As several global competitions came to their conclusion this weekend, a number of Australian footballers across the world capped off their seasons competing for – and winning – silverware.
In the Middle East, Socceroos goalkeeper Brad Jones secured the Saudi Arabian league title with Al Nassr on the final day of the season by the slimmest of margins. A preeminent figure in Al Nassr’s campaign, the 37-year-old’s side edged out closest opponents Al-Hilal – home to fellow Socceroo Milos Degenek – winning the league title by a single point.
In a 30-game season, Al Nassr finished with 70 points – one ahead of Al-Hilal – with Jones securing 11 clean sheets throughout the campaign; the equal most in the competition. It’s the fifth trophy of Jones’ career, with Al Nassr’s title adding to his Dutch Cup, Super Cup and Championship won at Feyenoord and the English League Cup won when he was at Liverpool.
Jones played in 25 matches, including the decisive 2-1 win over Al-Batin that sealed the title on the weekend.
Another Aussie goalkeeper, Danny Vukovic, celebrated silverware as his Belgian club FC Genk secured its fourth Belgian league title on Thursday last week, following a 1-1 draw at Anderlecht.
That result gave Vukovic’s team an unassailable four-point lead with one match remaining (which was played on Monday morning).
Having missed just two league matches throughout the campaign during the Socceroos’ Asian Cup campaign in January, Vukovic kept 14 clean sheets across 37 matches and his Belgian title is his second trophy, adding to his 2016-17 Sydney FC Championship win.
In the Bundesliga, young Australian defender George Timotheou made a surprise debut for German side Schalke. Timotheou was handed a start on the final match day of the Bundesliga season against Stuttgart. The 21-year-old played 90 minutes in a goalless draw.
Previously on the books of Sydney FC, Timotheou moved to NSW National Premier Leagues side Sydney Olympic, where he attracted Schalke’s attention. Timotheou made over 20 appearances for Schalke’s under-23s before his first-team call-up.
In Australia, Sydney FC secured an equal most A-League Championships; four, which the Sky Blues now share with Melbourne Victory, after a 4-1 penalty win
The Grand Final was played in front of the biggest Grand Final crowd in history, with 56,371 fans turning up to Optus Stadium.
Sydney FC’s captain Alex Brosque retires having won three A-League Championships, and 298 Australian national league games, with a return of 88 goals, which puts him in the top 25 scorers of all time.
Meanwhile fellow retiree Brendon Santalab’s record is 186 games and 54 goals, which is pretty impressive considering many of these games were as a substitute.
