Tom Pondeljak

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Tom Pondeljak
Tom Pondeljak.jpg
Pondeljak in the jersey of Melbourne Victory (2010)
Personnel
Surname Tomislav Pondeljak
birthday January 8, 1976
place of birth Melbourne ,  Australia
size 177 cm
position midfield
Juniors
Years station
1992-1993 Victorian Institute of Sport
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1993-1995 St Albans 62 (14)
1995-1999 Melbourne Knights 97 (29)
1999-2001 Sydney United 60 0(6)
2001-2003 Sydney Olympic 63 (13)
2003-2004 Perth Glory 26 0(7)
2004 Johor FA
2005-2008 Central Coast Mariners 48 0(6)
2008– Melbourne Victory 67 0(5)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2002-2009 Australia 6 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.
As of March 15, 2011

2 As of March 18, 2010

Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak (born January 8, 1976 in Melbourne ) is an Australian football player . The attacking midfielder won four Australian championships over the course of his career.

Club career

Success in the NSL

Pondeljak attended the Victorian Institute of Sport between 1992 and 1993 before playing for St Albans in the Victorian Premier League . In 1995 he moved to the Melbourne Knights in the National Soccer League (NSL) and won his first championship in the 1995/96 season. In 1999 he went to Sydney and played there for two years for Sydney United and then for Sydney Olympic . With Sydney Olympic, which had been renamed Olympic Sharks for the 2001/02 season, he won his second championship title with a 1-0 final victory over Perth Glory. As with the success in 1996, he was in the starting line-up in the final.

In 2003 he left Sydney and moved to Perth Glory . At Perth, too, Pondeljak was one of the permanent staff and again reached the championship finals when the NSL was held for the last time. With a 1-0 win against Paramatta Power, Pondeljak won his third championship title in eight years.

Time in the A-League

After the setting of the NSL at the end of the 2003/04 season, Pondeljak left Australia for some time and played in Malaysia for Johor FA . He returned in 2005 and signed a contract with the A-League newly formed club Central Coast Mariners . In 2006 and 2008 he reached the championship finals with the Mariners, but lost both times.

In February 2008 Pondeljak signed a two-year contract with league rivals Melbourne Victory and returned to his hometown. In his first season with Melbourne he was again in the Grand Final. With his long-range goal in the 59th minute, Pondeljak secured his team a 1-0 win over Adelaide. He himself was honored with the Joe Marston Medal following the game as the best player of the game . In the following season he reached the championship final with Melbourne, but could not participate in the defeat against rivals Sydney FC due to a muscle injury.

National team

Pondeljak made his first appearance in the Australian national team during the 2002 OFC Nations Cup , including in the 1-0 final defeat by New Zealand. It wasn't until almost seven years later that he was used again in the national team as part of the qualification for the 2011 Asian Cup.

successes

at club level:

  • A-League champions: 2008/09
  • Master of the NSL: 1995/96, 2001/02, 2003/04
  • A-League Premiership: 2007/08, 2008/09
  • A-League runner-up: 2005/06, 2007/08, 2009/10
  • Vice champion of the NSL: 2002/03

Individually:

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pondeljak, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pondeljak, Tomislav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne , Australia