John Aloisi

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Personal information
John Aloisi
Full name	John Aloisi
Date of birth	5 February 1976
Place of birth	Adelaide, Australia
Height	190cm
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Deportivo Alavés
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1991-92 1992-93 1993-95 1995-97 1997-98 1998-01 2001-05 2005-	Adelaide City Standard Liège Royal Antwerp Cremonese Portsmouth Coventry City Osasuna Deportivo Alavés	1 (0) 0 (0) 35 (7) 48 (4) 68 (29) 47 (13) 116 (28) 33 (10)
National team**
1997-	Australia	48 (27)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 June 2006. ** National team caps and goals correct as of 2 July 2006.

John after scoring the penalty that put Australia into the 2006 World Cup.

John Aloisi (born February 5, 1976 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) striker who currently plays for Deportivo Alavés in the Spanish Segunda División and for his national team. John is the younger brother of Adelaide United midfielder Ross Aloisi.

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Club career

Aloisi's clubs include Deportivo Alavés (2005-2006), CA Osasuna (2001-2005), Coventry City (1999-2001), Portsmouth F.C. (1997-1999), Cremonese (1995-1997), Royal Antwerp (1993-1995), Standard Liège (1992-1993) and Adelaide City.

Aloisi signed for English Premiership side Coventry City in December 1998, following a high scoring start to the season for Division One side Portsmouth. The fee was a bargain at £600,000 due to Portsmouth's financial troubles at the time.

He made his debut in a 1-1 home draw with Derby, being introduced as substitute a few minutes from the end. In his short time on the pitch he came close to scoring the winning goal causing the home fans to curse their manager for not introducing the debutant earlier.

In the next home game against Tottenham Hotspur, Aloisi was again on the bench. This time though he came off the bench to equalise salvaging another 1-1 draw in the process.

Aloisi's next notable performance came in a historic 4-1 win away at Villa Park against Aston Villa. This was Coventry's first ever away victory in the League against their Midlands rivals. Aloisi bagged two goals, playing his part in an excellent team performance.

Aloisi started in the next game - a home match against fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic - but ended up being sent off for raising his hands against a Charlton player.

Despite being popular with the fans, Aloisi was not able to claim a regular starting place in the 1999/2000 season or the 2000/01 season due to a spate of injuries.

In 1999/2000 he scored in consecutive home defeats against Manchester United and Leeds United but injuries prevented him from taking part for much of the season. In total he made just seven appearances.

2000/01 was a disappointing season for Coventry as they were relegated from the Premiership. Aloisi made 18 appearances, scoring 3 goals - notably a cracking strike in a 2-1 home victory over Tottenham Hotspur.

Following relegation, Aloisi was allowed to leave Highfield Road, and came close to signing for Crystal Palace. This deal fell through and he eventually moved to Pamplona in Spain to play for CA Osasuna.

He signed a 2 year deal with Alaves in the summer of 2005, after a move to Panathinaikos collapsed. He moved on a free transfer from CA Osasuna where he played from 2001. He is the only Australian to have played in the world's three biggest football leagues (England, Spain, Italy).

[edit] International career

Aloisi was the top scorer for his country at the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany scoring 4 goals, 2 against Germany and 2 against Argentina - earning him the bronze shoe. He also represented Australia at the 2004 Olympics as one out of three overage players - scoring three goals.

On 16 November 2005, Aloisi scored the decisive penalty-kick against Uruguay in a playoff that put Australia into the 2006 FIFA World Cup - the first time Australia had reached the World Cup finals since 1974.

He was selected in Australia's 2006 World Cup squad, and on 12 June 2006, Aloisi came off the bench to score the third goal in Australia's 3-1 victory over Japan. He became only the second Australian in history to score a goal at the World Cup Finals, after his teammate Tim Cahill.

To date John Aloisi has scored 27 goals in 47 appearances for the Australian national team. This makes him the third highest goal scorer ever for Australia, and only four goals behind the record, held by Damian Mori with 29.

During the Socceroos' friendly draw with Ghana, he scored what proved to be a decisive penalty when he was seemingly felled by a Ghana defender, which was similar to the Lucas Neill controversy which saw Australia kicked out of the World Cup by eventual winners Italy.

[edit] Trivia

Aloisi appears on the cover of the Australian version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

[edit] External links

	Australia squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Schwarzer \| 2 Neill \| 3 Moore \| 4 Cahill \| 5 Čulina \| 6 Popović \| 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