Mark Viduka

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Mark Viduka
Personal information
Full name	Mark Anthony Viduka
Date of birth	October 9, 1975 (1975-10-09) (age 33)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1995 1995–1998 1998–2000 2000–2004 2004–2007 2007–2009	Melbourne Knights Croatia Zagreb Celtic Leeds United Middlesbrough Newcastle United	049 (40) 081 (40) 037 (30) 130 (59) 072 (26) 038 0(7)
National team2
1993–1995 1994–1996 1994–	Australia U20 Australia U23 Australia	024 (32) 018 (17) 043 (11)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:12, 25 May 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 22 July 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Mark Anthony Viduka^[1][2][3] (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈʋiduka]; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian football centre forward of Croatian and Ukrainian descent who is currently a free agent having been released by Newcastle United following their relegation. He also plays for the Australian national team, which he captained at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany to the last 16. His nickname amongst fans is "Mark Bazooka", notably for his bazooka like shots on goal.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Melbourne Knights

Mark Viduka started his career in Australia with Melbourne Knights in 1993 and became an Australian international in June of the following year. In his two seasons with the Melbourne Knights, he was top goal scorer in the National Soccer League (NSL) and was twice awarded the Johnny Warren Medal for NSL Player of the Year^[4] in 1993-94 and 1994-95. Viduka's time at the Melbourne Knights included one NSL title in the 1994-95 season.

[edit] Dinamo Zagreb

In 1995, Viduka moved to Croatia to play with Croatia Zagreb (now called Dinamo Zagreb). The grandstand at Knights' Stadium, home of the Melbourne Knights, was renamed the "Mark Viduka Stand" in his honour and paid for with his transfer money.

He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the club, helping them to win three Doubles in Croatia between 1996 and 1998. He was also part of the Croatia Zagreb team that reached the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1997 and went on to make his UEFA Champions League group stage debut with the club a year later.

[edit] Celtic

Celtic bought Viduka in December 1998 for £3.5 million. In the same month as his signing, Celtic announced that Viduka had quit the club without kicking a ball for them, citing stress as his reason.^[5] A week later, Croatia Zagreb complained that they had not received their fee for the player. These issues were eventually resolved and Viduka made his first appearance in a Celtic shirt on 16 February 1999, scoring for the under-21 team as an over-age player in a 4–2 victory against Motherwell. He was voted Scottish Player of the Year for 1999-2000 after scoring 27 goals in his first full season at Celtic Park. He was regarded as a skilled player, able to hold the ball up well and bring other players into the game.^[who?] He did, however, incur the wrath of the Celtic support when he claimed to be only playing at about 75% of his capability during his time in Glasgow.^{[citation needed]}

On 4 December 2007, whilst presenting his show on talkSport, Ian Wright claimed that during half time of Celtic's February 2000 Scottish Cup defeat against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, an unnamed striker refused to go back out for the second half of the game.^[6] Wright refused to name the player, but spoke of his disgust at the lack of professionalism displayed by the player and also explained that it was Wright himself who came on as a substitute for the player, making it apparent that he was talking about Viduka.^[7]

[edit] Leeds United

Leeds United manager David O'Leary signed Viduka just before the 2000–01 season for £6 million. At Leeds, he was expected to line up in a three-pronged attack alongside Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges, but injuries to those two saw him form a partnership with Alan Smith in Leeds UEFA Champions League matches, while Robbie Keane also benefited in their Premier League matches together. In his first season, Viduka scored 22 goals, including all four in a memorable 4–3 win over Liverpool at Elland Road. He signed a five-year deal in the summer of 2001.

In the 2002–03 campaign, Viduka scored another 22 goals. However, Leeds' off-pitch financial troubles prompted the club to sell key players, including Harry Kewell and Robbie Keane. This prompted speculation that Viduka would join the Leeds exodus with FC Barcelona, confirming their interest in the Australian international along with Premiership clubs Liverpool and Manchester United.

With the relegation of Leeds to the Football League Championship, the sale of Viduka to Middlesbrough was completed.

[edit] Middlesbrough

Viduka's debut season at Middlesbrough was initially impressive, albeit frustrated by injuries. In the 2005–06 season, however, Viduka was in sensational form in all competitions for Middlesbrough, reaching double figures early on in the season. He also played an important part in spearheading Middlesbrough's campaign in the UEFA Cup where they twice had to score four goals in a game to proceed. They eventually lost in the final to Spanish side Sevilla FC on 10 May 2006.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the 2006–07 season, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate expressed his interest in keeping Viduka. In August 2006, he was awarded the number 9 shirt at Middlesbrough, his preferred number at all his previous clubs. Following another successful season in which he scored 19 goals, Viduka attracted interest from other clubs who were hoping to sign him on a free transfer as he became out-of-contract. Southgate reiterated his wish to retain Viduka's services and revealed he would offer him a new contract. However, Viduka joined north east rivals Newcastle United on a free transfer on 7 June 2007.^[8]

[edit] Newcastle United

Viduka warming up for Newcastle.

