Tony Popovic
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Anthony Popovic [ˈpɔːpɔʋitɕ] (born July 4, 1973 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He currently plays for A-League Club Sydney FC. Popovic's family is of Croatian descent and he grew up in Fairfield, Sydney. He attended Fairvale High School and left in 1989 to pursue his football career.
Club careerPopovic began his career with Sydney United before a move to play in the J-League, where he stayed for five years scoring 13 goals in 94 appearances. Tony Popovic signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He became an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain. Popovic's contract with Palace expired at the end of June 2006, and he decided against accepting the club's offer of a new contract. He instead moved to Qatar club, Al-Arabi. In 2007, with the growth of the A-League and slight homesickness, Popovic, moved to his home town club Sydney FC, signing a three year deal, with coach Branko Čulina also announcing him the club's captain. Popovic scored his first goal on the 28th October 2007 from a corner to beat the Mariners 3-2 in front of his home crowd of 17,850. International careerPopovic competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for the Australian U-23 team. He began his full international career in 1995 with the Australian national team. Over the next eleven years Popovic made 55 appearances for the Socceroos, scoring 8 goals. Tony Popovic announced his retirement from International football in October 2006[1] Popovic's most famous goal was a header, the opening goal in a 3-1 win for Australia against England at Upton Park in 2003. The highlight of Popovic's career came in 2006 when the Australian national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup under the management of Guus Hiddink. He took part in both legs in the qualifying match against Uruguay. Being replaced in the first half of the second leg due to injury by Harry Kewell. The tall defender was named in the competing squad and made his World Cup debut against Brazil on 18 June. He suffered a calf injury 40 minutes into the game and was replaced by Marco Bresciano for the second half. His injury ruled him out of Australia's last match in the group stage, against Croatia, and their second round loss against eventual winners, Italy. On 4 October 2006 Tony Popovic announced his retirement from the Socceroos. His final game was a friendly against Paraguay that month. He scored his eighth international goal, from a Mark Bresciano free kick, in his final minute on field to put Australia ahead, 1-0. HonoursWith Australia: ReferencesExternal links
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