Player reveals his physical and mental struggles after five-year ban, Rene Meulensteen helps Adelaide United sister club, Reds veteran Vince Lia rates A-League
Former Eastern Elite amateur player reveals his physical and mental struggles after five-year ban, a Reds veteran rates the A-League’s progress and a young SA duo takes on Asia’s best, all in our 90 Minutes soccer column.
Local Soccer SA
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Soccer SA. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Reds’ pride in 250-game milestone
- Fowler — not Kurz — gets Roar job
- Is Kurz Adelaide’s greatest coach?
- Gritty win for Reds against old rival
- Top-flight power scrapes past FFA Cup minnow
Former Eastern Elite amateur player Johnnie Catalano says his mental and physical health is suffering.
He admits he has done wrong but claims a five-year ban is way too excessive.
Catalano, a sales rep with Conroy Smallgoods, has another year to serve after Football Federation SA’s disciplinary committee handed him a hefty suspension which ends in May 2020.
The 27-year-old was also forced to coach MetroStars’ under-17s side from outside the boundaries of pitches last year after an incident in 2016 turned his life upside down.
Unley-based Catalano was expelled for offences including allegedly spitting at a referee, which he denies.
During his 12-month ban Catalano admitted to making a gross error when he decided to play for the now defunct Eastern Elite club under another name when they couldn’t field 11 players.
But what Catalano thought was an act of good faith for a team short on numbers turned into a nightmare.
FFSA threw the book at Catalano, adding four more years to the initial 12 month suspension for playing under another name.
“I know I did wrong but I totally did not spit at a referee in the first place, I have witnesses from the other club to testify but they (DC) never took that into account,’’ Catalano said.
“All I want to do now is just play, I’m never going to play for Adelaide United, I just want to play amateurs, have some fun, I have been suffering mentally and physically because of the long suspension.
“I have put on 20kg, I tried Australian rules and that’s not for me, football is my game, it’s my passion.
“And I’m too apprehensive of even training with an amateur football club because I could get them in trouble because of my suspension.
“All I really want is to play football this year, I have done almost four years for this, I think that’s enough, I’m treated like a criminal.”
If you or someone you know is in need help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, visit www.lifeline.org, or call beyondblue on 1300 224 636.
Reds veteran remembers
Adelaide United midfielder Vince Lia says the A-League is continuing to track in the right direction compared to its predecessor.
And the veteran should know, given he was one of only a handful of players still featuring in the competition who also appeared in the former National Soccer League.
Lia brought up his 250th A-League on Friday night when he came on as a substitute in the Reds’ 1-0 triumph over Melbourne Victory at Hindmarsh Stadium.
The milestone match came almost two decades on from his NSL debut as a raw teenager for four-time champion South Melbourne.
“There was still some very, very good footballers back then and I was 16 when I made my debut, so for me at that time it was a good quality league,” Lia, now 34, recalled.
“There were some former Socceroos and there were people that had been to Europe and come back, so it was good for me at that stage of my career.
“But it was not running as football in this country should and I think it needed to change.
“The A-League started and it was just a lot more professional.
“There was more money invested into the game, more marketing, the media was on board, it was broadcast live on Fox Sports and everyone was full-time.
“Whereas in the back end of that NSL era, there wasn’t many teams that were still full-time and some players had (other) jobs.
“You lose a little bit of that history that the likes of South Melbourne, Sydney Olympic or Melbourne Knights had, which is going to take time for the (A-League) clubs to get.
“But it’s grown from strength-to-strength since that first season.”
Lia was among hundreds of Australian players left without a top-flight league to play in during the 16-month gap between the NSL ending and the A-League starting in 2005.
But the Victorian had fond memories of his introduction to the new era of football, when he was one of three young talents signed by inaugural Victory coach Ernie Merrick.
“You never know what can happen in football,” said Lia, who played for Victorian Premier League side Fawkner in the hiatus.
“But being a young kid and involved in the (underage) national teams at that time, there was a rule that (A-League) clubs had to have three under-20 players in their squad.
“Myself, Kristian Sarkies and Adrian Leijer were signed as that young brigade.
“It was nice to be picked up by your local professional football team and it was an exciting time for us.”
Concern over young players
Adelaide City being penalised for contract breaches in December has according to officials from a number of NPL clubs seen a sharp rise in players now on professional contracts.
What is concerning club chiefs (who wanted to remain anonymous) the most is players aged under 23 that are now on professional contracts.
It means clubs will have to start shelling out training compensation.
That was rarely done in the past.
It will now cost clubs $6000 in training compensation if they have put an under 23 player on a professional contract that has moved from another NPL club according to Football Federation Australia’s national registration regulations.
The worry from clubs’ chiefs is the training compensation will continue to drain already cash-strapped resources which is detrimental to young players who sometimes seek moves to gain regular game time.
To further confuse the compensation issue, a high ranking soccer official has apparently told an NPL official the exchange of money doesn’t happen in NSW because they have a “gentlemen’s agreement.”
This story will continue to develop.
Croweaters set for Asian test
A duo of SA youngsters has been handed another opportunity to demonstrate its rich talent on the global stage.
Adelaide United pair Emily Hodgson and Charlotte Grant were last week called up to the Young Matildas squad for the second phase of under-19 Asian championships qualifying.
The 23-player group departed on Saturday for Mandalay, Myanmar, where it will face Nepal, Uzbekistan and the host nation for a place at October’s regional titles in Thailand.
Defender Hodgson is spending the winter playing for West Adelaide in the Women’s National Premier Leagues SA after a breakout W-League campaign this past summer.
Winger Grant was currently based in Sydney as part of the full-time Future Matildas program.
The top-three nations from the Asian championships will qualify for next year’s under-20 World Cup.
