Welcome back to the Aussies Abroad monthly review compiled by Damian Davies.
Certainly a respectable showing by our
Socceroos in Brazil, with a glimpse of the future. Matt Leckie, Jason Davidson and Ben Halloran
among those that we hope to see much more of in the coming years. We have a busy few months internationally as
we build towards the Asian Cup in January.
Plenty of transfer activity over the past two months as players search
for new clubs as the European leagues start their new seasons. Most of the Asian leagues are in progress, so
a lot of our players have been in action.
Some fantastic pre-season stories with players like Chris Herd, Adam
Federici and Robbie Kruse all playing in friendlies. Also encouraging in the next generation of
Chris Ikonomidis, Ryan Edwards, Cameron Burgress and Hyuga Tanner all making
their senior debuts at their current clubs.
Transfers:- the European
transfer window remains open so plenty of movement for our Aussies Abroad. The
Aussie interest in Italy has grown with several of our upcoming players bound
to feature in both senior and Primavera teams throughout the year. With Juventus owned James Troisi yet to
confirm his next club as well. Several
younger names still looking for a club include Matthew Fletcher, Robbie
Paratore, Connor Thurston and Kerem Bulut, some of those players are rumoured
to be heading to the A League. Also now three Aussies at PTT Rayong in
Thailand.
Additions/changes to player
database:
Saka Adesodun (12 Apr 1990) - transferred from Hjorring IF to
Hasle-Loren IL, Norway
Panos Armenkas (5 Aug 1998) - transferred from Watford to
Udinese Calcio, Italy
Michael Beauchamp (8 Mar 1981) - transferred to PTT Rayong,
Thailand
Josh Brillante (25 Mar 1993) - transferred to Fiorentina,
Italy
Julius Doe Davies (30 Sep 1994) - transferred to Otelul
Galati, Romania
Shane Lowry (12 Jun 1989) - transferred from Millwall to
Leyton Orient, England
Andrew Marveggio (22 Apr 1992) - transferred from SC Telstar
to Fortuna Sittard
Brent McGrath (18 Jun 1991) - transferred to Sisaket, Thailand
Dane Milovanovic (2 Dec 1989) - transferred to New Radiant
SC, Maldives
Josh Mitchell (8 Jun 1984) - transferred to Liaoning Whowin,
China
Tomislav Mrcela (1 Oct 1990) - transferred from NK Hrvatski
Dragovoljac to NK Lokomotiva Zagreb,
Croatia
Justin Pasfield (30 May 1985)
transferred to Tampines Rovers, Singapore
Nikita Rukavytsya (22 Jun 1987) - loan return to FSV Mainz,
Germany
Robert Stambolziev (26 Oct 1990) - transferred from AEK
Kouklion to Niki Volos, Greece
Adam Taggart (2 Jun 1993) - transferred to Fulham, England
Matthew Thompson (18 Aug 1982) - transferred to PTT Rayong,
Thailand
James Troisi (3 Jul 1988) - loan return to Juventus, Italy
Jerrad Tyson (21 Sep 1989) - transferred to Sun Pegasus, Hong
Kong
Frane Vladislavic (9 Jan 1994) - transferred from Hajduk
Split to NK Istra 1961, Croatia
James Wesolowski (25 Aug 1987) - transferred from Oldham
Athletic to shrewsbury Town, England
Adrian Zahra (24 Sep 1990) - transferred to Valletta FC,
Malta
Removed from player database:
Luis Abadia (Kaya FC) - uncontracted, whereabouts unknown
Alex Brosque (Al Ain) - transferred to Sydney FC
Simon Colosimo (Dempo) - transferred to Goulburn Valley
Sam Gallagher (Hanoi T&T) - transferred to Newcastle Jets
Richard Garcia (Minnesota United) - transferred to Perth
Glory
Brendan Hamill (Seongham Illwa) - transferred to Western
Sydney Wanderers
Marko Jesic (Sun Pegasus) - transferred to Rockdale City
Dylan McGowan (Hearts) - transferred to Adelaide United
Nikolas Tsattalios (Kampaniakos Chalastras FC) - transferred
to Sydney Olympic
Club Level:-
China (Super League) - the season has resumed and several
Aussies doing well. Jonas Salley
(Guizhou Renhe) and Adam Hughes (Harbin Yiteng) continue to play 90 minutes
each week for their respective teams. Daniel McBreen has just broken his own
record for being the oldest scorer in the CSL at 37.
