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Harry Kewell has announced he will retire from all forms of football, meaning the remaining games of the Melbourne Heart’s A-League season will be the final games of his career.
It’s natural to start putting his career into perspective, beginning with the question of whether he is Australia’s greatest footballer.
Actually, to be honest, my first thought was whether “all forms” of football meant he would never play a park game, a quick foosball tournament with mates or pick up a controller for a bit of FIFA. But that’s not the point.
On my way to officially announce my retirement.. Thank you for all the kind tweets you've sent so far.. #EndofanEra
— Harry Kewell (@HarryKewell) March 26, 2014
Now that ‘Our Harry’ has signalled the end is nigh, we automatically begin to shuffle the deck of Australia’s greats to see where he fits.
So, is Harry our greatest footballing product?
His career on the world stage started as a 17-year-old for Leeds United against Middlesbrough on 30 March, 1996.
Since then he played another 180 games for Leeds, 98 for Liverpool, 63 for Galatasaray, 23 for Melbourne Victory, three for Al-Gharafa, 14 for Melbourne Heart and 56 for the Australian men’s national team.
He’s won an FA Cup, a UEFA Champions League and a PFA Young Player of the Year award in a remarkable career.
Kewell has scored 107 goals across his senior career. A formidable total for a predominantly midfield player during his prime.
It was his exciting play for Leeds United that caused many viewers to gasp and created many football fans. Some of his crossing, footwork and trickery was breathtaking. He always seemed to find space for a dribble, a pass, or a cross.
I can still remember a cross he put in with his right foot crossed behind his left, for Leeds, possibly the first time I saw that technique tried at that level of football.
Playing for Leeds, he, along with Mark Viduka, gave many Australians a second favourite team.
Despite having a stop-start career from his Liverpool days onward, he still found time to win an FA Cup and Champions League at the club and have a memorable 2006 season.
His debut for the Australian national team at 17 broke the record for youngest first cap. He came off the bench in the famous Socceroos qualifier against Uruguay and slotted a penalty in the shoot-out. He played in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, scoring the equaliser against Croatia in ’06 putting Australia in to the next round – “Australia’s golden boy, has come up with a golden goal!”
Kewell at his peak was the best footballer Australia has produced. His first step, technique, trickery and awareness of space were unbeatable. Other players – such as Tim Cahill, who we can’t fully evaluate yet – come into calculations as you consider career output. But Our Harry certainly belongs in the conversation of the greatest Australian footballers.
Harry Kewell great goals
One of, if not the last:
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