Joseph Anthony Didulica (Croatian pronunciation: [dǐdulit͡sa]; born 14 October 1977) is a Croatian Australian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. On 11 October 2011 he ended his career after ongoing neck and head complaints.[1]
Didulica was born in Geelong, Victoria to a Croatian father, Luka, and a Croatian-Australian mother, Mary. He also has an older brother, John and sister, Trish. His father emigrated to Australia from Poličnik, a village in northern Dalmatia, about 10 kilometres outside of Zadar.
Didulica started to play football in the North Geelong Warriors. In 1996, he moved to the Melbourne Knights, a club whose team primarily consists of Australian Croats, and played for them until 1999. Then he transferred to Ajax Amsterdam, whence he was first loaned to Belgian side Germinal Beerschot for a couple of months in 2001 before eventually moving to Austria Vienna in 2003. After spending three seasons as a regular in goal for Austria Wien, Didulica returned to the Netherlands and was signed by AZ Alkmaar. He made seven Eredivisie appearances with the club before being forced to take a longer break following a brain concussion he sustained in a league match against PSV Eindhoven in October 2006 after being hit with the ball in his head from a shot by PSV's Australian international Jason Čulina.[2]
On 24 April 2006, an Austrian court sentenced Didulica to a fine of €60,000 on the count of physical injury resulting from negligence, for slamming Rapid Wien's Axel Lawaree at a Vienna derby in May 2005.[3]
In June 2007, Didulica successfully appealed the decision of the lower court to the High Court of Vienna. The original charges against Didulica were quashed and he was acquitted of everything, the Court ruling Didulica had played the ball, not acted unreasonably and did not intend to cause injury to the opponent.
On 11 October 2011, Didulica announced his retirement from football due to his persistent neck and head injuries.[4]
International career
In 2000, Didulica was selected to the Australian squad for the Sydney Olympics, but had to withdraw due to injury and never received an international cap for the Australian national team at A-level. In 2004, he decided to play for the country of his parents. According to Didulica, his decision was based on the fact that he had not been selected to represent Australia by then coach Frank Farina. Additionally, Australia had not qualified for a World Cup for around 30 years and he saw more opportunities for success with Croatia, who qualified for both World Cups they entered at the time.
Didulica made his debut for the Croatian national team in a friendly match against Macedonia on 28 April 2004 in Skopje and was subsequently selected to be part of the Croatian team at the Euro 2004 finals, where he served as the second-choice goalkeeper without making an appearance. He was a member of the Croatian team in both the qualifying and finals of the 2006 World Cup, but did not play a single minute during the competitions as Tomislav Butina played eight of ten qualifiers and was replaced in the remaining two qualifiers by Stipe Pletikosa, who also played every minute in all three games at the finals. In more than two years of being part of the Croatian national team, Didulica only made four appearances in friendly matches, against Macedonia, Korea Republic, Hong Kong and Austria.[5] Just a month after the end of the 2006 World Cup, Didulica announced his retirement from international football with an explanation that he wants to concentrate more on his club career.
