Josip Skoko

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Josip Skoko
Personal information
Full name Josip Skoko
Date of birth December 10, 1975 (1975-12-10) (age 32)
Place of birth    Mount Gambier, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Central Midfielder
Youth clubs
AIS
North Geelong Warriors
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1995–1999
1999–2003
2003–2005
2005–2008
2006
Hajduk Split
Genk
Gençlerbirliği
Wigan Athletic
Stoke City (loan)
106 (19)
099 0(8)
058 0(2)
045 0(0)
009 0(2)   
National team2
1995
2000
1997–2007
Australia U-20
Australia U-23
Australia


051 0(9)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 12 November 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 11 September 2007.
* Appearances (Goals)

Josip Skoko (born December 10, 1975 in Mount Gambier, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) midfielder who is currently a free agent after being released by Wigan Athletic of the Premier League.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Skoko's family is of Croatian descent. He previously played for Hajduk Split (1995-Oct 99), Racing Club Genk (1999-2003) and Gençlerbirligi (2003-05). In 2002, Skoko captained the Genk side to the Belgian First Division championship. He was also an integral member of the Gençlerbirligi team, which progressed into the latter stages of the UEFA Cup in 2004.

[edit] Wigan

Skoko joined English Premier League club Wigan on a free transfer at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, although he has failed to maintain a regular place in the first team. On January 7, 2006 Skoko signed for Football League Championship side Stoke City on loan until the end of the 2005–06 season.[1]

In the 2006-07 season, Paul Jewell showed renewed faith in Skoko giving him an extended run in the side. The transfers of Jimmy Bullard and Graham Kavanagh to Fulham and Sunderland, respectively, in the summer of 2006 left a gap in Wigan's midfield and this led to him becoming a mainstay in the Wigan Athletic midfield, partnering Paul Scharner and Denny Landzaat. Skoko has just recently signed a new contract deal keeping him at Wigan until 2008. In May 2008, Skoko was released by Wigan.

[edit] International career

Skoko was a member of the Australian National football team for ten years, from 1997 to 2007. He made his debut for Australia against Macedonia in 1997 and was a mainstay of the Socceroos side from then on, participating in two World Cup qualifying campaigns. He also represented his country at the 2000 Olympics.

In November 2005, Skoko came on as a substitute in Australia's playoff victory over Uruguay to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also captained a weakened Australian side against Bahrain in an Asian Cup qualifier in 2006.

On May 25, 2006, Skoko scored a cracking volley from 23m for Australia in a 1-0 friendly victory over Greece in front of 95,103 spectators at the MCG in Melbourne, which he regards as his greatest national team moment. He was selected in the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany but did not play in any of Australia's four games.

After being named in the the Australian side for a friendly match against Argentina on September 11, 2007, Skoko stated that the game would be his home farewell from international football.[2] Skoko ended his international career 51 minutes into the match in Melbourne when he was replaced by Grosseto midfielder Carl Valeri.


[edit] References

  1. ^ "Skoko signs loan deal with Stoke", BBC Sport, 2006-02-07. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. 
  2. ^ "Skoko Will Quit 'Roos At MCG", FourFourTwo Australia, 2007-08-31. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 

[edit] External links