Former Melbourne Knight Joey Didulica has drawn the curtain on his illustrious soccer career. 72109
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
FORMER Melbourne Knights goalkeeper Joey Didulica has overcame shattering injuries to forge a stellar career in Europe, but head and neck injuries forced him to retire last week.
Didulica had a professional career many aspiring soccer players could only dream of, yet there will always be a question of how high he could have reached were he not plagued by injuries.
Didulica, 34, was hit forcefully in the head with the ball while playing for Dutch powerhouse AZ Alkmaar against PSV Eindhoven in 2006, and did not play again until 2008. Ironically, fellow Australian Jason Culina struck the ball that injured Didulica. He then sustained a similar injury against AFL Ajax in 2009 and needed surgery on a herniated disc in his spine.
Didulica’s brother John, who is the general manager of football operations at Melbourne Heart, said Didulica was not willing to risk another knock to the head
“He feels quite good physically, but I think the spectre of re-injuring even his head or his neck and having to go through such a long, drawn out rehabilitation was probably a bit overwhelming.”
The Geelong-born goalkeeper, who represented Croatia at the 2006 world cup as a reserves goalkeeper, got his big break in 1999 after playing for then NSL team Melbourne Knights for three years, and moved to the Netherlands to join one of Europe’s most famous soccer clubs, Ajax.
He was loaned to Germinal Beerschot in 2001 and joined Austria Vienna in 2003 before returning to Holland to play for AZ. Because of injury he only played 29 games in five years at AZ, but was a part of the 2009 Eredivisie championship-winning team.
But he never forgets his time at the Melbourne Knights, who now play in the Victorian Premier League and are based in Sunshine.
“He still looks very fondly on his time at the Melbourne knights, in the same way a lot of people do like Mark Viduka,” John said. “They all reminisce very fondly about those times.
“What they achieved at the club are as much highlights as anything else that they may have done in Europe.
“At the time it wasn’t about getting a break, Melbourne Knights was the pinnacle.
He was just chuffed to be playing for the Knights as a young kid.”
Didulica plans to return to Victoria with his wife Kate, a Sydenham girl, in the next few months, but it was unlikely at this point that he will play competitive soccer.
“In his own mind I think he felt if he was fit enough to play, he’d play at the absolute highest level that he could, but it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months, if he gets a passion for it again,” John said.
“His body does feel quite good and he does feel physically fit, it’s just the risk of another incident that’s preventing him from throwing himself into it, so I think on that basis I don’t know if he will expose himself to further injury at a lower level. That’s something he’ll probably make over the coming months, but I think it’s probably less likely than likely to happen.”
