Sounder-down-Under is a look at the beautiful game from the other side of the world, written by Seattle ex-pat Drew Dickson.
Can you play Saturday? This is something that many of us have heard this question or read it on our phones at what might have seemed too early of an hour on a weekend. A friend has a team. They need a spare player. Doesn’t matter where you can play, they are desperate.
But what if your friend was playing for a high ranked side?
This is the world that the A-League’s Melbourne City will face on September 29th as they battle Heidelberg United FC, contenders in the second tiered National Premier League as they square off in the FFA Cup, Australia’s version of the US Open Cup. So Heidelberg called a friend to come play.
Heidelberg United players celebrate. Source: Getty Images
Kostas Katsouranis said he would come play. And with that, Heidelberg have pulled off a coup.
Now, it is not unusual for a player who is eyeing retirement in the near future to pull a short stint in leagues that are either on their way up or with teams that they played for as kids to relive their glory days. Katsouranis is not any of these.
For those of us not up on our Greek footballers, Katsouranis has a pedigree of several high profile sides in Europe from Panachaiki, AEK Athens, Benfica, Panathinaikos, and PAOK.
He is still a high level player and has shown this by scoring 103 goals since his senior debut in 1996. Not a bad tally for a defensive midfielder. He has spent the past year in India’s Super League, plying his trade alongside former greats David Trezeguet and Alessandro del Piero, so I might be inclined to see his star beginning not to shine as brightly, but then I am reminded of his international career.
EURO Cup winner in 2004, a total of 116 appearances with his national team, bagging 10 goals. Not to mention the fact that he captained the Greeks in World Cup 2014. But again, having said that, he has not played since a friendly last June.
So how can this happen?
Heidelberg United lost one of their key strikers to an A League side, Central Coast Mariners.
Now players get transferred all the time, just ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But with approval from Football Federation Australia for a one time exemption, Heidelberg were thrown a lifeline.
Both the club and the FFA have been tight lipped as to just how anyone at Heidelberg’s head office had Katsouranis’ phone number, but apparently someone did. What has been released is that Katsouranis is on a one match contract, will spend two weeks in Melbourne gearing up for the match, and any future playing time will be negotiated after the match with the favored City.
HUFC’s coach, George Katsakis has mentioned several times that it was weeks of coaxing that brought the star Down Under for a one game kick around. When their exemption was given Heidelberg aimed as high as they thought they could and they got their man.
Konstantinos Katsouranis of Greece marks James Rodriguez of Colombia. Source: Getty Images
Now, it isn’t too surprising that a Greek player was called in, seeing as Heidelberg are a Greek side and were founded by Greek immigrants and have a big communal following (see my previous article about ethnicity in soccer Down Under).
What is surprising is that Katsouranis is out of contract and no clubs are willing to pick up a national team captain except for one team in Australia’s second division. At the end of the month we might see just why that is the case.
Katsouranis is hoping to boost his playing time and profile with the match and hopefully see himself part of the selection for the final two matches for Greece’s EURO 2016 qualifying campaign, having not suited up for his country since a friendly against Poland in June.
Greece will not make EURO 2016 as they sit at the bottom of Group F, having amassed 3 points in 8 games, even seeing them lose to the Faroe Islands. At this point they are playing for pride and the chance to win at least one match during the qualifying campaign. Katsouranis no doubt sees himself as that missing piece.
Judging by my friends around Melbourne who are Greek but not HUFC supporters, most of them want to go to the game to show support for their national team captain, more so than see Melbourne City or Heidelberg. Heidelberg United were certainly not expected to win up until yesterday, but with this addition a lot of people are starting to wonder if this will be a mouse that roars moment in Australia’s footballing community. Ticket sales are up, and in a move that doesn’t happen often during the Australian Rules Football season, it will be televised!
And if this is something that other clubs are doing, I look forward to watching as the Sounders host a US Open Cup match against the Kitsap Pumas, and their newly acquired attacking midfielder Zinedine Zidane, because one of their goalies has been acquired by Orlando FC.
I can dream.
