The Australian Socceroos during a training session in Brisbane, Monday, Oct. 13, 2008, ahead of their World Cup qualifier match against Qatar on Wednesday. AAP Image/Dave Hunt
He’s tall, strong in the air and most importantly, left-sided. He’s also one of the forgotten men of Australian football – at least until World Cup qualifiers roll around, at which point a hardy few in cyberspace will pick up the baton and insist that Eddy Bosnar deserves to be in the national squad.
Yet the question remains: is Eddy Bosnar good enough to play for the Socceroos?
I caught the big man in action at a rain-swept Nihondaira Stadium on Tuesday night as his team JEF United were held to a 2-2 draw on the road at Shimizu S-Pulse.
Bosnar could hardly be blamed for his team conceding twice in the final ten minutes, although the Sydney-born defender got off to an inauspicious start when his first touch in slippery conditions saw him tumble over near the touch-line.
But despite turning in one of his better performances, Bosnar’s overall record in Japan bears closer scrutiny.
Recruited from Dutch club Heracles Almelo in 2008, Bosnar linked up with Croatian coach Josip Kuze at J. League strugglers JEF United.
The two knew each other from their days in Croatian football, but Kuze endured a torrid time in Chiba, and he was sacked a third of the way through the campaign.
Former Liverpool first team coach Alex Miller stepped in with the task of salvaging JEF United from relegation, and he took an immediate shine to the combative defender.
Bosnar has been an ever-present for the Chiba club, yet his biggest weapon – his aggression – is also an achilles’ heel in the tackle-shy J. League.
Last season Bosnar racked up a league-high thirteen yellow cards – a dubious distinction he shared with former Japan skipper Takashi Fukunishi – and the Australian missed several crucial clashes through suspension.
On the penultimate day of the campaign, Bosnar was sent off at Nihondaira Stadium for a second bookable offence, having clattered into Shimizu’s theatrical youngster Keisuke Iwashita.
As the red mist descended Bosnar stood over Iwashita to accuse him of play-acting, before giving referee Toshimitsu Yoshida a mouthful when the inevitable red card came out.
His emotions have got the better of him elsewhere.
After scoring from a thunderous free-kick in a vital win over Kashima Antlers, Bosnar’s wild celebration included booting a water bottle suspiciously close to the Kashima bench – yielding another booking.
If Bosnar lets J. League play-acting get under his skin, or momentarily loses his senses from scoring a goal, it remains to be seen how he might fare in the high-pressure environment of a World Cup finals.
Indeed, his lapses in concentration were brought into sharp focus in JEF United’s recent trip to Albirex Niigata.
Playing in front of 34,060 fans at Big Swan Stadium, Bosnar nodded home a second half equaliser from a corner.
His joy was obvious, but just two minutes later the tall defender was unaware that Niigata striker Hideo Oshima was lurking behind him, and Bosnar’s failure to head clear was punished when Oshima nodded home.
Clutching his hands to his face and shaking his head in disbelief, Bosnar cut a disconsolate figure.
To be fair, his team-mates don’t help.
JEF United possess one of the thinnest squads in the league, and the lack of a commanding goalkeeper means United’s penalty area operates in a state of perpetual crisis.
But despite United only avoiding relegation on the final day last season – with the Chiba side possessing the second-worst defensive record in the league – it won’t stop some fans in Australia from labelling Bosnar as Socceroos material.
Many of those fans have never actually seen Bosnar play.
Pim Verbeek and his scouts have, and as a former coach of Omiya Ardija and Kyoto Sanga, Verbeek knows the J. League well. He seems to have made his mind up on Bosnar, who is routinely overlooked.
A lack of visibility in Australia seems to have worked in Bosnar’s favour – at least where some fans are concerned.
But as far as Pim Verbeek is concerned, Eddy Bosnar appears to be off the radar.
Graham Arnold is set to break bread with Nestory Irankunda after handing the prodigious teenager his first Socceroos call-up for World Cup qualifiers. Irankunda…
Morocco is not the only nation to find success with a large contingent of foreign-developed players - and the Socceroos can join that list.
Cameron Burgess scored the winner to confirm Ipswich’s status as a Premier League club.
Socceroo Cameron Burgess has put Ipswich within touching distance of the Premier League after a 2-1 win over Coventry in the English Championship. Kieffer…
Who stood out from the Australians both here and overseas in a busy week of the world game? Goalkeeper - Mathew Ryan- 3-0 win…
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
