It has been just over 20 years, but it is a result that lives long in the memory of every Australian football fan.
On a cold February night at Upton Park in East London, the Socceroos shocked England with a 3-1 victory over their historic rivals.
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It was a win that left the English media stunned at how Australia, who had only qualified for one World Cup by that point, managed to overcome a Three Lions team brimming with superstars.
Yet that’s exactly what transpired in 2003, as goals from Tony Popovic, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton sealed a famous victory.
The historic rivals played just once since that match as England exacted revenge in 2016 with a 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
However the Socceroos, now coached by Graham Arnold — an assistant to Frank Farina for that 3-1 win — have the chance to get another one over the old enemy when the nations collide on Saturday at Wembley.
But before we get to that match, why not take a stroll down memory lane and see what the 18 Aussies in the squad and coach are up to these days.
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Mark Schwarzer
Australia’s greatest goalkeeper is a vocal presence in the football media landscape.
Schwarzer, who resides in Europe, is a pundit for Optus Sport.
Lucas Neill
What Neill gets up to in his post-playing days remains one of the biggest mysteries in Australian football.
The former Socceroos skipper quietly retired in 2014 but popped back into the public consciousness when he declared bankruptcy in 2016.
However, Neill broke his silence in 2020 when he was filmed alongside Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson in London.
The former Blackburn Rovers defender, who lives in England, assisted with “on-ground logistics and operations” given Gustavsson was announced during the Covid pandemic.
Neill was “honoured” to help out and felt Gustavsson’s passion for taking the Matildas to the next level was “evident.”
No-one had heard or seen Neill since until he made yet another surprise appearance, this time alongside Australian Test captain Pat Cummins after day five at Old Trafford during this year’s Ashes series.
Where and when Neill will next pop up is anyone’s guess.
Lucas Neill made a rogue appearance alongside Pat Cummins during this year’s Ashes. Picture: SuppliedSource: Supplied
Craig Moore
Moore still remains involved in football, but not in a coaching or administrative capacity.
Instead, the 47-year-old is a football agent and works as a Senior Football Consultant for a company called 451 Football Consultancy.
Tony Popovic
Popovic moved straight into coaching after his retirement in 2008, joining Sydney FC’s ranks as an assistant coach.
After moving to Crystal Palace as a first team coach in 2011, Popovic returned home to Australia where he became the Western Sydney Wanderers’ inaugural head coach in 2012.
Popovic has held a number of jobs since then and is now the manager at Melbourne Victory.
Stan Lazaridis
Since retiring in 2008, Lazaridis has remained in his home state of Western Australia and resides in Perth.
He does various media contributions and is involved in the property game.
Lazaridis was also linked with a mooted takeover of Perth Glory in August, per the Sydney Morning Herald, where he would take a seat on the board if the acquisition went through.
Brett Emerton
Emerton hasn’t quite left the playing field yet, as the former Blackburn Rovers star has returned to one of his youth clubs, the Macarthur Rams.
According to Macarthur’s website, Emerton was the coach of their under-13 boys team in the 2023 season.
Paul Okon
Okon moved back to Australia in 2006 to finish his playing days with the Newcastle Jets before moving into coaching in 2008.
He eventually earned a crack in the A-League as the manager at Central Coast Mariners but was unceremoniously sacked in 2018 and prompted him to move back to Brugge in Belgium, the city where he enjoyed plenty of success as a player for Club Brugge.
Okon has since moved out of the coaching world and opened up an Italian restaurant in Brugge called Cuore di Puglia in 2021, and he still lives in the city today.
Okon runs an Italian restaurant in Brugge called Cuore di Puglia. Picture: Benny Proot via HLNSource: Supplied
Josip Skoko
As of March this year, Skoko is back at his first club North Geelong Warriors where he has a key role in their football operations, per Optus Sport.
Scott Chipperfield
Chipperfield turned his hand to coaching in his post-playing days and recently coached the women’s NPL NSW team Illawarra Stingrays.
However, the versatile ex-Socceroo was found guilty of assaulting his partner in June this year after a domestic violence incident, per the Illawarra Mercury.
