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FFA chief David Gallop hopes Mark Bresciano will finish his career in the A-League after the midfielder announced his retirement from international football.
Speaking from an Asian Football Confederation meeting in Malaysia, Gallop said he hoped Bresciano could bring the curtain down on his playing career in the A-League to allow Australian football fans to pay tribute to the former Parma, Palermo and Lazio playmaker, who is currently playing in Qatar.
“We would love to see him back in the A-League when he finishes his commitments overseas,” Gallop said.
“It would be great to see him finish his career here.”
Bresciano, who played in three World Cups and was a member of the Socceroos squad that lifted the Asian Cup last month, won 84 caps for his country, scoring 13 goals.
The 35-year-old’s most memorable strike came the 1-0 win over Uruguay that took the second leg of the play-off for a place in the 2006 World Cup to a penalty shoot-out and culminated in John Aloisi’s memorable winning spot-kick at ANZ Stadium.
“The best thing I can say is he is right up there (as one the best) … he was a real quiet achiever,” Gallop said.
“I’ve seen him on the training paddock, in the meal room and around the team on game day and you quickly get a flavour of how important the role played by ‘Bresh’ was in the re-generation of this Socceroos team.
“We’ve seen how Massimo Luongo, Matthew Leckie and Jason Davidson have come through with the in the past 12 months and behind all that has been the influence of the true professionals like ‘Bresh’.
Gallop said plans are in place for Bresciano to say farewell to the Socceroos fans possibly before the opening World Cup qualifier in Perth later this year.
He also hinted that a celebration to mark the 10th anniversary of qualification for the a first World Cup appearance in 32 years could also be on the cards in November.
“We would like to do something for ‘Bresh’ and a number of the other players that have retired recently,” he said.
“That qualification was such a pivotal moment for Australian football and it would be fitting to have something to mark such a major milestone.”
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