 Galekovic withAdelaide United in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eugen Josip Galekovic[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1981-06-12)12 June 1981 (age 43)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Adelaide United (Goalkeeper coach) | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Chelsea Hajduk | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Bulleen Lions | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Melbourne Knights | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Eastern Pride | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | South Melbourne | 37 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Beira-Mar | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Melbourne Victory | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2017 | Adelaide United | 238 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Melbourne City | 35 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Australia U23 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2015 | Australia | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Adelaide United (goalkeeper coach) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Eugen Josip Galekovic (/-ˈjɒsɪpɡəˈlɛkəvɪtʃ/YOS-ip gə-LEK-ə-vitch;Croatian:Eugen Josip Galeković,pronounced[êuːdʒinjǒsipɡalêːkoːʋitɕ]; born 12 June 1981) is an Australian former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeper and assistant coach forAdelaide United. Having played over 250 games in theA-League, 238 of those forAdelaide United, he is considered one of the greatest A-Leaguegoalkeepers of all time, and one ofAdelaide United's greatest players.[4]
Galekovic's junior football was mostly played atChelsea Hajduk in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.
Galekovic played school football forSt Bede's College.
Galekovic started his career withMorwell basedNational Soccer League (NSL) sideGippsland Falcons as a 19-year-old in December 2000 before signing with Australian powerhouseSouth Melbourne the following season.
Galekovic was second choice keeper in his early seasons at South playing behind Socceroos keeperDean Anastasiadis. He made his debut in 2002 against rivals Melbourne Knights at Lakeside Stadium. After a string of impressive performances for his age, Galekovic claimed his spot as South's number 1 for the 2002 season ahead ofMichael Theo.
At his time at South, Galekovic made 37 appearances and kept 17 clean sheets in the process. Following his performances for the club, he received a maiden Olyroos selection.
He stayed with South Melbourne until the NSL's closure in 2003–04 where at season's end he secured a place on the list ofBeira Mar in Portugal on the back of holding the number one spot for Australia's Olympic football campaign in Athens in 2004.
Galekovic was South's keeper in their last ever national league game in 2004 when South Melbourne Lost 2-1 to Adelaide United in an elimination final by golden goal.
The period at Beira Mar was generally unsuccessful for Galekovic, with him seeing little first team action and thus, he returned to Melbourne to sign for the city's inaugural A-League sideMelbourne Victory for season 2005–06, debuting in the opening match againstSydney FC.
Galekovic played 11 matches for the season in an unusual goalkeeper rotation policy employed by Melbourne managerErnie Merrick in which the other 10 matches saw teammate and former South Melbourne compatriotMichael Theoklitos in goal. Galekovic was second choice keeper for the Victory in the 2006–07 season but an injury to Theoklitos gave Galekovic his first start of the season in the round 13 clash againstQueensland Roar atSuncorp Stadium.
On 30 October, Eugene signed for Melbourne Victory rivals Adelaide United as a replacement for injured keeperDaniel Beltrame and made his debut against theQueensland Roar atHindmarsh Stadium.[5] On 20 January 2008, Galekovic kept his first clean sheet for Adelaide in a 2–0 win over Brisbane at Hindmarsh Stadium. On 27 December 2008 Galekovic made a string of impressive saves to ensure Adelaide kept its 1–0 advantage overPerth Glory[6] and in the process giving him his fifth clean sheet of the league season.
In February 2010, Galekovic capped off another brilliant year by winning theAdelaide United Player of the Year Award.
In the middle of the 2011–12 A-LeagueJon McKain resigned his role as captain at Adelaide United. It was then announced that Eugene Galekovic became captain.
On 11 March 2016 Galekovic reached 250 appearances despite a 1–0 defeat toMelbourne City FC.[7]
On 16 June 2017 Galekovic signed a two-year deal withMelbourne City FC.[8] He played 35 league games forMelbourne City before then announcing his retirement at the end of the 2018/19 season.
Following the conclusion of his contract with Melbourne City, Galekovic returned to Adelaide United to commence a role as the club's Goalkeeping Coach in 2019.
Galekovic has been called up forAustralia in a preliminary squad with teammatesScott Jamieson andPaul Reid after impressive performances in theA-League and theAsian Champions League. He made his first senior international football debut forAustralia on 28 January 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versusIndonesia. He was disappointing in his last outing againstKuwait, by letting in two poor goals afterAustralia conceded a 2–0 advantage. AfterBrad Jones left the2010 World Cup 23-man squad to help his son battle leukaemia, he was called in as a replacement, after missing selection in the 23-man squad first time around. Eugene was selected byHolger Osieck for a2013 EAFF East Asian Cup qualifying tournament. He started the first match against hostsHong Kong and came up with audacious stops to save Australia from humiliation as they won 1–0 with a solo effort fromBrett Emerton. The other game that Galekovic was a part of a 9–0 thrashing ofGuam. After a string good performances for Adelaide United, Holger Osieck selected Eugene Galekovic as part of his 23-man squad for the decisive2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) match againstOman.
He was part of the Australia squad for the2014 World Cup, but did not play.
CS = Clean sheets
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | ||
| Eastern Pride | 2000–01 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |
| South Melbourne | 2001–02 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 15 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 7 | |
| 2003–04 | 22 | 10 | – | – | – | – | 22 | 10 | |
| Total | 37 | 17 | – | – | – | – | 37 | 17 | |
| Beira-Mar | 2004–05 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |
| Melbourne Victory | 2005–06 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 13 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | – | – | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 22 | 7 | |
| Adelaide United | 2007–08 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 39 | 19 | |
| 2009–10 | 27 | 6 | – | – | 7 | 3 | 34 | 9 | |
| 2010–11 | 29 | 9 | – | – | – | – | 29 | 9 | |
| 2011–12 | 25 | 3 | – | – | 10 | 6 | 35 | 9 | |
| 2012–13 | 25 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 25 | 8 | |
| 2013–14 | 28 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 28 | 8 | |
| 2014–15 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 2 | – | – | 29 | 9 | |
| 2015–16 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 12 | |
| 2016–17 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 | |
| Total | 238 | 67 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 16 | 280 | 87 | |
| Melbourne City | 2017–18 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 2018–19 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | |
| Total | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9 | |
| Career Total | 321 | 97 | 21 | 8 | 32 | 16 | 374 | 121 | |
1 – includesA-League final series statistics
2 – includesFIFA Club World Cup statistics;AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
Melbourne Victory
Adelaide United
Australia
Individual Records
Australia squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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