No SA boys in the Socceroos WC Squad

[BADA BING]

as a proud South Australian i find this quite disappointing and worrying, also i can't think of a player from SA that missed out on selection that maybe we could argue was hard done by.

Are we doing something wrong in this state in the development of our young kids???

[Željko Jurin]

Should post this in the "Junior" section of the forum too, very good point !!!

[Nova]

I thought the same thing
It has to be asked, why is this so and not just this WC squad, it's happening through most of the Rep squads!
Is it a money thing, families are made to pay for the developement of their youngsters, are the best ones getting looked at? Do we need to get funding to pay these expenses so that everyone gets looked at, do we need better coaches, etc??

[admin]

Troisi?

[the_gun]

Troisi?

not in the squad

[BADA BING]

Troisi?

not in the squad

I think Admin is putting Troisi name forward which you could maybe argue about

[admin]

Troisi?

not in the squad

I think Admin is putting Troisi name forward which you could maybe argue about

Correct.

I realise he is not in the squad and was just suggesting he was the one South Australian player that might have been a longshot.

[the_gun]

he'll defintely be in with a crack for the 2014 squad. hes a quality player... still young though... plenty of time.

[Adelphi3]

We have some young guys doing well. Two in the Joeys and one in the next Young Socceroo team.

[Chelsea4thewin]

Cornflakes?

[BADA BING]

Cornflakes?

your taken the piss right

[Stars]

We have some young guys doing well. Two in the Joeys and one in the next Young Socceroo team.

who are they? got any idea!

[BADA BING]

i see Val must have read this thread and published his own copy in the tiser on Saturday, do we get any royalties????

[Loppermann]

We have some young guys doing well. Two in the Joeys and one in the next Young Socceroo team.

who are they? got any idea!

Troisi, Danny Mullen

[Adelphi3]

Monaca and Isso for the Joeys. I also think the youngest Adelaide United keeper is with the new young Socceroos team.

[Željko Jurin]

Why is it that alot of people bagged Simunic, Seric and Didulica for "leaving" Australia to play for another country, but no one says anything about Vidosic and Rukavytsya doing the opposite and choosing to play for Australia ??

PS......You can throw in Tomic, Luczak and Ball playing tennis for Australia in there as well, all foreign born

[Loppermann]

Why is it that alot of people bagged Simunic, Seric and Didulica for "leaving" Australia to play for another country, but no one says anything about Vidosic and Rukavytsya doing the opposite and choosing to play for Australia ??

PS......You can throw in Tomic, Luczak and Ball playing tennis for Australia in there as well, all foreign born

they all grew up in Australia

[Željko Jurin]

Why is it that alot of people bagged Simunic, Seric and Didulica for "leaving" Australia to play for another country, but no one says anything about Vidosic and Rukavytsya doing the opposite and choosing to play for Australia ??

PS......You can throw in Tomic, Luczak and Ball playing tennis for Australia in there as well, all foreign born

they all grew up in Australia

Rukavytsya was 14 when he left Ukraine I think I remember hearing

[Loppermann]

Why is it that alot of people bagged Simunic, Seric and Didulica for "leaving" Australia to play for another country, but no one says anything about Vidosic and Rukavytsya doing the opposite and choosing to play for Australia ??

PS......You can throw in Tomic, Luczak and Ball playing tennis for Australia in there as well, all foreign born

they all grew up in Australia

Rukavytsya was 14 when he left Ukraine I think I remember hearing

and Christian Vieri lived in Melbourne until he was 13...
you win some, you lose some

[Kitchimo]

Because Simunic, Seric, and Didulica (unsure) had their football 'education' in part paid for by the Australian taxpayer at the AIS.

[Željko Jurin]

Because Simunic, Seric, and Didulica (unsure) had their football 'education' in part paid for by the Australian taxpayer at the AIS.

All 3, are you sure ??

[the_gun]

Because Simunic, Seric, and Didulica (unsure) had their football 'education' in part paid for by the Australian taxpayer at the AIS.

All 3, are you sure ??

yes they are... but times were different back then. the australian football federation was bankrupt and not really functioning very professionally. it was a far easier decision back then. im sure if they had to make the same decision under the current circumstances they would have most probably chosen australia.

[Kitchimo]

Because Simunic, Seric, and Didulica (unsure) had their football 'education' in part paid for by the Australian taxpayer at the AIS.

All 3, are you sure ??

Which is why I had 'unsure' next to Didulica - he's the only one that didn't after I bothered to research. The other two did.

[Urgh! A Music War]

and Christian Vieri lived in Melbourne until he was 13...
you win some, you lose some

Vieri has never had Australian citizenship and wasn't qualified to represent Australia, so you haven't lost anything.

[Loppermann]

and Christian Vieri lived in Melbourne until he was 13...
you win some, you lose some

Vieri has never had Australian citizenship and wasn't qualified to represent Australia, so you haven't lost anything.

I tell a lie, it was Sydney
and I'm sure if he wanted Australian citizenship he would have qualified

[Urgh! A Music War]

You still haven't lost anything on the Vieri front.

