Fireworks and feuds with fans fuel rise of new Socceroo
George Clarke |
Pelted with fireworks and confronted by his club’s dissatisfied fans in the streets, first-time Socceroo Anthony Kalik knows all about playing under pressure.
The 27-year-old, a midfielder with Croatian club Hajduk Split, was one of the surprise call-ups in a largely experimental Australian squad assembled for a two-match friendly series with New Zealand.
As a 15-year-old, Kalik was once the youngest player to sign a professional deal with an A-League club, but has since spent most of his career in Croatia.
Hajduk – historically one of Croatia’s biggest clubs but without a title in 20 years – is where Kalik has learned to deal with big expectations.
“Split’s a great place. When you’re going good it’s great … when the results aren’t the best, you go to training and then straight home,” Kalik told AAP ahead of Friday’s clash in Canberra.
It’s not uncommon for Hajduk’s ultras – Torcida – to pack out the club’s training ground when the team has a dip in form.
But last month things took a turn for the worse.
Hajduk were dumped out of the European Conference League by Albanian club Dinamo Tirana, and at their next home game – a match they won 3-0 – players were showered with flares by their own supporters.
Local media reported Kalik was spat at, a claim the midfielder dismissed.
“I wasn’t spat at, the media made it out to be a bit more than it was,” Kalik said.
“Someone came up to me who wasn’t happy with the performance and had a little bit of a go at me. It’s not too bad, you get used to it.
“We got knocked out against the Albanian team, and after we had won our next home game we went over to clap our fans.
“They called us over and probably about 100 flares were thrown. It was pretty full-on.
“It’s part of it, they’ve got a big say in the club as well. They’re very passionate, so you just have to respect it and try to win the next game.”
Kalik’s career has been largely out of sight to most in Australian football, except for Socceroos boss Tony Popovic.
Popovic has good reason to keep abreast of Kalik’s fortunes, given he shares a dressing room at club level with defender Fran Karacic and another Australian.
The 19-year-old Noa Skoko – the dual-eligible son of former Socceroo Josip Skoko – is on the books at Hajduk and has recently won youth caps for Croatia.
“He (Skoko) is doing good and has just come up from the juniors, and it’s good to see another Australian doing well,” Kalik said.
“(Who he plays for) is up to him. Obviously he has to do what’s best for himself, but he’s doing really good at the moment, and I think he’ll be the next project of the club, and I’m sure he’ll have a really good career.”
Popovic has shown no hesitation in throwing selection curveballs during his tenure, regardless of a player’s age or the level of their club side.
For Kalik, it proves there is a pathway to becoming a mainstay of the Socceroos squad leading into next year’s World Cup.
“I want to continue being here as much as I can,” Kalik said.
“The more I’ve been playing recently I was thinking there would be a good chance I could get called up. Now I want to stay here.”
AAP
