John Aloisi

John Aloisi
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Personal information
Full name John Aloisi
Date of birth 5 February 1976 (1976-02-05) (age 35)
Place of birth Adelaide, Australia
Height 1.84 m (6 ft  1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Melbourne Heart
Number 15
Youth career
1992 AIS
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1991–1992 Adelaide City 1 (0)
1992–1993 Standard Liège 0 (0)
1993–1995 Royal Antwerp 35 (7)
1995–1997 Cremonese 48 (4)
1997–1998 Portsmouth 60 (25)
1998–2001 Coventry City 41 (10)
2001–2005 Osasuna 121 (28)
2005–2007 Deportivo Alavés 57 (16)
2007–2008 Central Coast Mariners 15 (7)
2008–2010 Sydney FC 40 (12)
2010– Melbourne Heart 0 (0)
National team‡
1992 Australia U-20 6 (1)
2004 Australia U-23 7 (3)
1997–2007 Australia 55 (27)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:47, 26 October 2009 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:30, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

John Aloisi (born 5 February 1976 in Adelaide, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) striker who currently plays for Melbourne Heart in the A-League. He is the younger brother of Ross Aloisi.

Contents

Club career

Aloisi signed for English Premiership side Coventry City in December 1998 from Portsmouth then of the lower division Championship League. The fee was £600,000.

He made his debut in a 1-1 home draw with Derby, being introduced as substitute a few minutes from the end. In the next home game against Tottenham Hotspur, Aloisi was again on the bench. This time though he came off the bench to equalise in a 1-1 draw.

Aloisi's next notable performance came almost 12 months later in a historic 4-1 win away at Villa Park against Aston Villa. This was Coventry's first ever away victory in the League against their Midlands rivals. Aloisi bagged two goals, playing his part in an excellent team performance.Aloisi is still a cult hero for his contribution in this game! Aloisi started in the next game - a home match against fellow strugglers Charlton Athletic - but ended up being sent off for punching Danny Mills the Charlton player and banned from the game for some considerable time.

Aloisi failed to claim a regular starting place for the next two seasons even though his club was short on goalscorers and the Sky Blues bought other strikers to the club. Although loved by the Coventry fans, Aloisi never got his chance or a proper run in the team. In total he made just seven appearances during his first two seasons at the club. 2000/01 was a disappointing season for Coventry as they were relegated from the Premiership. Aloisi made just 18 appearances, only scoring 3 goals. Following relegation, Aloisi was allowed to leave Highfield Road, and came close to signing for Crystal Palace. This deal fell through and he eventually moved to Pamplona in Spain to play for CA Osasuna. He signed a 2 year deal with Alaves in the summer of 2005, after a move to Panathinaikos collapsed. He moved on a free transfer from CA Osasuna where he played from 2001. He is the only Australian to have played in the world's three biggest football leagues (England, Spain, Italy).

On 20 October 2009 it was announced that Aloisi had signed with the Central Coast Mariners for the remainder of season three. The Central Coast Mariners were able to not include John's wages in the salary cap due to a loop hole relating to injured players.[1] He made his debut in the A-League on the 28 October against Sydney FC in their 3-2 defeat.[2] After their narrow grand final lost the Central Coast Mariners had hoped Aloisi would re-sign and become their Marquee Player and captain for the 2008/09 season.

However on 3 March 2008 it was confirmed that Aloisi had signed a two year deal with Sydney FC.[3] Although the figure was not disclosed it was reportedly worth $1.4 million a season, making him the highest-paid player based in Australia in any of the four football codes. He made his Sydney FC debut as a second half substitute for Shannon Cole on 31 August 2008 against Perth Glory at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney. He scored his first goal for Sydney in their 2-0 upset win over archrivals Melbourne Victory.

Aloisi appears on the cover of the Australian version of Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

After an admittedly poor first season at Sydney FC he was linked with a move away, and on 18 February 2009 the Australian striker was linked with a loan move to Shanghai Shenhua (China). The player, will return to his team, Sydney FC, at the end of the Chinese Super League season. Aloisi soon after decided against a loan stint, opting instead to spend the entire pre-season with Sydney FC, under the club's new coach, Vitezslav Lavicka.[4] Aloisi helped his selection chances with good pre-season form ahead of the 2009-10 season scoring a double against Newcastle Jets ahead of the new season.[5] He eventually made a start in repaying the faith Sydney FC had in him by scoring a double in Sydney's 3-2 win over North Queensland Fury in Townsville, in the first game of the season. After this game a mid-season dip in form culminated in an explosive end to the season for Aloisi, ending the season as the first Sydney FC player to reach double digits and notably scoring a left-footed screamer to clinch the minor premiership against bitter rivals Melbourne Victory, successfully winning over the fans who had earlier doubted his ability . On 29 March 2010 Melbourne Heart signed the former Australian international striker on a free transfer.[6]

International career

Aloisi taking the now-famous penalty that secured the victory over Uruguay and Australia's place in the World Cup.

