Ahead of this weekend’s sold out Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final at AAMI Park, aleagues.com.au sits down with Melbourne City midfielder Andreas Kuen.
“You need strategies, ideas, whatever – but at the end you need trophies. Without trophies you cannot convince people. Only that carries weight in football.”
The above quote came from the mouth of Manchester City boss and serial trophy winner Pep Guardiola. Many would argue he’s right while many would say there’s more to football than simply winning trophies.
Not every footballer is lucky enough to have stocked their trophy cabinet with awards and medals during their playing days. In fact, most footballers end their careers having tasted little to no overall success when it comes to claiming silverware.
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For Melbourne City’s Andreas Kuen, this weekend’s Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final represents another shot at finally clinching the first trophy of his career, at age 30.
“You know, it’s true. As a football player, you drive for winning things and winning trophies,” said the midfielder as he relaxed at home having finished another midweek training session ahead of this weekend’s showdown at AAMI Park.
“Sometimes it’s not easy, it depends in which team you play. I had some some second places in the league in Austria and second place in a cup final. So yeah, I was not that lucky enough to win a trophy yet.
“But in this game, I will go out and give 100% and give everything to help the team and to hopefully get this trophy at the end of the day. I hope at the end I get my first trophy.”
Growing up in the small Austrian town of Zams in the west of the central European country, Kuen’s talents eventually saw him work his way up through the ranks before he was picked up by SK Rapid Wien in the nation’s capital Vienna.
It was here with SK Rapid Wien where Kuen would suffer heartache for the first time in his bid to secure silverware as his side were beaten 2-1 by Red Bull Salzburg in the final of the Austrian Cup. As a side note, former Melbourne City midfielder Valon Berisha shone for the opposition that day while current Newcastle United star Joelinton scored for Kuen’s side.
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“I would say like the Cup final is a long time ago,” smiled Kuen when asked if that cup final loss still burns to this day. “I was still young, and I was not a starter in this team, so I came on. So it was a little bit different.
“You know, it was also hard, because in this time, Red Bull Salzburg was like the main team in Austria, and they won everything for like 10 years. So it was hard to beat them.
“The chances were maybe not that high, unlike I would say this weekend for me. So also as a player now, maybe I’m getting older and see things differently. For me now it’s a little bit different, because I would say I’m more than a starter than I was before, so this game will be very important for me anyway.
“In Austria, you know, the cup is also a little bit different, especially because now you play here the finals. For me, this is something completely new. So it’s a little bit different the feeling. But still, you know, it’s a big week, a big game. And yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Whether that magic moment finally arrives this weekend remains to be seen but having only turned 30 earlier this year you’d think there’s still plenty of time for Kuen to get his hands on a trophy or two before he calls time on his career.
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But in football you never know what will happen and in Kuen’s case, injuries have plagued his career to the extent that scar tissue has formed both physically and mentally following a torrid run of three Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries in the space of five years.
“When I was young, I had a lot of injuries, really big ones. I had three ACLs. So, yeah, that I’m still able to play this game in this way, especially here in Australia, this physicality, I’m really happy.
“Between 19 and 24, I had three ACL (ruptures), and also some small operations around the knee, because the meniscus was not so good.
“So yeah, I think I’m really grateful to achieve these things afterwards, after these injuries and yeah, I think I can be happy to still play football.
“But still, when you are back on the on the pitch and playing, you sometimes forget what you can go through. You forget how lucky you are to still play the game and everything.
“Okay, I still have a lot of days where I have pain and everything, that’s not a good point. But still, I’m really happy to play the game.”
A trophy then in what has been an impressive first season in Melbourne would be one of the sweetest moments of a career which has seen the box-to-box midfielder searching for that maiden success.
A second-placed finish in the Austrian Bundesliga in season 2014/15 was then followed by another second-placed finish and cup final defeat in 2015/16.
After spending a year away from the club on loan, Kuen ultimately sought pastures new and moved to fellow Austrian side SV Mattersburg where he would then suffer relegation two seasons later.
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Still seeking that elusive trophy, Kuen then moved to a side hoping to challenge in the form of Sturm Graz but again the midfielder would be the bridesmaid and not the bride, finishing as a runner-up once more.
It was at this point the Austrian youth international wanted to try something new. A move to Greek Super League side Atromitos materialised and two years later Kuen’s quest for a trophy took him to Australia.
“I would say, in the beginning, I was like, maybe a little bit too weak in some duels, because I was thinking, I will get a lot of calls (from the referee) you know,” laughed Kuen when recalling his first impressions of A-League and a footballing culture he admittedly knew little about.
“So I would say I tried to adapt a little bit on the physicality stuff here in this league and overall I tried to do (this) since I came here. I try to help the team with my assists, with my key passes and try to help to put my teammates in good positions to score.
“As a foreigner, it’s never easy to commit to a new country and try to perform directly on your highest level and to show that you are an important player. But it’s not always so easy as a foreigner to commit to do this.
“So I try to do my my basic stuff, my basic things to help the team. And for me, it doesn’t matter, you know, I don’t need to have 20 assists or 15 goals. For me, the most important thing at the end of the season is that the team wins something.
“This is how I am as a player. So some players maybe are different but I come here to win a trophy for the team and for the club. For me, the quality is really high here and it’s not easy to play here.
“Let’s say the physicality is, for me, a little bit new here in Australia. Let’s say in Greece, the referees and the playing style is not that tough. For me, this was not so easy to adapt because the referees don’t whistle everything what I want – you know what I want to say!
“But yeah, the quality and also like the intensity is also very high here. It surprised me, maybe a little bit that also the young players are on a good level. But yeah, overall, I think the quality in Australia is really good.”
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But despite possessing a resume which features a cup final defeat and three second-placed finishes, Kuen remains completely relaxed ahead of this weekend’s sold out showdown at AAMI Park.
So while some may think he’s been unlucky in his pursuit of a trophy and to have suffered the injuries he’s had, the player himself believes the opposite; he’s just thankful he’s still able to kick a football around for a living.
“A lot of people don’t know my history and everything…but they also don’t need to know everything you know?
“Because when you play football, it only counts what’s happening in the last weeks or what’s happening now. It doesn’t matter what happened 10 years ago. Nobody cares.
“This is football, this is life and everything goes really fast. I try to look always positive on everything. At the end of the day, you need to be happy, because it could always be worse in life.
“That’s what I’m always saying to myself, and that’s why I keep going.”
