Tony Popovic
Encyclopedia
Anthony Popovic (ˈpɔːpɔʋitɕ; born 4 July 1973 in Sydney
, Australia
) is a Croatian Australian
former football (soccer)
player. He last played for Sydney FC
. He is currently the First Team Coach of Crystal Palace
. Popovic grew up in Fairfield, New South Wales
.
. He rose through the youth ranks. He made 162 appearances for the first team. He spent seven years in first team Before a move to play in the J-League. He signed with Sanfreece Hiroshima where he stayed for five years scoring 13 goals in 94 appearances.
on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima
. He became an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain. He played more than 120 matches for Crystal Palace.
He played for Crystal Palace in his last season with the club in the Barclays Premier League. He made 21 appearances.
Popovic's contract with Palace expired at the end of June 2006, and he decided against accepting the club's offer of a new contract. He instead moved to Qatar
club, Al-Arabi.
It was at Crystal Palace where he also scored one of the most remarkable own goals ever.
, signing a two year deal, with coach Branko Čulina also announcing him the club's captain. Popovic scored his first goal on 28 October 2007 from a corner to beat the Mariners 3-2 in front of his home crowd of 17,850.
Popovic announced his retirement on 11 November 2008, his body not being able to cope with the A-League conditions, after nearly 20 years as a professional footballer.
in Barcelona
for the Australian U-23 team.
He began his full international career in 1995 with the Australian national team. Over the next eleven years Popovic made 58 appearances for the Socceroos, scoring 8 goals.
The highlight of Popovic's career came in 2006 when the Australian national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup under the management of Guus Hiddink
. He took part in both legs in the qualifying match against Uruguay. Being replaced in the first half of the second leg due to injury by Harry Kewell
. The tall defender was named in the competing squad and made his World Cup debut against Brazil
on 18 June. He suffered a calf injury 40 minutes into the game and was replaced by Marco Bresciano for the second half. His injury ruled him out of Australia's last match in the group stage, against Croatia, and their second round loss against eventual winners, Italy.
On 4 October 2006 Tony Popovic announced his retirement from the Socceroos. His final game was a friendly against Paraguay that month. He scored his eighth international goal, from a Mark Bresciano
free kick, in his final minute on field to put Australia ahead, 1-0 in a game that finished 1-1.
, where he remained until February 2011, when he returned to England and to Crystal Palace
as First Team Coach, after former team-mate Dougie Freedman
was appointed manager.
|1989/90||rowspan="4"|Sydney Croatia||rowspan="4"|National Soccer League
||13||0||||||||||13||0
|-
|1990/91||17||1||||||||||17||1
|-
|1991/92||20||1||||||||||20||1
|-
|1992/93||24||2||||||||||24||2
|-
|1993/94||rowspan="4"|Sydney United||rowspan="4"|National Soccer League
||27||2||||||||||27||2
|-
|1994/95||25||3||||||||||25||3
|-
|1995/96||29||4||||||||||29||4
|-
|1996/97||7||2||||||||||7||2
|-
|1997||rowspan="5"|Sanfrecce Hiroshima
||rowspan="5"|J. League 1||11||0||0||0||6||0||17||0
|-
|1998||25||4||3||1||2||1||30||6
|-
|1999||23||6||5||0||1||0||29||6
|-
|2000||21||3||2||0||3||2||26||5
|-
|2001||7||0||0||0||0||0||7||0
|-
|2001/02||rowspan="5"|Crystal Palace
||rowspan="3"|First Division
||20||2||1||0||||||21||2
|-
|2002/03||36||4||3||0||||||40||4
|-
|2003/04||30||1||1||0||||||31||1
|-
|2004/05||Premier League||23||0||||||||||23||0
|-
|2005/06||League Championship
||10||0||||||||||10||0
|-
|2006/07||Al-Arabi||Stars League||17||2||||||||||17||2
|-
|2007/08||rowspan="2"|Sydney||rowspan="2"|A-League
||20||1|||||||||||20||1
|-
|2008/09||7||0||||||||||7||0
187||17||||||||||187||17
87||13||10||1||12||3||109||17
119||7||5||0||||||119||7
17||2||||||||||17||2
412||39||15||1||12||3||439||43
|}
|-
|1995||8||0
|-
|1996||10||0
|-
|1997||2||0
|-
|1998||2||0
|-
|1999||0||0
|-
|2000||7||1
|-
|2001||10||5
|-
|2002||0||0
|-
|2003||2||1
|-
|2004||5||0
|-
|2005||8||0
|-
|2006||4||1
|-
!Total||58||8
|}
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) is a Croatian Australian
Croatian Australian
Croatia has been a source of migrants to Australia, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2006, 128,051 persons resident in Australia identified themselves as having Croatian ancestry.- History :...
