Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2015 i Australian FourFourTwo

Good Lord! Australian FourFour Two is 10 years old! And so is the A-League! And the Socceroos have enjoyed their best 10 years ever, despite Pim Verbeek and Holger Osieck! So that's probably ALL down to us. All of it. Yeah. Us. Right? Anyway, overall, football is in a much better place now than it was when we first launched on the back of the newborn A-League in 2005. But there is still so much work still to be done. Women's football has taken great strides forward since we launched, with the Matildas conquering Asia and going even further into a World Cup than the blokes have so far managed. As we go to press, a deal is brewing (at last) between the PFA and FFA which looks like it…

THE ZLATAN BURGER Zlatan knows that Zlatan is good enough to eat – and for ‘just’ $70 the delicious Swede can get stuck into himself thanks to a massive three-cheese and bacon burger flipped at Doddy’s Cafe, Paris. If he leaves, will they rename ‘The Zlatan’ ‘The Benjamin Stambouli’? THE LE TISS JET There’s only one logical name for a plane flying between Southampton and Guernsey, so Flybe duly unveiled ‘The Matt Le Tissier’ in 2007. Presumably it sits on the runway doing nothing for 85 minutes before producing a sensational flight. PEPI THE ASTEROID CR7 may have a galaxy to his name, but Czech-Austrian Wunderteam kingpin Josef ‘Pepi’ Bican, the most prolific striker in history, has an asteroid. ‘10634_Pepibican’ is currently drifting around in an asteroid belt between Mars…

“After the drug thing, my career was cut short. I still thought the best was yet to come. I was only 31 but I feel very fortunate to have had the career that I did.” FACT FILE Full Name: Mark Bosnich Date of birth: 13/01/1972 Height: 6ft 1in,1.85m Position: Goalkeeper Place of Birth: Sydney Clubs played for: 1989-1991 Manchester United, 1991-1992 Sydney United, 1992-1999 Aston Villa, 1991-2001 Manchester United, 2001-2003 Chelsea, 2008 Central Coast Mariners, 2009 Sydney Olympic International Career: 1993-2000 Australia (17 Caps) Club Honours: League Cup: (1993/94), (1995/96) English Premier League: 1999/00 Intercontinental Cup : 1999 Individual Honours Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1997 Oceania Goalkeeper of the Century: 1999 When Australian FourFourTwo launched in 2005, Mark Bosnich looked destined to be a sad footnote in our football…

Launch editor August 2005-June 2010 I’m sitting here 10 years to the day that I started work for FFT and it still seems like only yesterday that I met publisher Andy Jackson at Bondi Icebergs and he told me his bold plans to launch a football magazine in Australia. To say the game was in its infancy in 2005 would be doing a disservice to all those players, administrators and fans who came before, but there was still a feeling of a fresh start, of something new and exciting in the air. Sure we were a bunch of upstart Poms talking about the Australian game, but looking back at all the events we have comprehensively covered, promoted and created in the last decade, I’d like to think that in some…

2005 Either side of our launch in October 2005 saw two momentous events in Australian football history. The first saw a 32-year wait finally end. John Aloisi’s penalty against Uruguay in Sydney sent the Socceroos to a World Cup for the first time since 1974 after the intercontinental play-off finishes locked at 1-1. Mark Bresciano cancelled out Dario Rodriguez’s first-leg strike, while Mark Schwarzer pulled off two fine saves in the penalty shootout at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. Aloisi’s winner sparked jubilant scenes, despatching the Socceroos to Germany for their first World Cup since West Germany 1974. Guus Hiddink’s men had conceded just the one goal at a hostile Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, in a much better display than the one four years earlier. They delivered in Sydney after Bresciano’s goal,…

FABRIC TECHNOLOGY The days of a long-sleeve, woollen jumper are long gone, with today’s kits needing to be made with high-end technology fit for the elite player. Macron has used MPerformance System technology within most current designs, a moisture control system to help players feel cool, dry and comfortable, whilst ensuring long-term durability. QUALITY COUNTS At national league level, prints must be of the highest quality. But at many semi-professional clubs, kit prints don’t see out the season. Macron services more than 100 grassroots and NPL clubs in Australia and we make suresponsors on the kit, as well as the name & number on the back of the strip, are made using the highest quality material and applied with high-performance heat machines to prevent peeling, cracking and fading. Kits need…

