylan MacAllister made his starting debut for his new club, Breidablik.  Just when Chris O’Connor had established himself in goals for Irish club, Bohemians, he suffered an unfortunate injury, ending up with a broken jaw.  All that after recently returning from a shoulder injury.  Prominent Socceroo, Luke Wilkshire, has been a mainstay in defence for Dinamo Moscow.  They have had a great run recently and now find themselves third on the table in Russia.  Rounding out Europe, and Max Vieri saw his side, AC Prato, lose a playoff final and miss promotion in the fourth tier in Italy.  While in Hungary, Jack Turner (Kaposvari II) completed the season both in the starting eleven and scoring during June.

Much more game time for our Aussies in Asia.  In Japan, Josh Kennedy returned to scoring form and now sits on six goals for the season.  His team, Nagoya Grampus went undefeated in June.  Also banging in some goals is Alex Brosque, who scored three times for the month as his team climbed to mid-table.  Team mate Eddy Bosnar, scored a rare brace while playing at centre back. Great also to see Matt Spiranovic continue putting together a great run of games in Japan as well.  Dropping down to the second tier in Japan, the return of Mark Milligan has also been a warming sight as JEF United mount a challenge for promotion.  The Australian presence in China continues to be dominated by HAL players that are on loan.  Those players, Heffernan, Djite, Kwasnik and Wilkinson all saw good game time during the month.  The same can also be said for permanent fixtures, Joel Griffiths, Dino Djublic and Jonas Salley.  In Korea, reigning Asian Player of the Year, Sasa Ognenovski is playing each week but Seongnam are still placed second last on the table. Luke DeVere is earning great reviews at Gyeongnam while Robbie Cornthwaite is seeing the most success as his team sit in the top six. 

Quickly to the Americas, where Richard Porta made a significant contribution (19 appearances and 5 goals) as Nacional won the title.  Further north to the United States, Joel Theissen has made a positive start at his new PDL team, MPS Portland Phoenix.

Club Competitions:-

Europe

(UEFA Champions League) Yet to commence.

(UEFA Europa League) First qualifying round.  Ante Covic (Elfsborg) was an unused sub in the 4-0 opening victory. Mark Schwarzer (Fulham) kept a clean sheet in their 3-0 first up game.

Asia

(AFC Champions League) No Aussies remain.

(AFC Cup) No Aussies remain.

South America

(Copa Libertadores) No Aussies remain. Congratulations to winners, Santos.

Youth:-    No appearance data to report.

Injuries:-    End of season marks the time for some quick surgery and tune ups before the new pre-season.  A host of Aussies fall into that category, and a few longer term injuries that mean Garcia (knee), Downes (knee) Ireland (thigh), Grella (Achilles), Madaschi (calf), Jovanovic (hamstring) and Gulum (knee) would all hope to return early in the new season.  Brendon Santalab has now missed three months with his ankle problem, Chris O’Connor is recovering from facial injuries sustained while playing in goal at Bohemians. 

National level :-    Where do we start? The Under 17’s have already completed their World Cup after being eliminated in their first final by Uzbekistan.  A mix bag of results in the group stages, and certainly a few up and coming players we need to watch develop.  The U20’s are in another training camp, their preparation has been very impressive.  They play their first WC game at the end of this month in Colombia.  We had a two-legged tie with Yemen as part of our Olympic qualifiers, coming through that impressively (7-0 aggregate), and moving to the next step as we progress towards London 2012.  The Socceroos played two friendlies on Australian soil (which seems a long time ago), a win over NZ and a draw with Serbia.  A few more players now in the mix with Michael Zullo and James Troisi seeing good game time and performing well.  The absence of Mark Schwarzer also giving both Coe and Federici an opportunity to showcase their skills.

Transfers :-    The end of the European season marks the end of many loan deals.  Players do go back to their original club, but quite often some of these guys will move again before the new season.  Still plenty of Socceroos such as Kewell, Neill, and Jedinak, looking for new clubs – so expecting some news in the next two weeks.  One Socceroo that has landed at his new home is Neil Kilkenny who is now at Bristol City.

Additions/changes to database: -      

Costa Andricopoulos (30 Mar 1991) – transferred to Ethnikos Latsion, Cyprus

Jason Davidson (29 Jun 1991) – loan return to Pacos de Ferreira, Portugal

Christian Esposito (23 Jul 1990) – loan return to Novara, Italy

Andreas Govas ( 21 Jul 1989) – loan return to AO Kavala, Greece

Ersan Gulum (17 May 1987) – loan return to Adanaspor, Turkey

James Holland (15 May 1989) – loan return to AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands

Brad Jones (19 Mar 1982) – loan return to Liverpool, England

Aleksander Jovanovic (4 Aug 1989) – loan return to FK Vojvodina, Serbia

Neil Kilkenny (19 Dec 1985) – transferred to Bristol City, England

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

Matthew Leckie (4 Feb 1991) – transferred to Borussia Monchengladbach, Germany

Shane Lowry (12 Jun 1989) – loan return to Aston Villa, England

Dylan McGowan (6 Aug 1991) – loaned to Gold Coast United, Australia

Ljubo Milicevic (13 Feb 1981) – transferred to Hajduk Split, Croatia

Matthew Park (22 Apr 1988) – loan return to Hearts, Scotland

Adrian Ucchino (4 Oct 1991) – loan return to Frosinone, Italy

Dario Vidosic (8 Apr 1987) – loan return to Nurnberg, Germany

Removed from database:-