In signing for Newcastle United, Viduka became manager Sam Allardyce's first signing at the club. His contract was for two years, with the option of a third year.

He made his Newcastle debut in a Premiership match at Bolton Wanderers on 11 August, and scored his first goal on 26 August against his former club Middlesbrough.

On 23 September, he scored a further two goals against West Ham United to bring his tally up to three for Newcastle. On 23 December, he again scored two goals against Derby County. After an injury lay off over the new year, Viduka was brought back into the side by new manager Kevin Keegan, where he played as part of a 4-3-3 formation along with Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins. This new formation brought about a change of fortune for Newcastle as the three strikers rescued them from a relegation battle, with Viduka scoring two more goals over the rest of the season and setting up others for Martins and Owen before picking up an Achilles' heel injury before the last game of the season.

He made his return to the first team after six months out injured at former club Middlesbrough, coming on for Martins as a substitute on 29 November 2008. This was a great relief for manager Joe Kinnear, who stated that he had previously feared the Australian's career might have been prematurely ended by his injury woes.^[9] Later, Kinnear suggested to reporters that Viduka might call time on his career at the end of the 2008-09 season. However, Viduka later expressed his desire to continue playing past this season after acquiring a groin injury in late December.^[10]

[edit] International career

Viduka has captained the Australian national team since September 2005, in place of the injured Craig Moore, the regular captain. Viduka thrived under Guus Hiddink's tenure as coach of the national squad and led Australia as it qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany over a two-leg qualifier against Uruguay, the first time in 32 years that Australia qualified to participate in the event. On 21 May 2006, he was named as the Australian captain for the World Cup.^[11]

Viduka also led Australia's national team to their first World Cup Finals victory with a 3–1 win over Japan in June 2006, as well as guiding them through an encounter with Brazil, losing 2–0, and a controversial bout with Croatia, ending with a 2–2 draw. He then led Australia into the second round, where they lost their round of 16 match to Italy. Although a regular scorer in the Premier League, has struggled to score any significant goals for the "Socceroos," and the 2006 World Cup was no different.

Viduka considered retiring from international competition after the 2006 World Cup, citing increasing family commitments as the primary reason. However, in September 2006, he confirmed that he would continue playing for Australia and intended to compete in the 2007 Asian Cup.^[12] In a friendly against Singapore, a week before the start of the Asian Cup, Viduka scored two headed goals in a 3–0 victory for Australia; Harry Kewell scored the third. It was the second time he scored two goals in an international match, having previously done so against the Solomon Islands in 2005.

On Australia's first ever Asian Cup participation, Viduka captained the side and he scored their solitary goal against Iraq, a game which they ultimately lost 1–3. In the next match, he scored two goals against co-host team Thailand, defeating them 4–0; other goals scored by Michael Beachamp and Harry Kewell and making them fall out of the remaining competition. At one stage, he led the goalscoring at the Asian Cup tournament, although his team was eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout against Japan.
Subsequent to that loss, question marks hang over whether Viduka will continue his international career.^[13][14] Two years on from the 2007 Asian Cup, he was still yet to return from the Socceroos either stating he had injuries or club commitments. He missed recent World Cup Qualifiers against Qatar, Bahrain, and Japan, even though fully fit and asked by current Socceroo manager Pim Verbeek. Questions have been raised over his commitment to the national team ^[15] even by other members of the squad, and it is doubtful that he will be selected in the final squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, having missed the entire qualification stage.

[edit] Honours

Melbourne Knights

• NSL Championship: 1994-95

Dinamo Zagreb

• Croatian First League Championship: 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98
• Croatian Cup: 1996, 1997, 1998

Celtic FC

• Scottish League Cup: 1999-2000

[edit] Individual honours

• Oceania Footballer of the Year: 2000
• SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 2000
• NSL Top Goalscorer: 1993-94, 1994-95
• NSL U21 Player of the Year: 1993-94, 1994-95
• Johnny Warren Medal: 1993-94, 1994-95
• SPL Top Goalscorer: 1999-2000

[edit] Personal life

Viduka and his Croatian wife Ivana have three sons toegether: Joseph (born 2002), Lucas (born September 2006), and Oliver (born May 2008).

