World Cup 2018: Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak a quiet achiever
IT’S entirely appropriate that Mile Jedinak should have become one of the Socceroos’ most influential players without significant fanfare.
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NAME the Socceroo with the 10th most caps — and the 10th most goals.
He also happens to have fourth most caps as captain. But he doesn’t tend to shout about it.
It’s entirely appropriate that Mile Jedinak should have become one of the Socceroos’ most influential players without significant fanfare.
The Australian captain says little but does a lot. Over a decade of service to the national team, it’s possible he is the most unheralded player to pull on the green and gold, for his term of involvement has quietly grown to historical levels.
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Amid the drama of last year’s World Cup play-offs, and then the introduction of Bert van Marwijk at March’s friendlies, those landmarks for Jedinak got a bit lost.
Not least to the player himself, who had little idea when the Sunday Telegraph drew them to his attention. He has more immediate concerns to address - the records can wait for a while.
“I’m always proud of what I have to do, whenever I come into camp, regardless of the position or title you’re given,” Jedinak said.
“It’s a great honour (to reach those levels) but hopefully there’s more to come.
“You want to come in and do all your all, anything you possibly can, to make sure that when the time comes you’re ready.
“That’s not just the game, that’s everything before. If anyone has any issues, the boys know I will be there to try and help them out. That goes on and off the field.
“Over time, most of the boys here haven’t had too many captains other than me. There’s a responsibility there, but it’s one shared by the other senior boys.
“Having different voices throughout the camp is a huge positive. We have the right personalities here.”
National duty also gives Jedinak the chance not to think about his situation in England, with club Aston Villa in serious financial difficulties after losing the Premier League playoff.
Reputed to be one of the club’s highest earners, he may have a decision to make about his future in the coming weeks.
At least one A-League club is thought to be considering trying to lure him back to Australia, nearly a decade after he left the Mariners and moved to Turkey, and then England.
The difficulty is that so many years later, Jedinak is confused about where he wants that future to be, after so long playing in Europe.
“It’s a tough question to answer when you’ve been away so long, it’s hard,” he said. “I’d always thought I’d consider Australia home - I do consider Australia home.
“But when you’ve been away for so long, and spent so much time - more than seven years - in the UK, you have all your kids born and brought up there, it makes you reassess things.
“I’ve definitely had those conversations and those thoughts, and to be perfectly honest I wouldn’t be able to tell you right now where I consider home.
“Having so many friends and family in Australia, it will always be a massive part of our lives - but where my own family will settle, it’s still up in the air.”
MILE-HIGH CLUB
TOP TEN APPEARANCES
109 Mark Schwarzer (1993–2013)
104 Tim Cahill (2004–)
96 Lucas Neill (1996–2013)
95 Brett Emerton (1998–2012)
87 Alex Tobin (1988–1998)
84 Mark Bresciano (2001–2015)
84 Paul Wade (1986–1996)
80 Luke Wilkshire (2004–2014)
76 Tony Vidmar (1991–2006)
75 Mile Jedinak (2008–)
TOP TEN GOALSCORERS
50 Tim Cahill (2004–)
29 Damian Mori (1992–2002)
28 Archie Thompson (2001–2012)
27 John Aloisi (1997–2007)
25 Attila Abonyi (1967–1977)
25 John Kosmina (1977–1988)
20 Brett Emerton (1999–2012)
20 David Zdrilic (2000–2005)
19 Graham Arnold (1985–1997)
18 Ray Baartz (1967–1974)
18 Mile Jedinak (2011–)
TOP FIVE APPEARANCES BY CAPTAIN
61 Peter Wilson
61 Lucas Neill
46 Paul Wade
33 Mile Jedinak
30 Charlie Yankos
30 Alex Tobin
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ALTERNATIVE
MILE-HIGH CLUB
- 10 years in the national team
- 4 years as captain
- equal 10th highest number of caps*
- equal 10th highest number of goals*
- 4th highest number of caps as captain
* before last night’s game v Hungary