Mark Milligan
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Categories: 1985 births | Living people | People from Sydney | Australian soccer players | Irish Australians | Australia international footballers | 2006 FIFA World Cup players | Sydney FC players | A-League players
Mark Milligan (born August 4, 1985 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He is a utility defender, originally known as a Right-Back, but more recently playing in both Central Defence and Central Midfield.
Club careerSydney FCMilligan previously played for Northern Spirit FC in the National Soccer League. He joined Sydney F.C. prior to the commencement of the inaugural A League season in 2005-2006 but due to injury did not debut until the round 13 match against Queensland Roar when he came on as a substitute for David Zdrilic at Aussie Stadium. He was one of Sydney FC's best performers of the season. He played consistently until being suspended after the major semi final victory over Adelaide United and missed the Grand Final victory over Central Coast. Overseas ambitionsFourFourTwo magazine revealed[1] on July 28, 2007 that after the Asian Cup Milligan had gone without his club's permission to trial for teams in Europe. Milligan was linked with French sides FC Metz and RC Lens. The following day Milligan reportedly walked out on Metz just before a scheduled trial game appearance against Standard Liege, allegedly out of frustration at the right-back position he would be trialled in[2]. The following day it was reported that Milligan would return home to play for Sydney FC after all [3][4] He has since been linked with a move to English Premier League Club Blackburn Rovers and RC Lens in France's Ligue 1 in the summer of 2008. International careerMilligan represented Australia at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. In May 2006, he was the youngest player selected in the Australian 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, being one of only two players chosen from the A League - the other being Michael Beauchamp. Milligan had impressed coaches Graham Arnold and Johan Neeskens at a recent camp in Vietnam, while Guus Hiddink also recalled watching Milligan at the World Youth Championship. Milligan made his senior international debut against Liechtenstein on June 7, 2006, coming off the bench in the 85th minute of Australia's last warm-up game before the World Cup. He did not play in any of Australia's four World Cup games in Germany. His first start came against Kuwait in an Asian Cup qualifier on August 16 2006. His next appearance was on 7 October 2006 in a friendly against Paraguay as a late substitute. In February 2007, Milligan was named as Captain of the Australian U23 side, the 'Olyroos', for two Olympic qualifying games against Chinese Taipei. He sustained a broken nose in an 'off-the-ball' incident during the second qualifier. Throughout 2007, Milligan led the Olyroos to Olympic qualification and was the key influential figure in their final games against Iraq and North Korea, scoring in each game and taking the man of the match award in both. 2007 Asian CupMilligan was selected in the Australian squad for the 2007 Asian Cup. During the tournament, Milligan was selected to play in the starting line-up for Australia against co-host nation Thailand in the final game of the group matches. Australia won 4-0 and advanced to the quarter finals of the competition with Milligan putting in what was widely regarded as a Man of the Match performance in the centre of a three man defence. On July 21, 2007, in the quarter-final against Japan, Milligan was unfortunate in failing to clear a ball from the penalty area that saw striker Naohiro Takahara pounce and score an equaliser. The game ended 1-1 and Australia was eliminated from the Cup on penalties. Milligan would have featured in Australia's friendly against Argentina but for his Olympic Qualification match with the Australian Under-23's the night before. In February 2008, he was selected for the first World Cup Qualifier against Qatar but pulled out of the squad with a broken nose that he accidentally sustained in training. He is likely to start in their next WCQ group game against China in March 2008 and is one of the candidates to captain the side at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. HonoursWith Sydney FC:
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