Clubs await Cup draw
The remaining 16 teams in the FFA Cup SA will learn their fate when the third round draw for the knockout competition takes place at Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday.
Nine National Premier Leagues sides will go into the hat for the next phase after several survived scares during the Easter long weekend round of action.
This included top flight table-topper Adelaide Blue Eagles, who needed a stoppage time winner to scrap past Rostrevor Old Collegians on Monday.
Adelaide Victory, Cumberland United, Playford City and White City make up the State League One contingent remaining in the cup.
State League Two Vipers, as well as Sunday amateur outfits Elizabeth Downs and Elizabeth Vale, will be the long shots looking for a shot at an upset.
The draw will be streamed live on the Advertiser Sport Facebook page from 11am.
Socceroos assistant’s helping hand
WORKING for Socceroos assistant coach Rene Meulensteen and a chance meeting with Adelaide United chairman Piet van der Pol has helped a Dutchman earn a gig with Reds sister club Qingdao Red Lions in China.
Adelaide’s links with Qingdao tightened last month when The Advertiser revealed the club’s Robin Westerman is the Reds new community coach.
Meulensteen was Sir Alex Ferguson’s right-hand man at the height of Manchester United’s halcyon days.
Roel Cramer, Qingdao’s head of youth development/general affairs wrote Dutchman Meulensteen was the initial key opening the door to the relatively new Chinese soccer club.
“The company HPSS, in collaboration with René Meulensteen in China, would set up football schools and was looking for fifty enthusiastic football coaches,’’ wrote Cramer on Staantribune, a website which details football culture.
Cramer first worked in Changchun for HPPS before van der Pol helped change his destiny.
The HPSS Football Academy is a Dutch project in China.
“During my visit to Shenzhen (in 2016), I had attended a dinner, in which Piet van der Pol (former general manager of ADO Den Haag and Telstar) was present,’’ Cramer wrote.
“At the end of March, van der Pol asked me if I would like to visit Qingdao.
“The football club was officially established and they would play a friendly match.
“Besides van der Pol, there are also a number of other acquaintances from the club's football club, such as head coach Jan Poortvliet (nineteen international matches, including the World Cup finals of 1978), Kwame Quansah (former player of Ajax and Heracles, among others) and the Swedish striker David Lofquist (former player of, among others, Parma and Malmö).
“After a weekend in Qingdao, van der Pol asked if I would like to help build up the Qingdao Red Lions football club.
“Besides being assistant coach of the first team, I would become responsible for the youth academy.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
— Jenna McCormick (@jen_mccormick) April 19, 2019
GOLDEN BOOTS
A-League Round 26
Adelaide United 1 (George Blackwood 81) Melbourne Victory 0 at Coopers Stadium
Votes
Val Migliaccio: 3. Isaias, 2. Michael Marrone, 1. Michael Jakobsen
Rob Greenwood: 3. Michael Marrone, 2. Isaias, 1. Mirko Boland
Amelia Mulcahy: 3. Isaias, 2. Michael Marrone, 1. Michael Jakobsen
Leaders
91. Isaias
73. Craig Goodwin
62. Ben Halloran
37. Mirko Boland
30. Michael Jakobsen
28. Scott Galloway
27. Paul Izzo
22. Michael Marrone
21. Vince Lia
19. Ryan Strain
12. George Blackwood
10. Nikola Mileusnic
8. Taylor Regan
7. Ryan Kitto
5. Ken Ilso
4. Apostolos Stamatelopoulos
Goals
Craig Goodwin 9
Nikola Mileusnic 4
George Blackwood 3
Apostolos Stamatelopoulos 3
Ken Ilso 3
Isaias 3
Ben Halloran 2
Vince Lia 1
Scott Galloway 1
Ryan Kitto 1
Michael Marrone 1
OG 1
SA PLAYERS ABROAD
Brandon Borrello — Freiburg (Bundesliga): Played 90 minutes in the reserve team’s 2-2 draw with Astoria Waldorf as he continues his recovery from a ruptured ACL.
Alex Chidiac — Atletico Madrid (women’s Spanish Primera Division): Came on as 91st minute substitute in the table-topper’s 1-0 win over Espanyol.
Ben Garuccio — Hearts (Scottish Premier League): Recovering from an ACL injury.
Bradden Inman — Rochdale AFC (English League One): Did not feature in Friday’s 1-0 victory over Wycombe Wanderers or Monday’s 1-0 triumph against Bristol Rovers.
Awer Mabil — Midtylland (Danish Super League): Was introduced as a 62nd minute substitute in a 3-0 loss to Kobenhavn on Friday and was taken off in 79th minute of a 2-1 defeat to Brondby on Tuesday.
Osama Malik — Al-Batin (Saudi Arabia League): Came on as substitute in the 72nd minute of the 2-0 victory over Al Quadisiya.
Andrew Marveggio — Macva Sabac (Serbian Superliga): Did not play in the 2-2 draw with Backa Palanka.
Ryan McGowan — Dundee (Scottish Premier League): Played 90 minutes and was booked in a 2-0 loss to St Johnstone.
Dylan McGowan — Vendsyssel FF (Danish Superliga): Scored a goal and received a yellow card after coming on as a halftime substitute during the 3-2 defeat to Hobro.
Raiders embrace ‘underdog’ tag, new recruit scores winner
An NPL side enjoying its second season in the top flight is making a strike for the top of the table, while another club coach says his side is playing a brand that’s ‘nice, it’s good, it’s sharp’. Check out The Messenger’s reports from the weekend’s action.
Top women’s soccer coach quits, cites ‘difference of opinion’
A top flight women’s soccer coach has quit mid season because “differing opinions” despite leading the side to first spot on the table with just one loss after six rounds.