Mark Viduka

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Personal information
Mark Viduka
Full name	Mark Anthony Viduka
Date of birth	October 9, 1975 (age 31)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1½ in)
Nickname	V-Bomber, Dukes
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Middlesbrough
Number	9
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-95 1995-98 1998-00 2000-04 2004-	Melbourne Knights Dinamo Zagreb Celtic Leeds United Middlesbrough	048 (40) 082 (40) 037 (30) 130 (59) 067 (21)
National team²
1994-	Australia	037 0(6)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:39, 7 April 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 12 June 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Mark Anthony Viduka [ˈmaː(r)k ˈʋiduka] (born October 9, 1975 in Melbourne) is an Australian football (soccer) striker of Croatian and Ukrainian descent.^[1] He currently plays for Middlesbrough in the English Premier League, and has also played for Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic and Leeds United.

1 Club football career
2 International football career
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Club football career

Viduka started his career in Australia (where he is affectionately known as 'Big Dukes') with Melbourne Knights in 1993, and became an Australian international in June of the following year. In his two seasons with the Melbourne Knights he was top goal scorer in the National Soccer League and was twice awarded the Johnny Warren Medal for NSL Player of the Year^[2]. Viduka's time at the Melbourne Knights included one NSL title in season 1994/1995.

In 1995 he moved to Croatia to play with Croatia Zagreb, where he stayed for three years and made an appearance in the UEFA Cup.

Celtic bought him in December 1998 for £3.5 million. He was voted Scottish Premier League Player of the Year after scoring 27 goals in his first full season at Celtic Park. He was regarded as a skilled player, able to hold the ball up well and bring other players into the game.

However, Viduka's often lackadaisical attitude infuriated supporters, and a widely-reported quote where he announced that he was "playing to only about 70 per cent of my capacity up here Scotland" did not endear him to either the fans or his fellow team-mates.^{[citation needed]} Moreover, he exhibited a tendency to play anonymously in big games, and scored only one goal in his six Old Firm derbies.

The Leeds United manager David O'Leary signed Viduka just before the 2000-01 season for £6 million. At Leeds he was expected to line up in a three-pronged attack alongside Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges, but injuries to those two saw him form a partnership with Alan Smith in Leeds UEFA Champions League matches, while Robbie Keane also benefited in their Premiership matches together. In his first Elland Road season, Viduka scored 22 goals, including all four in a memorable 4-3 win over Liverpool at Elland Road. He signed a new five-year deal in the summer of 2001.

In the 2002-03 campaign Viduka scored another 22 goals, however Leeds' off-pitch financial troubles prompted the club to sell key players, including Kewell (sold to Liverpool) and Keane (sold to Spurs). This prompted speculation that Viduka would join the Leeds exodus with Barcelona (Spanish La Liga) confirming their interest in the Australian international along with Premiership clubs Liverpool and Manchester United.

With the relegation of Leeds United to the Football League Championship, the sale of Viduka's to Middlesbrough was completed.

Viduka's debut season at Middlesbrough was initially impressive albeit frustrated by injuries. The season (2005-06) however, Mark Viduka was in sensational form in all competitions for Middlesbrough FC getting into double figures early on in the season. Viduka also played an important part in spearheading Middlesbrough FC's campaign in the UEFA Cup where they twice had to score four goals in a game to proceed. Middlesbrough FC eventually lost in the final to Sevilla FC of Spain on 10th May 2006.

Newly appointed Middlesbrough FC manager Gareth Southgate has expressed his interest in keeping Viduka as he thinks he will be a key player for the team. In August 2006, Viduka was awarded the number 9 shirt at Middlesbrough, his preferred number at all his previous clubs, following the departure of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

[edit] International football career

He has captained the Australian national team since September 2005, in place of the injured Craig Moore, the regular captain. Viduka thrived under Guus Hiddink's tenure as coach of the national squad and led Australia as it qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany over a two-leg qualifier against Uruguay, the first time in 32 years that Australia qualified to participate in the event. On May 21, 2006 he was named as the Australian captain for the World Cup.^[3]

He also led Australia's national team to their first World Cup Finals victory with a 3-1 win over Japan in June 2006, as well as guiding them through an encounter with Brazil, losing 2-0, and a controversial bout with Croatia, ending with a 2-2 draw. He then led Australia into the second round, where they lost their round of 16 match to Italy.

Viduka considered retiring from international competition after the 2006 World Cup, citing increasing family commitments as the primary reason. However, in September 2006 he confirmed that he would continue playing for Australia and intended to compete in the 2007 Asian Cup.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Trivia

Viduka and his wife, Ivana, have two sons; Joseph, nicknamed 'Joey' (born 2002), and Lucas (born September 2006).

The grandstand at Knights' Stadium, home of the Melbourne Knights (Participate in the Victorian State League), was renamed the Mark Viduka Stand in his honour and paid for with his transfer money.

In addition he has an promotional ambassador role with Melbourne Victory (A-League Champions 06-07, Australia's Premier Football competition) to help promote the league with a view to one day return to his home town and play after finishing his career in Europe.

Mark has had a song written about him by English singer/songwriter and Middlesbrough fan, Alistair Griffin (who also previously co-wrote the football song recorded by Terry Venables) . The song lyrics were written to the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".^[4]

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has embraced the tune as a way of raising money for his chosen charity, Macmillan Cancer Support. ^[5] Leonard Cohen has now given permission for the song to be released as a charity download single.

[edit] References

^ Mark Viduka, EPSNSoccernet Accessed July 2 2006
^ Player Of The Year Awards - OzFootballAccessed July 8 2006
^ AAP. "Viduka named Socceroos captain", The Age, 2006-05-21. Retrieved on May 21, 2006.
^ "Hallelujah Mark Viduka", Daily Mirror, February 26, 2007. Retrieved on February 27, 2007.
^ "Alistair Griffin produces tribute song for Middlesbrough star", Broadband tv channel (video podcast), March 1, 2007. Retrieved on March 5, 2007.

[edit] External links

Mark Viduka career stats at Soccerbase
Statistics at footballdatabase.com

Preceded by Henrik Larsson	Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Henrik Larsson
Preceded by Harry Kewell	Oceania Player of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Harry Kewell

	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