^"Player Database". EU-football. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
External links
Oz Football profile
Joey Didulica at National-Football-Teams.com
January 07, 2023
joey, didulica, joseph, anthony, didulica, croatian, pronunciation, dǐdulit, born, october, 1977, croatian, australian, former, footballer, played, goalkeeper, october, 2011, ended, career, after, ongoing, neck, head, complaints, personal, informationfull, nam. Joseph Anthony Didulica Croatian pronunciation dǐdulit sa born 14 October 1977 is a Croatian Australian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper On 11 October 2011 he ended his career after ongoing neck and head complaints 1 Joey DidulicaPersonal informationFull nameJoseph Anthony DidulicaDate of birth 1977 10 14 14 October 1977 age 45 Place of birthGeelong AustraliaHeight1 91 m 6 ft 3 in Position s GoalkeeperYouth careerNorth Geelong WarriorsSenior career YearsTeamApps Gls 1995 1996North Geelong Warriors1 0 1996 1999Melbourne Knights60 0 1999 2003Ajax16 0 2001 Germinal Beerschot loan 2 0 2003 2006Austria Vienna87 0 2006 2011AZ29 0 Total195 0 International career1998 2000Australia U2310 0 2004 2006Croatia4 0 Managerial career2012 Melbourne City youth GK coach Club domestic league appearances and goals Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Honours 3 1 Club honours 4 References 5 External linksClub career EditDidulica was born in Geelong Victoria to a Croatian father Luka and a Croatian Australian mother Mary He also has an older brother John and sister Trish His father emigrated to Australia from Policnik a village in northern Dalmatia about 10 kilometres outside of Zadar Didulica started to play football in the North Geelong Warriors In 1996 he moved to the Melbourne Knights a club whose team primarily consists of Australian Croats and played for them until 1999 Then he transferred to Ajax Amsterdam whence he was first loaned to Belgian side Germinal Beerschot for a couple of months in 2001 before eventually moving to Austria Vienna in 2003 After spending three seasons as a regular in goal for Austria Wien Didulica returned to the Netherlands and was signed by AZ Alkmaar He made seven Eredivisie appearances with the club before being forced to take a longer break following a brain concussion he sustained in a league match against PSV Eindhoven in October 2006 after being hit with the ball in his head from a shot by PSV s Australian international Jason Culina 2 On 24 April 2006 an Austrian court sentenced Didulica to a fine of 60 000 on the count of physical injury resulting from negligence for slamming Rapid Wien s Axel Lawaree at a Vienna derby in May 2005 3 In June 2007 Didulica successfully appealed the decision of the lower court to the High Court of Vienna The original charges against Didulica were quashed and he was acquitted of everything the Court ruling Didulica had played the ball not acted unreasonably and did not intend to cause injury to the opponent On 11 October 2011 Didulica announced his retirement from football due to his persistent neck and head injuries 4 International career EditIn 2000 Didulica was selected to the Australian squad for the Sydney Olympics but had to withdraw due to injury and never received an international cap for the Australian national team at A level In 2004 he decided to play for the country of his parents According to Didulica his decision was based on the fact that he had not been selected to represent Australia by then coach Frank Farina Additionally Australia had not qualified for a World Cup for around 30 years and he saw more opportunities for success with Croatia who qualified for both World Cups they entered at the time Didulica made his debut for the Croatian national team in a friendly match against Macedonia on 28 April 2004 in Skopje and was subsequently selected to be part of the Croatian team at the Euro 2004 finals where he served as the second choice goalkeeper without making an appearance He was a member of the Croatian team in both the qualifying and finals of the 2006 World Cup but did not play a single minute during the competitions as Tomislav Butina played eight of ten qualifiers and was replaced in the remaining two qualifiers by Stipe Pletikosa who also played every minute in all three games at the finals In more than two years of being part of the Croatian national team Didulica only made four appearances in friendly matches against Macedonia Korea Republic Hong Kong and Austria 5 Just a month after the end of the 2006 World Cup Didulica announced his retirement from international football with an explanation that he wants to concentrate more on his club career Honours EditClub honours Edit Ajax Eredivisie 2001 02 KNVB Cup 2001 02Austria Wien Austrian Bundesliga 2005 06 Austrian Cup 2004 05 2005 06AZ Eredivisie 2008 09 Johan Cruyff Shield 2009References Edit UEFA com 11 October 2011 AZ goalkeeper Didulica retires at the age of 33 UEFA com Didulica sidelined for two to four weeks Archived from the original on 22 July 2011 Retrieved 31 December 2006 in German Details on Axel Lawaree case against Didulica AZ Player Database EU football Retrieved 9 July 2022 External links EditAZ Alkmaar profile Oz Football profile Joey Didulica at National Football Teams com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Joey Didulica amp oldid 1122445422, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