DARE TO DO A DIET DIARY Footballers should record their dietary intake and look for dips in carb levels, according to a study of Australian pro and semi-pro players. After keeping diaries, players with limited nutritional knowledge found they consumed far fewer carbs than football-specific recommendations. 4.5 MILES That’s how far the average assistant referee covers during a match. Studies found that a lino typically clocks up around 7km over 90 minutes, with more than 100 sprints and around 600-700m running sideways. SEEK OUT SUNNY D Canadian research has highlighted the need for sportsmen to maintain their vitamin D levels during winter. The nutrient boosts recovery and increases aerobic capacity, muscle growth, force and power production. Natural sources include oily fish, eggs and cheddar cheese. SATELLITE DISC Australian scientists are…

1 Get strong to the core Build explosiveness in the gym “I don’t do any interval training and I’m not the type of guy who cares much about upper body exercises. I focus more on core exercises – they help me improve my explosiveness. At least once or twice a week, I work on my core strength in the gym. This involves exercises that concentrate on the abdominal muscles, hips and lumbar spine. With a stronger core, you become much harder to knock off the ball and you reduce your risk of injury.” 2 Rest to re-energise Stay fresh and eat sensibly “We swim and have a sauna and a massage to help us recover after matches and training. But, in my opinion, resting is the best thing you can…

Ten years ago, it was Goodbye Soccer, Hello Football as Australian FourFourTwo first hit the shelves. Today, the sport is barely recognisable from that fragile start. Who knew it would come this far, and that we would still be here 120 issues, and a massive swag of awards, later? So blow out the candles and come with us now as our bosses, old and new, look back on those first 10 years, read our exclusive extract of a new book which reveals how the football landscape shifted seismically to give birth to our mag and the A-League, take a trip down memory lane and the landmark events that shaped the sport in that time, chart the rise and fall of the Roos – and meet the legendary enduring star of…

The National Soccer League was not destined to go out with a bang. Dark skies and heavy rain showers conspired to keep the crowds away from the last-ever NSL Grand Final, with only 9630 people filing through the gates of Parramatta Stadium for the clash between Perth Glory and Parramatta Power on April 4, 2004. There was some significance attached to the two Grand Finalists. Glory were essentially the blueprint of the new national league which Frank Lowy and John O’Neill wanted to create. Glory had lured huge crowds to their home matches. They wanted fans to be entertained on and off the field, which gave each home match at Perth Oval a real sense of occasion. Parramatta Power had tried to create the same thing in football’s western Sydney…

NOVEMBER ISSUE 01 DAVID CARNEY “ I’ve still got that photo at home, good memories. The league has come on in leaps and bounds. It’s got much quicker, the quality of the foreigners, the youngsters – it’s hitting Europe standards.” BRETT EMERTON “I remember being asked to do it, but I can’t picture the cover in my head any more. The A-League has gone from strength to strength and the Socceroos achieved great things since.” Cover: Les Murray, Brett Emerton and David Carney Pele on World Cups The greatest ever answers readers’ questions Hello Football! Les Murray, Brett Emerton and David Carney on the past, present and future of the Aussie game The European Cup Celebrating 50 years of the European Cup, with Trevor Francis, Warren Beatty and banned beards…

“It’s not Pim Verbeek’s team, it’s ours, it’s Australia’s,” the ever-passionate Craig Foster said on SBS TV after Australia’s 4-0 mauling by Germany at the 2010 World Cup. “He’s getting two million bucks a year to send us out in a World Cup and get crucified with no attempt to play anything. “To be perfectly honest with you I would have walked down after the game and sacked him, because it’s not good enough.” Verbeek’s decision to play an almost 4-6-0 formation, without a recognised striker completely backfired in Durban. Australia never recovered, eventually missing out on reaching the last 16 on goal difference. But the discussion point was symbolic of why Postecoglou’s modern day team has garnered more public adoration. “We will always die on our feet rather than…