former football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player. He last played for Sydney FC
Sydney FC
Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
. He is currently the First Team Coach of Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
. Popovic grew up in Fairfield, New South Wales
Fairfield, New South Wales
Fairfield is a western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield is located 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Fairfield and is also partly in the local government...
.
Early career
Popovic began his career with Sydney UnitedSydney United
Sydney United Football Club are an Australian football club from Sydney, Australia, established in 1957 by Croatian Australians in the area...
. He rose through the youth ranks. He made 162 appearances for the first team. He spent seven years in first team Before a move to play in the J-League. He signed with Sanfreece Hiroshima where he stayed for five years scoring 13 goals in 94 appearances.
Crystal Palace F.C
Tony Popovic signed for Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
is a Japanese association football club in the J. League Division 1.-Club name:The club name is a portmanteau of the Japanese numeral for three, San and an Italian word frecce or 'arrows'...
. He became an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain. He played more than 120 matches for Crystal Palace.
He played for Crystal Palace in his last season with the club in the Barclays Premier League. He made 21 appearances.
Popovic's contract with Palace expired at the end of June 2006, and he decided against accepting the club's offer of a new contract. He instead moved to Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
club, Al-Arabi.
It was at Crystal Palace where he also scored one of the most remarkable own goals ever.
Sydney FC
In 2007, with the growth of the A-League and slight homesickness, Popovic, moved to his home town club Sydney FCSydney FC
Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
, signing a two year deal, with coach Branko Čulina also announcing him the club's captain. Popovic scored his first goal on 28 October 2007 from a corner to beat the Mariners 3-2 in front of his home crowd of 17,850.
Popovic announced his retirement on 11 November 2008, his body not being able to cope with the A-League conditions, after nearly 20 years as a professional footballer.
International career
Popovic competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
for the Australian U-23 team.
He began his full international career in 1995 with the Australian national team. Over the next eleven years Popovic made 58 appearances for the Socceroos, scoring 8 goals.
The highlight of Popovic's career came in 2006 when the Australian national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup under the management of Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink
Guus Hiddink is a Dutch football manager and former player. He was the most recently manager of the Turkish national football team. He is considered to be one of the best managers of his generation and was the best-paid coach in international football in 2009...
. He took part in both legs in the qualifying match against Uruguay. Being replaced in the first half of the second leg due to injury by Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell
Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...
. The tall defender was named in the competing squad and made his World Cup debut against Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
on 18 June. He suffered a calf injury 40 minutes into the game and was replaced by Marco Bresciano for the second half. His injury ruled him out of Australia's last match in the group stage, against Croatia, and their second round loss against eventual winners, Italy.
On 4 October 2006 Tony Popovic announced his retirement from the Socceroos. His final game was a friendly against Paraguay that month. He scored his eighth international goal, from a Mark Bresciano
Mark Bresciano
Mark "Marco" Bresciano is an Australian football player who is currently playing for UAE Pro-League side Al Nasr SC as a midfielder. He represented Australia at all youth levels, including appearances at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship and 2000 Olympic Games...
free kick, in his final minute on field to put Australia ahead, 1-0 in a game that finished 1-1.
Coaching career
After retiring, Popovic moved into an Assistant Coach's role with Sydney FCSydney FC
Sydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
, where he remained until February 2011, when he returned to England and to Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
as First Team Coach, after former team-mate Dougie Freedman
Dougie Freedman
Douglas "Dougie" Freedman is a Scottish former professional football player who played as a striker. He is currently manager at Championship club Crystal Palace, where he spent ten of his sixteen years as a player.-Barnet:...
was appointed manager.