Mark Viduka
One of the greatest strikers to ever pull on a Socceroos shirt, if not the greatest, Viduka retired from all forms of football aged 33.
He has since moved to Zagreb in Croatia, where he runs a coffee shop called Non Plus Ultra, which translates to No Higher Point.
According to the Daily Mail, Viduka even plays guitar in his son’s band where they practice in the Aussie legend’s basement.
Harry Kewell
Kewell retired in 2014 after a brief spell with Melbourne Heart (now Melbourne City) and moved almost immediately into coaching, joining Watford as their under-23 coach in 2015.
He then moved into senior management when he was appointed as Crawley Town’s coach in 2017 and bounced around a number of teams in the lower tiers of the English Football League (EFL) for a number of years.
Kewell was then brought to Scottish giants Celtic by former manager Ange Postecoglou in 2022 and although the former Socceroos boss has since moved to Tottenham, he remains a member of Celtic’s coaching staff under Brendan Rodgers.
Kewell is an assistant manager at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Mile Sterjovski
After hanging up his boots in 2014, Sterjovski picked up the clipboard and moved into coaching.
He helped out as an adviser and mentor to the Socceroos from 2017 to 2019 but got his first major coaching gig in 2020 as an assistant coach to Ante Milicic at A-League Men’s team Macarthur FC.
After Dwight Yorke left his post in 2022, Sterjovski was promoted to head coach and has been in the role since.
Tony Vidmar
Vidmar remains heavily involved in Australian football.
The former Rangers defender is the Olyroos coach and is also an assistant to Socceroos boss Graham Arnold.
Grella wins
Grella ventured into the world of player agency after retiring in 2013 and became increasingly influential in that sphere.
However, he was appointed as the vice president and CEO of Serie C side Catania, a club owned by Australian-Italian property developer Ross Pelligra, in July 2022 and remains in the role today.
Kevin Muscat
Muscat enjoyed a playing career spanning several decades and has gone on to achieve great success as a manager.
The tough-tackling defender is the coach of J1 League side Yokohama F. Marinos and even led the team to a league title in 2022.
He’s also been heavily linked with the vacancy at Scottish giants Rangers after Michael Beale’s recent sacking.
Kevin Muscat has enjoyed plenty of success in his managerial career. (Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Mark Bresciano
Bresciano has had quite the career since he retired in 2015.
The Socceroos stalwart entered the property investment game and revealed he was working in the medicinal cannabis field in 2018.
It remains unclear if Bresciano is still working in that industry, but he remains involved in the property game and is a business partner of Ross Pelligra, the owner of Italian side Catania.
Bresciano also sits on Football Australia’s Board of Directors.
John Aloisi
Add Aloisi to the long list of players from this Socceroos team who moved into management.
Although his first coaching spell at Melbourne Heart wasn’t exactly a success, Aloisi impressed in his next role at Brisbane Roar and led the team to consecutive top four finishes before resigning in December 2018.
Aloisi then joined Western United as their head coach in July 2021 and won the title in his first year at the helm, where he remains today.
Zeljko Kalac
Kalac retired as a player in 2013 and has bounced around several A-League clubs over the years as a goalkeeping coach.
The 50-year-old, affectionately known as ‘Spider’, is now the head coach of Macarthur’s Bulls FC Academy in NPL NSW.
Frank Farina
Farina departed his Socceroos post in 2005 and was replaced by Guus Hiddink, who led the team to a Round of 16 berth at the 2006 World Cup.
The Darwin native then took over at the Brisbane Roar in November 2006 and lasted almost three years in the job before he was sacked as a result of a drink-driving charge.
Spells as manager at Papau New Guinea and Sydney FC followed, before he was appointed as the technical director of the Fiji Football Association and coach of Fiji’s under-20 team in 2015 and was sacked a year later.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Farina now works as a Business Development Manager for Statewide Sports in Brisbane, who describe themselves as a company “distributing quality sport brands to retail stores, sports clubs and the general public.”
He moved into the role in April 2021 and remains in it today.
2023-10-13 01:49:17
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