Eddie Krnčević

Edward "Eddie" Krnčević (born August 14, 1960 in Geelong , Australia ) is a former Australian football player who spent most of his career in Belgium and was the first Australian in German professional football wearing the MSV Duisburg jersey . In general, he is considered the first player in his country to be successful in European football. He later began a career as a coach in his home country.

Club career

The striker Krnčević whose ancestors once of Croatia immigrated to Australia, began his career at in Melbourne settled club Esserdon Croatia . In 1977, when he was still a teenager, he made the leap into the first team that competed in the top division of the state of Victoria . In the run-up to the 1979 season, which at that time was held over the duration of the calendar year, he succeeded in moving to Marconi Fairfield in the national league NSL. At the end of his first season at Marconi, he won the championship with his teammates. Although the following years were not so successful from a club perspective, Krnčević developed into an established player who was also regularly appointed to the national team. This aroused the interest of the Yugoslav first division club Dinamo Zagreb , who brought him to Croatia at the beginning of 1982 and thus to the country of origin of his parents.

Although he won the championship of the then still existing state of Yugoslavia with Zagreb at the end of the 1981/82 season, he had only played once himself up to then. In the following time, however, it was regularly taken into account, but without taking a permanent place. After two and a half years in Croatia, Krnčević was given to the West German second division club MSV Duisburg for a transfer fee of 100,000 German marks . This change came about through the mediation of the trainers Rudi Gutendorf and Branko Zebec . In Duisburg he presented himself as the first Australian in German professional football and was also regularly called up, but could not adequately meet the high expectations associated with him. Because of this, he was awarded in January 1985 to the Belgian first division club Cercle Bruges .

The Australian took a regular place in Bruges and won the national cup with the team in 1985. In addition, he presented himself with twelve goals in the 1985/86 season as a goal threat and aroused the interest of the capital club RSC Anderlecht . In the summer of 1986 he moved to the reigning champions Anderlecht, where he was able to build on his previous performances with 16 goals and defended the title with his team. During the ongoing season it came in March 1988 to his brief return to Australia, where he again joined Marconi Fairfield. During the 1988/89 season, however, he stormed for Anderlecht again and scored 23 goals, the best number of hits of his entire career. In the league, his team took second place and was able to win the title in the cup competition at the same time.

In 1989, Krnčević moved again to another country - the fifth of his career - and signed with the French first division promoted FC Mulhouse . In this he took a regular place and scored seven goals, but could not prevent the direct relegation. He then returned to Belgium in 1990, where he joined the RFC Liège in the first division . He could not build on the successes of previous years there in terms of his goals or the placements of his team. In 1992 he moved to the second division Eendracht Aalst , with whom he returned to the top division of Belgium two years later. In fourth place, the climber was even able to qualify for the European competition in the following year, but Krnčević moved to league rivals RSC Charleroi in the summer of 1995 . In 1996 he finally returned to his homeland in Australia after more than 14 almost uninterrupted years in Europe. There the then 36-year-old left his career with the first division club Gippsland Falcons and stopped playing football in 1997.

National team

During his youth, Krnčević ran from 1977 on for Australian junior teams. In 1979 he made the leap into the senior national team of Australia , for which he was used in an encounter against the Serbian club Partizan Belgrade . This was - as with some other games in the following period - a test encounter against a club team that was not considered an official international match. In the following time he was regularly considered and took part in the Oceania Championship in 1980 under the German coach Rudi Gutendorf . He scored five goals in the course of the tournament, but was not on the field himself when his country won the final against Tahiti.

Australia missed the qualification for the World Cup in 1982 , anyway Krncevic was not taken into account after his move abroad in 1981. It was not until 1989 that he returned to the team to play two games against Israel. After 35 appearances with 17 goals - including 20 official internationals with 4 goals scored - his career in the national team ended.

Coaching career

Immediately after his playing career, Krnčević took over the coaching position at Carlton SC in 1997 , which was to participate as a newly founded club in the highest Australian league. This he led at the end of the 1997/98 season in the final of the national championship, which was lost, however, 1: 2 against South Melbourne FC . In the next season the team could not build on their success and in 1999 the coach left the club to join league rivals Marconi Fairfield . He then took over South Melbourne FC from 2001 to 2002. After a longer period outside of professional football, he worked again as a coach for South Melbourne from September 2010 to December 2011.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Eddie Krnčević , national-football-teams.com
2. ↑ Ilija Šutalo: Croatians in Australia: Pioneers, Settlers and Their Descendants. Wakefield Press, Adelaide 2004, p. 224
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Football: Eddie Krncevic , footballdatabase.eu
4. ↑ Dagmar Dahmen, Hermann Kewitz, Bernd Bemmann: MSV Duisburg - the chronicle: where Meiderich wins ... published by MSV Duisburg GmbH & Co. KGaA. Duisburg: Mercator-Verlag, 2nd edition, 2005; ISBN 3-87463-391-8 ; P. 125
5. ↑ ^{a b} Australian Player Database - KR , ozfootball.net
6. ^ Eddie Krnčević , weltfussball.de