Joey Didulica

Joey Didulica
Personnel
Surname	Joseph Anthony Didulica
birthday	October 14, 1977
place of birth	Geelong ,  Australia
size	191 cm
position	goalkeeper
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1995-1996	North Geelong Warriors	1 (0)
1996-1999	Melbourne Knights	60 (0)
1999-2003	Ajax Amsterdam	16 (0)
2001	→  Germinal Beerschot  (loan)	2 (0)
2003-2006	FK Austria Vienna	87 (0)
2006-2011	AZ Alkmaar	29 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1998-2000	Australia U-23	12 (0)
2004-2006	Croatia	4 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
2011-2017	Melbourne City FC (Goalkeeping Coach)
1 Only league games are given.

Joseph Anthony "Joey" Didulica [ ˈdʒozɛf ˈdidulitsa ] (born October 14, 1977 in Geelong , Australia ) is a former Croatian - Australian football player .

From 1999 to the end of his career in 2011 he played in the Bundesliga for FK Austria Wien and in the Dutch Eredivisie for Ajax Amsterdam and AZ Alkmaar . In addition to being an Australian citizen, he also has Croatian citizenship and was therefore a member of both the Australian U23 national team and the Croatian A national team , with which he participated in the 2004 European Championships in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany .

Career as a football player

society

First clubs in Australia

Didulica, the son of an Australian of Croatian descent and a Croat , began playing football in his native Australia with the North Geelong Warriors . In 1996 he moved to the National Soccer League for the Melbourne Knights .

Ajax Amsterdam and loan from Beerschot AC

In 1999 he was transferred to Europe, where he played for Ajax Amsterdam until 2003 . During his first two years in the Dutch capital, Didulica hadn't played a single goalkeeper. Therefore Ajax loaned him to the Belgian first division club Beerschot AC for the 2001/02 season , but returned to Ajax Amsterdam after six months in which he only made two appearances. Up to his departure in 2003 Didulica ran for the Ajacieds in only 17 first division games, where he showed his best performance in the 1-1 draw on November 27, 2002 in the away game in the intermediate round of the UEFA Champions League against Valencia CF, as Didulica attracted attention in several parades. He did not extend his contract, which expired on June 30, 2003, which is why Didulica was no longer a regular goalkeeper until his departure.

FK Austria Vienna

For the 2003/04 season he moved to Austria in the Bundesliga for FK Austria Vienna . After Didulica was initially a substitute goalkeeper behind Thomas Mandl , he rose to become a regular goalkeeper and became Austrian champions at the end of the season with the club of favorites. Didulica retained its status as number one of Wiener Austria in the following two years and also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in his second season in Vienna with FK Austria Wien , in which the Viennese were eliminated against FC Parma . In the 2005/2006 season he was voted the best goalkeeper in the Austrian Bundesliga and celebrated the second championship title of his career with the Viennese.

Didulica was extremely popular with the fans of Austria Wien due to his loyalty and commitment. Quite different, however, with the fans of local rivals SK Rapid Wien . Since a brutal foul on Rapid striker Axel Lawarée at the Derby in May 2005 , the goalie has become an enemy for Rapid fans. He was suspended for 8 games for this foul. As a result, criminal proceedings against Didulica for negligent bodily harm were pending. In the first instance Didulica was found guilty and sentenced to a fine of € 60,000 (of which € 30,000 conditional). Didulica appealed the verdict in full and was acquitted in June 2007 in the second instance. The civil proceedings against Axel Lawarée were ended with a settlement in which Didulica undertook to donate money to the children's dialysis ward of the Vienna General Hospital and Axel Lawarée waived any claims.

AZ Alkmaar

In 2006 Didulica moved to AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie . There he was hit in the head by his compatriot Jason Culina during a game against PSV Eindhoven on October 22, 2006 and was only able to play another competitive game in January 2009. On April 26, 2009 Didulica saved a penalty in the 1-1 draw in the away game against his former club Ajax Amsterdam, but he was hit with his leg in the head when Amsterdam striker Luís Suarez tried to shoot the penalty in the goal. After all, he celebrated the Dutch championship with his club at the end of the season. After his injury in the away game against Ajax Didulica only made 15 more appearances. After the two serious injuries mentioned and after he had not played for AZ Alkmaar, he ended his active career in October 2011.

National team

Australia

In 2000, Joey Didulica was appointed to the squad of the Australian Olympic selection for the Olympic Games in Sydney , but had to cancel his participation due to injury. For the Australian U-23 selection , however, he was used in twelve official and one unofficial game from 1998 to 2000.

Croatia

After he did not receive a call-up for the Australian senior national team and the Croatian Football Association was watching him, Didulica decided to play for the Croatian national team in the future. He made his debut in April 2004 against Macedonia . He was in the Croatian squad at the 2004 European Championship finals in Portugal and the 2006 World Cup in Germany , but was not used in both tournaments. In October 2006 Joey Didulica temporarily resigned from the national team.

Career as a coach

After retiring, Didulica returned to Australia and became the goalkeeping coach of Melbourne Heart . The club later renamed itself Melbourne City FC. In 2017 he left the club.

successes

• Dutch Supercup winner (AZ 2008/09)
• Dutch champion (Ajax 2001/02, AZ 2008/09)
• Austrian Champion (Austria Wien 2005/06 )
• Austrian Cup Winner (Austria Wien 2004/05 , 2005/06 )

Others

Didulica has three children with his wife. His older brother was the sporting director at Melbourne Heart , which is now called Melbourne City FC.

Web links

• Joey Didulica in the database of weltfussball.de
• Overview of international matches on hns-cff.hr

Individual evidence

1. ^ Joey Didulica: Geelong to Croatia's World Cup squad. July 13, 2018, accessed December 2, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Hot showdown in the Mestalla. In: Kicker sports magazine . Olympia Verlag GmbH, November 27, 2002, accessed on May 15, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Didulica comes to Austria for Ziegler. In: derstandard. April 4, 2003, accessed May 15, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Didulica's acquittal on orf.at , accessed on October 11, 2011
5. ↑ Brutal attack in the Vienna Derby ( memento from April 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on orf.at, accessed on October 11, 2011
6. ↑ Goalie Didulica seriously injured in the head. In: Austria . Mediengruppe "Österreich" GmbH, April 26, 2009, accessed on May 15, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Didulica ends carrière. (No longer available online.) In: AZ Alkmaar . Alkmaar Zaanstreek NV, October 11, 2011, archived from the original ; accessed on February 7, 2020 (Dutch). 
8. ^ Joey Didulica before a change of nationality. March 12, 2004, accessed December 2, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Didulica no longer for Croatia. October 11, 2006, accessed December 2, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Back to Australia with 'fresh ideas'. In: Ajax Amsterdam . AFC Ajax NV, November 16, 2011, accessed February 2, 2020 . 
11. ↑ Coaching Update: Didulica Departs. In: Melbourne City FC . Melbourne City Football Club, July 2, 2017, accessed February 3, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Guus Hetterscheid: Oud keeper Ajax Didulica: 'Ik stopte ballen als een octopus'. In: Het Parool. DPG Media BV, September 29, 2019, accessed April 10, 2020 (Dutch).