Brisbane Roar’s penalty shootout hero, goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos, said Sunday’s remarkable Hyundai A-League Grand Final win over Central Coast was all the more sweeter having overcome a disastrous season trying to break into Europe last year.
Having conquered the Hyundai A-League winning two doubles with Melbourne Victory, Theoklitos tried his hand in England with Norwich City last campaign but conceded seven goals on his debut and never saw another minute of action with the club.
Returning to Australia with his tail between his legs, Theoklitos said it was the hardest year of his career – but having erased the memory of that by lifting the Championship for the third time he said Sunday was easily his best moment in football.
“It just goes to show when you’re down, to keep believing and working hard on your game. Anything is possible,” he said.
“I’ll tell you what – if you told me I’d come back to the A-League and win goalkeeper of the year and win a double, I probably wouldn’t believe you.”
“To play a home grand final in front of 50,000 people I wouldn’t have thought was possible. I’ve gone from the most difficult year of my career to the best by far.”
The heroics of Theoklitos in that penalty shootout went a long way towards the Roar clinching their first ever championship, having saved penalties from Daniel McBreen and Pedj Bojic and being just inches away from a third stop.
But Theoklitos said the credit should be spread between the entire team, given their incredible effort to work back into the match after staring down the barrel of a 2-0 defeat on the biggest stage of them all.
“At 2-0 down I thought we were struggling but we don’t give up and it showed. Matty McKay said at half time of extra time that we’re capable of scoring two goals in 15 minutes and that we’d just dig in and keep going and to his and the boys’ credit, we did,” Theoklitos said.
“When Erik Paartalu scored the equaliser was an amazing feeling and the crowd erupted. I was looking at the bench and I was like ‘do you want me to go up (to contest the corner)?'” he laughed.
“I wasn’t too sure at the time so I didn’t know how long there was to go and it was just amazing. The players were cramping up but we just threw everyone forward and just kept playing the way we play.”
“It wasn’t over – we had the penalty shootout – but I got in the zone and I focused on what I had to do. I was a bit disappointed with my first attempt, and I should have saved it, but I made two crucial saves and we won the trophy. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”
“I’ve been quite fortunate. In the old Victorian Premier League I saved three out of five and obviously today I saved a couple. I should have saved a third one but at the end of the day it was what we deserved.”