He had a song written about him by English singer/songwriter and Middlesbrough fan Alistair Griffin (who also previously co-wrote the football song recorded by Terry Venables). The song lyrics were written to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".^[16] Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate embraced the tune as a way of raising money for his chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. Leonard Cohen has now given permission for the song to be released as a charity download single.^[17]

Viduka is a fan of Australian rules football and supports Collingwood Football Club.^[18]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mark Viduka

• OzFootball profile
• Mark Viduka FIFA competition record
• Mark Viduka career stats at Soccerbase
• Statistics at footballdatabase.com
• Newcastle United profile

Mark Viduka - Navigation boxes and awards v • d • e Scottish Premier League top scorers 1999: Larsson | 2000: Viduka | 2001: Larsson | 2002: Larsson | 2003: Larsson | 2004: Larsson | 2005: Hartson | 2006: Boyd | 2007: Boyd | 2008: McDonald | 2009: Boyd v • d • e Oceania Footballer of the Year 1988: Farina · 1989: Rufer · 1990: Rufer · 1991: Slater · 1992: Rufer · 1993: Slater · 1994: Vidmar · 1995: Karembeu · 1996: Okon · 1997: Bosnich · 1998: Karembeu · 1999: Kewell · 2000: Viduka · 2001: Kewell · 2002: Emerton · 2003: Kewell · 2004: Cahill · 2005: Vahirua · 2006: Nelsen · 2007: Smeltz · 2008: Smeltz v • d • e SPFA Players' Player of the Year 1978: Johnstone | 1979: Hegarty | 1980: Provan | 1981: McGhee | 1982: Clark | 1983: Nicholas | 1984: Miller | 1985: Duffy | 1986: Gough | 1987: McClair | 1988: McStay | 1989: Snelders | 1990: Bett | 1991: Elliott | 1992: McCoist | 1993: Goram | 1994: Hateley | 1995: Laudrup | 1996: Gascoigne | 1997: Di Canio | 1998: McNamara | 1999: Larsson | 2000: Viduka | 2001: Larsson | 2002: Amoruso | 2003: Ferguson | 2004: Sutton | 2005: Hartson / Ricksen | 2006: Maloney | 2007: Nakamura | 2008: McGeady | 2009: Brown v • d • e Australia squad – 1996 Summer Olympics 1 Jurić • 2 Lozanovski • 3 Moric • 4 Babic • 5 Muscat • 6 Horvat • 7 Tsekenis • 8 Corica • 9 Viduka • 10 Vidmar • 11 Tiatto • 12 Spiteri • 13 Foxe • 14 Agostino • 15 Casserly • 16 Enes • 17 Aloisi • 18 Petkovic • Coach: Thomson v • d • e Australia squad – 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up 1 Bosnich • 2 Horvat • 3 Lazaridis • 4 Ivanović • 5 Tobin • 6 Zelić • 7 Slater • 8 Foster • 9 Viduka • 10 A. Vidmar • 11 Kewell • 12 Bingley • 13 Hooker • 14 T. Vidmar • 15 Skoko • 16 Trimboli • 17 Mori • 18 Aloisi • 19 Tapai • 20 Kalac • 21 Muscat • Coach: Venables v • d • e Australia squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Milosevic • 2 Colosimo • 3 Lazaridis • 4 Foxe • 5 Skoko • 6 Laybutt • 7 Emerton • 8 Neill • 9 Viduka • 10 Wehrman • 11 Zane • 12 Blatsis • 13 Grella • 14 Rizzo • 15 Bresciano • 16 Čulina • 17 Curcija • 18 Turnbull • Coach: Blanco v • d • e Australia squad – 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Muscat • 3 Moore • 4 Neill • 5 T. Vidmar • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Cahill • 11 Chipperfield • 12 Petkovic • 13 Wilkshire • 14 Colosimo • 15 Aloisi • 16 Zdrilic • 17 McKain • 18 Kalac • 19 Čulina • 20 Miličević • 21 Elrich • 22 Thompson • 23 Sterjovski • Coach: Farina v • d • e Australia squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Moore • 4 Cahill • 5 Čulina • 6 Popovic • 7 Emerton • 8 Skoko • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Lazaridis • 12 Čović • 13 Grella • 14 Chipperfield • 15 Aloisi • 16 Beauchamp • 17 Thompson • 18 Kalac • 19 Kennedy • 20 Wilkshire • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Hiddink v • d • e Australia squad – 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 Schwarzer • 2 Neill • 3 Kisnorbo • 4 Cahill • 5 Čulina • 6 Beauchamp • 7 Emerton • 8 Wilkshire • 9 Viduka • 10 Kewell • 11 Thompson • 12 Jones • 13 Grella • 14 Holman • 15 Aloisi • 16 Thwaite • 17 Valeri • 18 Petkovic • 19 Carle • 20 Carney • 21 Sterjovski • 22 Milligan • 23 Bresciano • Coach: Arnold Awards and achievements Preceded by Paul Trimboli Johnny Warren Medallist 1993/94-1994/95 Succeeded by Damian Mori Preceded by Francis Awaritefe NSL Golden Boot 1993/94-1994/95 Succeeded by Damian Mori Preceded by Steve Corica NSL U21 Player of the Year 1993/94-1994/95 Succeeded by Jim Tsekinis