“Saving low shots, close to your body, is all about positioning and how quickly you can get down to the ball. Work on drills that force you to move your feet at speed and spring up for the next shot. Goalkeepers hate knuckleball free-kicks where the ball moves in the air. It’s almost impossible to calculate where it’s going. Stay light on your feet so you can make quick adjustments. A lot of coaches focus on side-stepping, but I don’t believe in that. The most important thing is getting from A to B quickly. Working hard in the gym will also help. You need to be explosive, strong and flexible, with a solid core. Finally, remember to push the ball away from goal and not back into the danger area,…

99 Goals for Barça in 321 games, after playing eight minutes in his first two seasons in the first-team squad PEDRITO A sea lion at Loro Parque zoo in Tenerife is named after him BROMANCE Xavi once said “I am in love with Pedro” PEDRO’S BIGGEST REGRETS Turning down a Wigan loan in 2008 10% Challenging Luis Enrique to a moustache-growing contest 90% PETROL His father works at a fuelling station in Tenerife NET GAINS He has a section of the Wembley netting into which he scored in the Champions League final in 2011 20 Trophies won at Barcelona LIVES OF BRYAN The name of his son and Canadian warbler and Blues fan Adams $700 000 What his old club San Isidro got from the Chelsea move, securing their future…

I knew I’d made it as a player when I was part of a Championship-winning squad as a 17-year-old with Sydney Olympic back in 2001. Playing alongside the likes of Clint Bolton, Ante Milicic and Tom Pondeljak, I knew at that time I was well on my way. I was happiest at Gold Coast United. I was playing in the position I was most suited to and we had a genuinely great team on and off the park. We had some fantastic times. It was a shame the way things panned out because that club could have been huge. My hero growing up was my father. He always believed in me, encouraged me and spent countless hours at the local park helping me train. He devoted all his free time…

Australian publisher and brand director 2005 to 2013South East Asia brand director 2013-2015Global Brand Director 2015-Andy launched FourFourTwo in Australia in 2005 before relocating to Singapore in 2013 to lead FourFourTwo’s push into Southeast Asia. He has recently been appointed Global Brand Director and now has overall responsibility for the brand globally. BEST MOMENT It’s a tie here. The publication of the first issue which was the culmination of nearly a year’s work on my part. Knocking on doors convincing people that the brand could work in Australia - we secured our final launch partner at the very last deadline we set ourselves to proceed with the launch. The second equal best moment was when that Aloisi penalty hit the back of the net a couple of months later and…

FourFourTwo writer 2005 to 2012 Editor May 2012 to March 2014 It was an honour to be editor, really. An iconic brand, as most punters know. I knew it well having written for the mag and other publications under the company’s umbrella, and of course I’d worked alongside Kev as his writer on FourFourTwo online (I was very proud with what we achieved over the years). So I was steeped in FourFourTwo culture and will always be proud of my eight years on the brand and almost two years in the editor’s chair. BEST MOMENT Allowing Harry Kewell to take over an interview. Brisbane, mid-2012. Jacko and I were up for a Socceroos game (Japan from memory) and we’d arranged with adidas to interview H and Schwarzy at a fancy…

FRANK LOWY The “saviour of Australian football” finally hangs up his boots as FFA chairman this year to coincide with his 85th birthday this month (although his son Steven looks destined to replace him). JOHN O’NEILL After overseeing Football Federation Australia and the A-League’s launch – and our World Cup return after 32 years - O’Neill quit football to rejoin Australian Rugby Union in November 2006. CON CONSTANTINE Run like his personal fiefdom, it began to unravel when he threatened to throw home fans off Hunter Stadium’s top tier. The FFA took over and sold it to Nathan Tinkler – and then things got worse… NZ KNIGHTS Easily the worst team the A-League has ever seen, with crowds to match. The club died whimpering within two seasons and were replaced…

David Gallop and Holger Osieck were already on frosty terms before the FFA CEO shadowed the team in Paris like the grim reaper. Trailing 4-0 to Les Bleus after 30 minutes, the decision was likely already made by half-time. After Australia were humiliated 6-0, Gallop delivered the news to the German coach: he was out. It was an unusual situation for the players. The sacking came midway through a camp, with a game against Canada to be played in London a few days later. “That was a little bit weird,” Ognenovski recalls. “It probably should have been done another way, I’m not sure, but Holger was man enough, he came in and announced it to the team.” Assistant coach Aurelio Vidmar would take over for the Canada game, which Australia…