[Loppermann]

You still haven't lost anything on the Vieri front.

handy player

[BADA BING]

You still haven't lost anything on the Vieri front.

i beg to differ, in his prime he would have slotted in nicely up front in a green and gold guernsey

[Urgh! A Music War]

Except he didn't qualify to wear it. You can't lose something you haven't got.

[johnydep]

You still haven't lost anything on the Vieri front.

Christian Vieri: made in Australia

By Martin Flanagan
June 8 2002

To what extent can Australians claim Italy's leading striker, Christian Vieri? Media attempts to do so have met with scepticism, but those close to Vieri see a connection.

"Most Italian players love to exaggerate," says boyhood friend Attilio Labbozzetta. "Christian's totally different. He's like a bull. He doesn't fall over if he gets pushed. He's not typical of European or Italian football. There is an Australian air about him. He still speaks with an Australian accent."

Christian Vieri's father, Roberto, came to Australia when his son was four to coach Sydney soccer club Marconi. Roberto had played with a number of Italian clubs including Juventus. In the words of junior coach of Australia Ange Postecoglou, Roberto was past his peak but still had superb ball skills. Attilio says Roberto could stroke 50-metre passes with such precision that team-mates wouldn't have to break stride to receive them.

Attilio's father, Club Marconi boss Tony Labbozzetta, brought Roberto Vieri to Australia and Attilio and Christian became best friends. Attilio says they got into "mischief" together, like throwing water bombs at passing cars. At the time, Christian's preferred sport was cricket, fancying himself as a left-handed batsman. His sporting idol was Australia's no-nonsense left-handed batsman, Allan Border.

It was to stop Christian getting into mischief that he was cajoled into taking up soccer when he was 14. Club Marconi's under-15 coach, Rick Chiellini, remembers a big kid who appeared uncoordinated and had a funny way of running, arms all over the place, head shifting about. The inevitable comparisons were made that he was nothing like his father, the consummately skilful Roberto Vieri. "They almost ridiculed him," says Rick. "I think it made him more determined."

Rick says Christian was "all left foot and would try a shot from anywhere".

He also won that year's grand final for his team. "He was running around like a chook with its head cut off and I was going to take him off. He was just inside the opposition half and the ball fell to him. He looked up and had a shot. I thought, 'What's this idiot doing?', and the ball's gone in the top right-hand corner of the net. I still took him off because he was buggered."

The following year the Vieri family returned to Italy. Steve Surjan, a team-mate of Christian's in the Marconi under-15s, says his parents' decision to return to a country where soccer is central to the way of life was Christian's lucky break. "If they hadn't gone back, he wouldn't be where he is now."

Steve remembers Christian as good-natured and fun. "Back then, he was playing more to pass the time. He had talent but he could be lazy, although there were other games when he ran his heart out," Steve says. "Overall, he had the right mentality to be a professional soccer player, but in Australia he didn't take the game that seriously."

In the mid-90s, there was talk of Christian playing under age for Australia, but he ruled this out on the grounds that it could disqualify him from playing club football in Italy. Four clubs in four years followed, the last transfer, from Lazio to Inter Milan, for a world record fee of $78 million, triggering controversy. In Italy, the Vatican's daily newspaper described the sum as "an offence against the poor". Attilio concedes that initially Italian fans questioned Christian's commitment and saw him as "a bit of a Gypsy".

In an interview with The Times, Christian defended himself, saying it was the greed of club presidents using him to make money that caused him to move about. He also expressed sadness about leaving Australia and the game of cricket. Rick remembers devising a soccer version of cricket to animate Christian's youthful interest in the round-ball game.

In 1999, Christian Vieri was reported to be earning $134,000 a week. He has defended the amount top sportsmen are paid, saying the players are the reason the stadiums fill and the television cameras are there. In June, 1999, however, he returned to Australia for an exhibition match at Stadium Australia. He received what was described as pocket money ($500) for the match, played out the game and later expressed regret that he hadn't been able to score for the Sydney crowd. While in Australia, he opened a seafood restaurant in Darling Harbour called Vieri, which he owns with the Labbozzetta family.

At the 1998 World Cup, Christian was runner-up in the Golden Boot, the award for the scorer of the highest number of goals in the tournament. That year Attilio had $200 on his friend to win the Golden Boot at pre-tournament odds of 16 to 1. This time he's had $500 at 12 to 1. He describes Christian's story as a fairytale.

Rick still sees "the same kid" he coached at Marconi. "If you talk to him, he's still the knockabout Australian sort of character he was when he lived here. On the field, he's stronger and more focused, but by European standards he's unorthodox." Rick says some would describe Christian as an honest player, others would say he is naive. Brazilian star Rivaldo, who went down as if shot when a ball was kicked into his leg during Brazil's match with Turkey, has said play-acting is part of the game. "Christian would never do that," says Rick. "He's too honest."

Ange agrees that Christian is not typically Italian in his play and sees an Australian influence at work. "There's a culture that's in all Australian sports. If you get knocked over, you get straight back up. Rather than take a dive, you stay on your feet."

He describes Christian's style as strong and direct.

"Harry Kewell left Australia when he was 16. If we can lay claim to him, we can take some pride in Christian Vieri. I certainly don't think he'd find it insulting if we did."