Australia has dominated in a number of sports with most success coming in Rugby and Cricket but have never been able to live up to these successes in football, in this article we have a look at some of the most talented Australian players to have ever graced a football pitch.
GK- Mark Schwarzer
The first player in this team is the all-time leading appearance maker for Australia with 109 caps spanning a 20-year international career. Along with an illustrious international career Schwarzer had a successful club career with spells in his native Australia and Germany before a long a successful spell in England where he made 445 appearances for Middlesbrough, went to the Europa League final with Fulham, he moved to Chelsea where he was a backup and made appearances in the Champions League before moving to his final club Leicester where he retired with a Premier League winners medal. Schwarzer was the first non-Brit to make 500 appearances in the Premier League and remains the only non-Brit to reach that milestones to this day, this is a testament to his ability to be a reliable and consistent performer in the Premier League for over a decade.
RB- Lucas Neill
From the leading appearance maker to the third leading appearance maker. Neill was a combative and committed defender who was a national team captain, played at two World Cups and accumulated 96 caps for the Socceroos. Neil spent fifteen seasons of his playing career in England with Millwall, Blackburn, West Ham, Everton and short spells at Watford and Doncaster. Neil was fan favourite at Blackburn Rovers because of his commitment and physical style of play, his performances at Blackburn led to interest from teams like Liverpool and Chelsea. Neill moved to West Ham after his spell with Blackburn and became Club captain at West Ham when captain Nigel Reo-Coker left for Aston Villa. Neill had some short spells at clubs for the remainder of his career, but this does not take the shine off his international career as he was a regular for the Australia team from 2003 until the 2014.
CB- Alex Tobin
Tobin spent his whole career playing in Australia with sixteen of his nineteen seasons spent with Adelaide City and a total of 522 senior appearances across three teams. Tobin was also a national team captain and comes in fifth in terms of international appearances with 87 caps. Tobin was known for being an exemplary player on and off the pitch so much so that the Australian PFA created the Alex Tobin medal which is presented to players based on four qualities leadership, achievement as a player, commitment to ones fellow professionals and service and dedication to the game. Tobin was inducted into the Australian football hall of fame in 2007.
CB- Joe Marston
Marston played in the Preston North End team that were runners up in the FA Cup playing along side greats like Sir Tom Finney and Tommy Docherty. Marston played for Preston for five years in between stints playing in Australia, ultimately his reason for returning to Australia was homesickness. Marston made 37 appearances for the Socceroos but his influence of Australian is a lot greater than his number of caps would suggest, Marston earned the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1988. He was also one of the inaugural Alex Tobin medal winners. The Joe Marston Medal is awarded to the man of the match in the A-League and National Soccer League grand finals.
LB- Stan Lazaridis
Similar to some of these other players in this team Lazaridis played in England as well as Australia, Lazaridis played for West Ham and Birmingham in the prime of his career before returning to his hometown club Perth Glory to finish his career. Lazaridis was versatile and could play both left back and left wing and his biggest asset was his pace which was able to help him in both attack and defence. He appeared in 60 games for Australia across a thirteen-year period.
RM- Brett Emerton
Another of Australia’s leading appearance makers makes this team. Emerton is fourth on the list with 95 caps and was key member of the team from 1998 to 2012. He was known for his pace, creativity, and ball control. Emerton has had a very successful club career starting at Sydney Olympic before earning a move to Feyenoord where he won the UEFA Cup and his performances drew interest from Premier league teams and in 2003, he signed for Blackburn Rovers. Emerton went on to play 247 times for Blackburn and played out the best years of his career there before ending his career at Sydney FC where he retired after persistent back issues.
CM- Mile Jedinak
Tenth in all time caps with 78 is Mile Jedinak. Another captain of the national team, Jedinak is known for his leadership, strength, and determination. He captained the Socceroos at the 2018 World Cup and to success at the 2015 Asian Cup before retiring from international football following the 2018 World Cup. Jedinak played in Australia, Turkey, and England during his club career. He came to prominence during his time at Crystal Palace where he captained the eagles and became a name that is known and well respected in the English game.
CM- Johnny Warren
Warren is another player who played his entire playing career in Australia, and he is another captain of the national team as well. Warren played for Australia 42 times captaining the team in 24 of those appearances. Warren was known for his passion for football in Australia and the legacy that he has left is one of optimism for the future of Australian football as he always had a belief that Australia could be a football superpower and emulate the nations success in other sports. In his memory the award for ‘Player of the Year’ in the A-league has been called the Johnny Warren medal.
LM- Harry Kewell
Kewell is one of the most talented players to ever come from Australia, he may not have fulfilled his high potential, but he still had a very good career. He played for Australia on 58 occasions scoring 17 goals, Kewell is the youngest player to play for Australia when he made his debut against Chile in 1996. His greatest moment in an Australia shirt came when he scored the equaliser against Croatia in the 2006 World Cup to secure qualification to the last sixteen which is still Australia’s best World Cup performance. In his club career Kewell has played for Leeds where he came to prominence before moving to the club he supported as a boy where he won the Champions League. He went on to play for Galatasaray, Melbourne Victory, Al-Gharafa and Melbourne Heart in the remaining years of his career. Kewell may have peaked at Leeds in his early career, but he still played to a high level both for his club and national team.
SS- Tim Cahill
Cahill is Australia’s all-time top goal scorer with 50 goals and is second in all-time caps with 108. Cahill is known for his heading ability and vertical jump which led to him scoring a lot of headers, he is also known for his goal celebration, boxing the corner flag. Cahill made a name for himself at Millwall as a young energetic box-to-box midfielder Cahill moved to Everton for a fee of £1.5m and in his eight seasons there he became a firm favourite with the fans through his versatility and goal scoring. Fans affectionately called him ‘Tiny Tim’. As Cahill’s career progressed, he moved to more of a second striker role and even occasionally he played as a striker, this was down to his ability to pick up goal scoring positions and his aerial ability.
ST- Mark Viduka
The last player in this team is the out and out goal scorer Mark Viduka. Viduka like many players in this team has been captain of the national team, he was captain of the teams best ever World Cup performance in 2006. He was capped 43 times and scored 11 times in a 13-year international career. Viduka has been a regular goal scorer at all the clubs he has been at, he has played for Melbourne Knights, Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, Leeds, Middlesbrough, and Newcastle, having at least a decent scoring record at all of these clubs. Viduka won the Alex Tobin medal and was also inducted into the Australian football hall of fame.
By Brandon Falconer