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Recently, former Melbourne Victory shot-stopper Mitchell Langerak made his senior debut for Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund in their clash against powerhouse Bayern Munich. Langerak was thrown in the deep end, coming up against some of Europe’s top players, however, he put in a solid performance in the 3-1 victory.
The youngster was only beaten when some lacklustre defending allowed an unmarked Luiz Gustavo to volley the ball into the net. Up the other end, goals to Mats Hummels, Lucas Barrios and Nuri Sahin sealed the win for BVB which enabled the league leaders to open a 13 point gap at the top of the Bundesliga table.
The result is all the more impressive considering it had been almost 20 years since Dortmund last beat Munich away from home. In making his debut, Langerak became just the 11th Australian under the age 25 to make his debut for an overseas club after playing in the A-League.
Langerak broke into the Melbourne Victory line-up last season after first choice goalkeeper Glen Moss encountered bad form. Some impressive performances by the young ‘keeper enabled him to hold the position of number one goalie for the rest of the season.
After the disappointing loss to Sydney in the 2010 grand final, Langerak became a wanted man. Dortmund came with an offer that was at first rejected by the Victory, but after some negotiations, both teams settled on a price and Langerak jetted off to join Die Borussen.
He sat on the bench for 25 league games and played just 90 minuted for the reserve team before making his debut appearance and while lack of game time could hinder many players’ development, Langerak is progressing well under the Dortmund coaches and his impressive debut is a testament to that.
Dortmund’s new number 20 joins a select list of former A-League players who have debuted for foreign clubs while still under the age of 25.
Other Australians who occupy this list include former Adelaide United striker Nathan Burns, former Brisbane Roar midfielder Dario Vidosic and David Carney, formerly of Sydney FC.
While the number is still relatively small, it due to increase soon with the likes of Michael Zullo on the books at FC Utrecht and Matthew Leckie due to move to Borrusia Monchengladbach. Robbie Kruse is another who could expand this list as he is expected to follow Leckie to Germany following Melbourne Victory’s Asian Champions League campaign.
The fact young Australians are attracting interest from big overseas clubs is a credit to the A-League. It shows the domestic league is starting to be taken more seriously by European and Asian sides who are constantly on the look out for rising talent.
The fact they can find suitable up and coming players in the Australian league also shows young Australians that moving overseas at the ages of 14-15 might not be the best idea, especially when you can gain regular first time football at home in a competition that is starting to find its feet.
Hopefully we will see more of Australia’s footballing talent making a name for themselves in the A-League first, before moving on to bigger things. Just look at Mitch Langerak.
Full list of former A-League players who debuted for overseas under the age of 25:
Nathan Burns (Adelaide United – AEK Athens)
Dario Vidosic (Brisbane Roar – FC Nuremberg)
Tommy Oar (Brisbane Roar – FC Utrecht)
Adam Sarota (Brisbane Roar – FC Utrecht)
Luke DeVere (Brisbane Roar – Gyeongnam FC)
Mile Jedinak (Central Coast Mariners – Gençlerbirliği)
Mitchell Langerak (Melbourne Victory – Borussia Dortmund)
Mark Milligan (Newcastle Jets – Shanghai Shenhua)
James Holland (Newcastle Jets – Sparta Rotterdam)
Nikita Rukavytsya (Perth Glory – FC Twente)
David Carney (Sydney FC – Sheffield United)
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