More Socceroos to come home, says Sterjovski
By Greg Buckle, 13 Jun 2009 Greg Buckle is a Roar Pro
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Perth Glory’s new marquee player Mile Sterjovski says his return home has sparked plenty of interest within the Socceroos camp and he predicts more big names will follow.
Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has previously made no secret of his preference for players to be competing in stronger European leagues rather than the A-League.
But Sterjovski says Verbeek’s “supportive” attitude helped convince him to sign a three-year deal with the Glory after struggling to get game time before being let go by English Championship club Derby County.
The Dutchman’s main concern was that he play regular football – and keep playing after the A-League finished ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals.
Sterjovski, who scored in Australia’s 2-0 win over Bahrain on Wednesday, indicated fellow Socceroos were intrigued by his move home.
“There has been a few words spoken in camp and I think you’ll see quite a few players coming back in the future,” said 30-year-old Sterjovski at his Glory signing announcement in Sydney on Friday.
“There’s a few (Socceroos) players who are quite envious. That’s good signs.
“I’ve always said I wanted to come back and I think I’ve come back at a good age.
“I spoke to Pim at length about it. He was very supportive,” added Sterjovski.
“He understood my situation. It’s only going to benefit me coming back because I’m going to be playing more games.
“The only problem for me (at Derby County) was I wasn’t playing enough games and that’s going to be important for me in the next season.”
Sterjovski had previous playing stints in France, Switzerland and Turkey before making the move to England in 2008.
His signing with the Glory sees him reunited with coach Dave Mitchell who mentored the midfielder during earlier stints with NSL clubs Sydney United and Parramatta Power.
The Glory have also recruited fellow Socceroo Jacob Burns from Romanian club Unirea Urzicini and ex-Derby defender Andy Todd.
They join Gold Coast’s Jason Culina on the list of Socceroos hopefuls prepared to take their chances playing in Australia ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Asked if he was taking a risk over World Cup selection, Sterjovski said: “I don’t think so.
“I’ve been a professional for quite a long time now. I know what it takes to play at that level.
“So as long as I maintain that standard, it’s not going to be a problem.
“The most important thing for Pim was that I was playing regular football and to make sure that at the end of the A-League season, that I continue playing until the World Cup.
“That was the only major issue.”
Sterjovski says he’s yet to investigate his playing options for next year in the build-up to the World Cup in South Africa in June.
Perth’s regular season finishes in mid-February, with the final on March 20. The Glory hope to be involved in the playoffs after finishing a lowly seventh last season.
Sterjovski stopped short of urging Mark Viduka to play in the A-League after falling out of contract with relegated English Premier League side Newcastle.
The big striker wasn’t available for selection in Australia’s 30-man squad to play Qatar, Bahrain and Japan.
Asked if Socceroos veterans should look at returning home, Sterjovski said: “Yeah of course I’d encourage it.
“But everybody has different situations. I can’t really speak for Mark on whether he’d want to come back,” he said.
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whiskeymac said | June 13th 2009 @ 8:31am | Report comment
good to see Culina, Burns and now Sterj playing next season. great for Perth and hopefully a the HAL allround.
but returning players are a mixed bag. for every craig moore and muscat there’s been an agostino and lazardis. not intending to be disrespectful to those guys but their impact – by their own high standards and careers – was a lot less than was expected. returning players still need to be able to play and not think the HAL is a walk in the park – physically it’s still up there and if the player is a bit old or injury prone they seem to get caught out – and invaribaly because they are on (for HAL standards) high wages and media exposure they arguably can end up being a drain on the HAL and not the boost they were intending to be.
Robbos said | June 13th 2009 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Peth now needs Coyne to sign.
whiskeymac said | June 13th 2009 @ 10:48am | Report comment
coyne have any other choices? wld like to see him here in the HAL but i wonder if he will follow kennedy and north and go to asia instead, especially as he is unlikely to be a marquee. its one thing to come back and be paid 1.2 to 2 million, quite another to be fitted into a small salary cap…
Koala Bear said | June 13th 2009 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Well if this keeps up; Pimbo will have to select Nicky Carle.. The only remaining Roo Footballer left in a European competition….
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KB
Mick said | June 13th 2009 @ 7:50pm | Report comment
Lazaridis was the biggest flop I think, he talked a good game and promised the fans heaps & delivered zilch & even whinged about flying. He should of come back to oz to play state league
jimbo said | June 13th 2009 @ 10:52pm | Report comment
Aloisi at SFC has been an even bigger flop.
Its now official – Melbourne has a second team.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25629397-5000940,00.html
Peter Sidwell the bid chairman just needs to find a coach, staff, 23 players, a home ground, a playing strip and a team name.
He’s doesn’t even have a football background, he follows AFL and wants football “to come a very good second to AFL”.
With that sort of attitude I’m sure he’ll do very well at keeping AFL the number one distraction in Melbourne and lose every cent of his investment.
Dean Boutsodermas said | June 14th 2009 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
I agree with you Jimbo.
“Football will never replace AFL” – With that kind of attitude I think that he shouldn’t get involved in Football.
Captain Random said | June 14th 2009 @ 8:47pm | Report comment
Although football will probably never replace AFL in that part of the world, it’s not a good idea to say it publicly. Mr Sidwell is placing limitations on how successful he wants his club to be. How strange.
jimbo said | June 14th 2009 @ 10:39pm | Report comment
Luckily Archie Fraser the new Head of A-League Operations has a different attitude.
“ . . . the role that I’ve got I think is senior enough that I can have a positive impact. So it’s a combination of the challenge, the timing and the potential future of the A-League and football in Australia that attracted me.
The AFL . . . has been around 150 years, whereas the reality for us is we have got a league that has been going for four years,” Fraser said.
“My goal is to make it [A-League] the premium sporting competition in the country.”
Midfielder said | June 14th 2009 @ 10:45pm | Report comment
For the new name thing they want to do … here are some ideas .. The Mexicans …. SOB’s… South of the Boarder (what did you guy’s think) … maybe Southern Wankers… anyone else got some names….