Korea (K-League Classic) - with the rise and rise of Alex
Wilkinson, playing at the World Cup and then the K-League All Stars, I would
expect this league to get some more attention from Aussie followers in the
future. Not to forget, Sasa Ognenovski
won the Asian player of the year while in Korea. We also have Luke DeVere (Gyeongham) and Alex
Jovanovic (Jeju United) playing each week.
Both aged in their mid-twenties now, we may see them feature in upcoming
Socceroo squads.
Thailand (Premier League) - a surge in the Aussies in
Thailand with veterans Michael Beauchamp and Matthew Thompson joining Trent
McClenahan at PTT Rayong. The club are
sitting in the relegation zone so the hope would be for the Aussies to help the
club pull some points together quickly.
Young striker Brent McGrath has also made the move to Thailand from the
VPL. He now has three goals in three
appearances for Sisaket.
Cambodia (C League) - a brief stay in this league saw Adriano
Pellegrino make 10 appearances and score 3 goals as Phnom Penh Crown won the
league title.
Singapore (S League) - goalkeeper Justin Pasfield has made
the move to Asia, now having made 10 league and cup appearances in 7 weeks at
Tampines Rovers.
Iceland (2. Deild) - an amazing story. Kile Kennedy is a goalkeeper who made the
brave move to KF Fjardabyggd last season,who at the time were fourth division
in Iceland. His efforts contribted to
his team gaining promotion. Now this
campaign his team sit top of the table as they again chase automatic
promotion. Having conceded 12 goals in
13 games, Kile is continuing his strong form.
A long journey from country Victoria.
USA (MLS) - Tim Cahill continues to tackle all before
him. He scored one of the goals of the
tournament at his third World Cup. He
has received several individual ackolades at New York, prompting rumours of a
return to England. An interesting dinner party discussion of who is the
greatest Socceroo of the past 20 years?
Injuries:- great
to see the likes of Robbie Kruse, Trent Sainsbury and Mustafa Amini making
their returns from injury ahead of the new season. Still injury concerns with Josh Kennedy, Tom
Rogic, Rhys Williams and Curtis Good as those guys try to get back on the park
and see good game time ahead of the Asian Cup.
Terrible news with Michael Zullo doing his knee in training at Utrecht,
a long stint on the sidelines for him I am afraid.
Club Competitions:-
Europe
(UEFA Champions League) – Adrian Zahra sat on the pine
as Valletta were knocked out in qualifying. Neither Tom Rogic or Jackson Irvine
appeared for Celtic as they progressed to the 3rd round of qualifying.
(UEFA Europa League) – several Aussies appeared in qualifying
ties, but Mark Griffin (Dundalk), Oliver Bozanic (Luzern) and Aziz Behich
(Bursapor) have all been eliminated.
South America
(Copa Libertadores) – no Aussies Abroad remain.
Asia
(Asian Champions League) - no Aussies Abroad remain.
(AFC Cup) - no Aussies Abroad remain.
Reserves and Youth:-
No report during European off-season.
International level:- the
rejuventation of the Socceroos in a work in progress. Some tough decisions were made in the lead up
to the World Cup. We then had the excitement
of new faces appearing in Brazil. With
several friendlies arranged before next year's World Cup, we have a good 20-30
players that will be fighting for a place in the Socceroos squad with those
that were in Brazil. A great period of education as we learn more and see more
of players that were often perceived to be under the radar.
Socceroo (capped) of the month – on
hold
Nov - Ryan, Dec - Jedinak, Jan
- Jedinak, Feb - Ryan, Mar – Kennedy, Apr - Jedinak
Under the radar (uncapped) - on hold.
Nov - Luongo, Dec - Mrcela, Jan
- Giannou, Feb - Wright, Mar – Lowry, Apr - Halloran
Young player (U21) of the month
– on hold.
Nov - Ryan Williams, Dec -
Cooper, Jan - B.Smith, Feb - Grant, Mar – Tanner, Apr - Ugarkovic
Any changes please e-mail damiandavies@ymail.com
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