Aloisi was the top scorer for his country at the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany scoring four goals, two against Germany and two against Argentina - earning him the bronze shoe. He also represented Australia at the 2004 Olympics as one out of three overage players - scoring three goals.

On 16 November 2005, Aloisi scored the decisive penalty-kick against Uruguay in a playoff that put Australia into the 2006 FIFA World Cup - the first time Australia had reached the World Cup finals since 1974.

He was selected in Australia's 2006 World Cup squad, and on 12 June 2006, Aloisi came off the bench to score the third goal in Australia's 3-1 victory over Japan. He became only the second Australian in history to score a goal at the World Cup Finals, after his teammate Tim Cahill.

To date John Aloisi has scored 27 goals in 54 appearances for the Australian national team. This makes him the second highest goal scorer ever for Australia, and only two goals behind the record, held by Damian Mori with 29. Aloisi has stated he will continue to play for Australia until after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Recently, Aloisi scored in the Socceroos quarter-final match against Japan in their first ever Asian Cup in the 70th minute to give Australia the lead but the Japanese equalised two minutes later through Naohiro Takahara after a defensive blunder by defender Mark Milligan. Aloisi was substituted later on during the game as Australia lost 4-3 in penalties with Australian midfielder Harry Kewell, defender and captain, (after Mark Viduka was substituted) Lucas Neill missing spot kicks.

Aloisi's penalty kick against Uruguay in 2005, which took the Socceroos to the World Cup finals, was recently voted by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as one of three greatest moments in Australian sporting history.

Since his return to the A-League, Aloisi's form has declined and he has been dropped from the national team.

International goals

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first.
Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Scored
1997-06-11 Parramatta Stadium, Sydney  Solomon Islands 13-0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 (5)
1997-06-28 North Harbour Stadium, Auckland  New Zealand 3-0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 1 (6)
1997-12-12 King Fahd II Stadium, Riyadh  Mexico 3-1 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 (7)
2000-10-04 Dubai  Kuwait 1-0 International Match 1 (8)
2001-04-09 International Sports Stadium, Coffs Harbour  Tonga 22-0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 6 (14)
2001-06-24 Stadium Australia, Sydney  New Zealand 4-1 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 1 (15)
2004-06-04 Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide  Vanuatu 3-0 2004 OFC Nations Cup 2 (17)
2005-06-15 Waldstadion, Frankfurt  Germany 3-4 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 2 (19)
2005-06-18 Frankenstadion, Nuremberg  Argentina 2-4 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup 2 (21)
2005-10-09 Craven Cottage, London  Jamaica 5-0 International Match 1 (22)
2006-06-08 Donaustadion, Ulm  Liechtenstein 3-1 International Match 1 (23)
2006-06-12 Fritz Walter Stadion, Kaiserslautern  Japan 3-1 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 (24)
2006-10-11 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney  Bahrain 2-0 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualification 1 (25)
2006-11-15 Loftus Road, London  Ghana 1-1 International Match 1 (26)
2007-07-21 My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi  Japan 1-1 2007 AFC Asian Cup 1 (27)

Honours

With Australia:

With Sydney FC:

With Central Coast Mariners:

With Adelaide City:

Personal Honours:

References

  1. ↑ "Aloisi: Now's the Right Time" Australian FourFourTwo, Retrieved on 20 October 2007
  2. ↑ Brosque double sinks Mariners A-League Official Website, Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
  3. ↑ Sydney unveil new signings FoxSports, Retrieved on 3 March 2008
  4. ↑ Aloisi wary of Chinese burn-out FoxSports, Retrieved on 25 February 2009
  5. ↑ Aloisi double sinks Jets The World Game, Retrieved on 12 July 2009
  6. ↑ Heart signs John Aloisi - The Age.com

External links

Melbourne Heart – current squad

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