Statistics
|-|1989/90||rowspan="4"|Sydney Croatia||rowspan="4"|National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
||13||0||||||||||13||0
|-
|1990/91||17||1||||||||||17||1
|-
|1991/92||20||1||||||||||20||1
|-
|1992/93||24||2||||||||||24||2
|-
|1993/94||rowspan="4"|Sydney United||rowspan="4"|National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
||27||2||||||||||27||2
|-
|1994/95||25||3||||||||||25||3
|-
|1995/96||29||4||||||||||29||4
|-
|1996/97||7||2||||||||||7||2
|-
|1997||rowspan="5"|Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
is a Japanese association football club in the J. League Division 1.-Club name:The club name is a portmanteau of the Japanese numeral for three, San and an Italian word frecce or 'arrows'...
||rowspan="5"|J. League 1||11||0||0||0||6||0||17||0
|-
|1998||25||4||3||1||2||1||30||6
|-
|1999||23||6||5||0||1||0||29||6
|-
|2000||21||3||2||0||3||2||26||5
|-
|2001||7||0||0||0||0||0||7||0
|-
|2001/02||rowspan="5"|Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
||rowspan="3"|First Division
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
||20||2||1||0||||||21||2
|-
|2002/03||36||4||3||0||||||40||4
|-
|2003/04||30||1||1||0||||||31||1
|-
|2004/05||Premier League||23||0||||||||||23||0
|-
|2005/06||League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
||10||0||||||||||10||0
|-
|2006/07||Al-Arabi||Stars League||17||2||||||||||17||2
|-
|2007/08||rowspan="2"|Sydney||rowspan="2"|A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
||20||1|||||||||||20||1
|-
|2008/09||7||0||||||||||7||0
187||17||||||||||187||17
87||13||10||1||12||3||109||17
119||7||5||0||||||119||7
17||2||||||||||17||2
412||39||15||1||12||3||439||43
|}
|-
|1995||8||0
|-
|1996||10||0
|-
|1997||2||0
|-
|1998||2||0
|-
|1999||0||0
|-
|2000||7||1
|-
|2001||10||5
|-
|2002||0||0
|-
|2003||2||1
|-
|2004||5||0
|-
|2005||8||0
|-
|2006||4||1
|-
!Total||58||8
|}
International Goals
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 June 2000 | Papeete, Tahiti | 17-0 | Won | Oceania Nations Cup | 1 (1) | |
| 9 April 2001 | BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium is an Australian stadium located in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.... |
22-0 | Won | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.... |
1 (2) | |
| 11 April 2001 | BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium is an Australian stadium located in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.... |
31-0 | Won | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.... |
2 (4) | |
| 16 April 2001 | BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium BCU International Stadium is an Australian stadium located in the coastal city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.... |
11-0 | Won | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Oceanian zone . For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.... |
2 (6) | |
| 12 February 2003 | Boleyn Ground Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:... , London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
3-1 | Won | Friendly | 1 (7) | |
| 7 September 2006 | Suncorp Stadium Suncorp Stadium Lang Park is the original name of the site located in the Brisbane suburb of Milton, Queensland, Australia, now occupied by the major sports facility known by its sponsorship name, Suncorp Stadium... , Brisbane Brisbane Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of... |
1-1 | Draw | Friendly | 1 (8) | |
Honours
With Australia:- OFC Nations CupOFC Nations CupThe OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name Oceania Nations Cup...
: 19961996 OFC Nations CupThe 1996 OFC Nations Cup was not held as a cohesive tournament, but consisted of semi-finals and a final played on a two-legged basis, stretched out between November 1995 and November 1996....
, 20002000 OFC Nations CupSolomon Islands and Vanuatu* qualified for Oceania Nations Cup 2000* Fiji were replaced by Vanuatu .-Polynesia Cup 2000:--------------------------------------------...
, 20042004 OFC Nations CupThe 2004 OFC Nations Cup doubled as the qualification tournament to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, except the two-legged final ....
External links
- Player profile - Tony Popovic Sydney FC
- Australian Player Database Oz Football