Adelaide United and Qantas Socceroos goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic is eyeing off a place in Australia’s World Cup squad, thanks to some invaluable advice from national coach Pim Verbeek.
South Africa 2010 is at the forefront of Galekovic’s mind, although he is not getting carried away at the prospect of being called up for the Qantas Socceroos.
“Yeah we had a chat before the game. He just went through the keepers and how they’re going in Europe and gave me a bit of an indication that I am a chance,” Galekovic said.
Fresh from returning from Brisbane after the Qantas Socceroos’ 1-0 win over Indonesia, a win that qualified Australia for the Asian Cup in Qatar in 2011, Galekovic was upbeat about his chances on a national squad call-up but remains focussed on performing well for Adelaide United in its Asian Champions League campaign, a sentiment echoed by Qantas Socceroos boss Pim Verbeek.
“He didn’t give me a list or anything but I think for the third keeper I’m around the mark somewhere … he said just keep doing well for Adelaide, no promises but if things fall into place them I’m a chance,” he said.
And perform for Adelaide he has. While the Reds finished the A-League season with the wooden spoon, Galekovic was a clear standout for United, his performances earning him a second consecutive Hyundai A-League Goalkeeper of the Year Award. He has also collected the Club Champion Award and the Players’ Player Award.
On the performance in Brisbane, Galekovic was pleased with the result and how the Qantas Socceroos played. While the display was far from convincing, Australia got the job done and booked a place for Qatar 2011, another tournament which could open the door for Hyundai A-League based players and hand Galekovic another opportunity to don the No.1 guernsey.
“We needed a result to get to the Asian Cup and some A-League boys and a couple of overseas boys got us through,” he said.
“There’s a lot of boys in Europe who will probably be the front runners (for the World Cup) but who knows for the Asian Cup in January. I don’t think the European boys will be selected for that tournament so it might help the A-League boys to put their names forward.”
The burly custodian was also quick to defend his low profile night in which he rarely touched the ball and was forced to make only a couple of saves.
“Yeah it’s good to have nights like that. It’s hard also because you have to focus for 90 minutes or else … you don’t want to make a mistake.”
The Hyundai A-League keeper of the year will also need to rely on some of his competition not getting game time in the lead up to the World Cup.
While Mark Schwarzer is the obvious No.1 choice, the places for second and third are up for grabs. Brad Jones, who plies his trade with Middlesborough in England’s second tier competition, is amongst the contenders, as is Reading keeper Adam Federici. Michael Petkovic of Sivasspor in Turkey and Ante Covic of IF Elsborg in Sweden are the other keepers in contention and Galekovic is monitoring the progress of these players.
“Brad Jones and Petkovic aren’t playing now. Federici is obviously playing now for Reading and Covic I don’t think has started,” he said.
Adelaide United plucked Galekovic from Melbourne Victory’s substitute bench as a replacement for the injured Daniel Beltrame in the 2007-08 season and he has now cemented his spot as the best goalkeeper based in Australia, racking up over 60 appearances for United including a Hyundai A-League Grand Final, two ACL campaigns and four caps for the national team.
