Eugene Galekovic
 Galekovic with Adelaide United in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eugen-Josip Galeković | ||
| Date of birth | 12 June 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Adelaide United | ||
| Number | 1 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1997 | Chelsea Hajduk | ||
| 1997–1998 | Bulleen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2000 | Melbourne Knights | ||
| 2000–2001 | Eastern Pride | 11 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | South Melbourne | 37 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | S.C. Beira-Mar | 2 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Melbourne Victory | 15 | (0) |
| 2007– | Adelaide United | 228 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2003–2004 | Australia U-23 | 4 | (0) |
| 2009– | Australia | 8 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 November 2014. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Eugen-Josip "Eugene" Galekovic (Croatian: Eugen-Josip Galeković; Croatian pronunciation: [êuːd͡ʒin ɡalêːkoːʋit͡ɕ]; born 12 June 1981) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays as a goalkeeper for Adelaide United in the A-League and internationally for Australia.
Biography
Club career
Galekovic's junior soccer was mostly played at Chelsea Hajduk in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.
Galekovic played school soccer for St Bede's College.
Galekovic started his career with Morwell based National Soccer League (NSL) side Gippsland Falcons as a 19-year-old in December 2000 before signing with South Melbourne the following season. He stayed with South Melbourne until the NSL's closure in 2003–04 where at season's end he secured a place on the list of Beira Mar in Portugal on the back of holding the number one spot for Australia's Olympic soccer campaign in Athens in 2004.
The period at Beira Mar was generally unsuccessful for Galekovic, with him seeing little first team action and thus, he returned to Melbourne to sign for the city's inaugural A-League side Melbourne Victory for season 2005–06, debuting in the opening match against Sydney FC.
Galekovic played 11 matches for the season in an unusual goalkeeper rotation policy employed by Melbourne manager Ernie Merrick in which the other 10 matches saw teammate Michael Theoklitos in goal. Galekovic has been second choice keeper for the Victory in the 2006–07 season but an injury to Theoklitos gave Galekovic his first start of the season in the round 13 clash against Queensland Roar at Suncorp Stadium.
Adelaide United
On 30 October, Eugene signed for Melbourne Victory rivals Adelaide United as a replacement for injured keeper Daniel Beltrame and made his debut against the Queensland Roar at Hindmarsh Stadium.[2] On 20 January 2008, Galekovic kept his first clean sheet for Adelaide in a 2–0 win over Brisbane at Hindmarsh Stadium. On 27 December 2008 Galekovic made a string of impressive saves to ensure Adelaide kept its 1–0 advantage over Perth Glory[3] and in the process giving him his fifth clean sheet of the league season.
In February 2010, Galekovic capped off another brilliant year by winning the Adelaide United Life FM Player of the Year Award sponsored by Payneham Road Chemplus Compounding Pharmacy.
In the middle of the 2011–12 A-League Jon McKain resigned his role as captain at Adelaide United. It was then announced that Eugene Galekovic became captain.
International
Galekovic has been called up for Australia in a preliminary squad with teammates Scott Jamieson and Paul Reid after impressive performances in the A-League and the Asian Champions League. He made his first senior international soccer debut for the Socceroos on 28 January 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus Indonesia. He was disappointing in his last outing against Kuwait, by letting in two poor goals after Australia conceded a 2–0 advantage. After Brad Jones left the 2010 World Cup 23-man squad to help his son battle leukaemia, he was called in as a replacement, after missing selection in the 23-man squad first time around. Eugene was selected by Holger Osieck for a 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup qualifying tournament. He started the first match against hosts Hong Kong and came up with audacious stops to save Australia from humiliation as they won 1–0 with a solo effort from Brett Emerton. The other game that Galekovic was a part of a 9–0 thrashing of Guam. After a string good performances for Adelaide United, Holger Osieck selected Eugene Galekovic as part of his 23-man squad for the decisive 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) match against Oman.
Career statistics
- As of 20 April 2015
CS = Clean sheets
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | ||
| Eastern Pride | 2000–01 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |
| South Melbourne | 2001–02 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 15 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 7 | |
| 2003–04 | 22 | 10 | – | – | – | – | 22 | 10 | |
| Total | 37 | 17 | – | – | – | – | 37 | 17 | |
| Beira-Mar | 2004–05 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |
| Melbourne Victory | 2005–06 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 13 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | – | – | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 22 | 7 | |
| Adelaide United | 2007–08 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 39 | 19 | |
| 2009–10 | 27 | 6 | – | – | 7 | 3 | 34 | 9 | |
| 2010–11 | 29 | 9 | – | – | – | – | 29 | 9 | |
| 2011–12 | 25 | 3 | – | – | 10 | 6 | 35 | 9 | |
| 2012–13 | 25 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 25 | 8 | |
| 2013–14 | 28 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 28 | 8 | |
| 2014–15 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 2 | – | – | 26 | 9 | |
| Total | 190 | 52 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 16 | 228 | 71 | |
| Career Total | 255 | 75 | 12 | 5 | 31 | 16 | 299 | 98 | |
1 – includes A-League final series statistics
2 – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
Honours
Melbourne Victory:
- A-League Championship: 2006–2007
- A-League Premiership: 2006–2007
- FFA Cup: 2014
Australia
Personal Honours:
- A-League Goalkeeper of the Year: 2008–2009, 2009–2010, 2013–2014
- Adelaide United Club Champion: 2008–2009, 2009–2010
- Adelaide United Player's Player of the Year: 2008–2009, 2009–2010, 2011–12
References
- ↑ "Eugene Galeković". socceroos.com.au. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ↑ "Roar bore Adelaide". Football News. 11 February 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
- ↑ "Reds take glory in tough Boxing Day clash". Adelaide United FC. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
External links
- Adelaide United profile
- Oz Football profile
- Eugene Galekovic at National-Football-Teams.com
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cássio |
Adelaide United Club Champion Award 2008–09, 2009–10 |
Succeeded by Cássio |
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