Eugene Galekovic facts for kids
Galekovic with Adelaide United in 2010
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Eugen Josip Galekovic | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 12 June 1981 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Melbourne, Australia | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||
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Current team
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Adelaide United (Goalkeeper coach) | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1997 | Chelsea Hajduk | |||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Bulleen Lions | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Melbourne Knights | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Eastern Pride | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | South Melbourne | 37 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Beira-Mar | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2005–2007 | Melbourne Victory | 15 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2007–2017 | Adelaide United | 238 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Melbourne City | 35 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Australia U23 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2015 | Australia | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Adelaide United (goalkeeper coach) | |||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
Eugene Josip Galekovic (born 12 June 1981) is an Australian former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeper coach and assistant coach for Adelaide United.
Galekovic played over 250 games in the A-League. Most of these games, 238, were for Adelaide United. Many people think he is one of the best A-League goalkeepers ever. He is also considered one of Adelaide United's greatest players.
Eugene Galekovic's Football Journey
Starting His Career
Eugene Galekovic began playing football when he was young. He mostly played for a club called Chelsea Hajduk in Melbourne. He also played school football for St Bede's College.
Galekovic started his professional career at 19 years old. He joined Eastern Pride in December 2000. After that, he signed with South Melbourne.
Time at South Melbourne
At first, Galekovic was the second-choice goalkeeper at South Melbourne. He played behind Dean Anastasiadis. Eugene made his first game appearance in 2002 against Melbourne Knights.
He played very well for his age. Soon, he became South Melbourne's main goalkeeper for the 2002 season. He played 37 games for the club. He also managed to keep the opposing team from scoring in 17 of those games.
His good performances led to him being chosen for the Australian Olympic football team. He played for them in Athens in 2004. He stayed with South Melbourne until the league closed in 2004.
Playing for Melbourne Victory
After his time in Portugal, Galekovic came back to Melbourne. He joined Melbourne Victory for the 2005–06 season. He played his first game for them against Sydney FC.
He played 11 games that season. The team's coach often switched goalkeepers. Galekovic was the second-choice keeper for the 2006–07 season. He got his first start that season when the main keeper was injured.
Joining Adelaide United
On 30 October, Eugene joined Melbourne Victory's rivals, Adelaide United. He joined to replace an injured goalkeeper. He played his first game for Adelaide against the Queensland Roar.
On 20 January 2008, Galekovic kept his first "clean sheet" for Adelaide. This means the other team did not score any goals. Adelaide won that game 2–0. In December 2008, he made many great saves. This helped Adelaide win 1–0 against Perth Glory. It was his fifth clean sheet of that season.
In February 2010, Galekovic won the Adelaide United Player of the Year Award. This showed how well he had played. In the 2011–12 A-League season, he became the captain of Adelaide United.
On 11 March 2016, Galekovic played his 250th game. This was a big achievement for him.
Moving to Melbourne City
On 16 June 2017, Galekovic signed a two-year deal with Melbourne City. He played 35 league games for them. He then announced he would retire from playing at the end of the 2018–19 season.
Returning to Adelaide United as a Coach
After retiring as a player, Galekovic went back to Adelaide United. In 2019, he started a new role as the club's Goalkeeping Coach. He helps train the team's goalkeepers.
Playing for Australia
Galekovic was chosen to play for the Australian national team. This happened after he played very well in the A-League. He made his first international game appearance for Australia on 28 January 2009. This was an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match.
He was part of the Australian team for the 2014 World Cup. However, he did not play in any games during that tournament. He was also part of the team that won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
Career Statistics
CS = Clean sheets
| Club | Season | League1 | Cup | International2 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | ||
| Eastern Pride | 2000–01 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | |
| South Melbourne | 2001–02 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2002–03 | 15 | 7 | – | – | – | – | 15 | 7 | |
| 2003–04 | 22 | 10 | – | – | – | – | 22 | 10 | |
| Total | 37 | 17 | – | – | – | – | 37 | 17 | |
| Beira-Mar | 2004–05 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |
| Melbourne Victory | 2005–06 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 13 | 5 |
| 2006–07 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 8 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | – | – | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 5 | 7 | 2 | – | – | 22 | 7 | |
| Adelaide United | 2007–08 | 11 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 11 | 1 |
| 2008–09 | 22 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 39 | 19 | |
| 2009–10 | 27 | 6 | – | – | 7 | 3 | 34 | 9 | |
| 2010–11 | 29 | 9 | – | – | – | – | 29 | 9 | |
| 2011–12 | 25 | 3 | – | – | 10 | 6 | 35 | 9 | |
| 2012–13 | 25 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 25 | 8 | |
| 2013–14 | 28 | 8 | – | – | – | – | 28 | 8 | |
| 2014–15 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 2 | – | – | 29 | 9 | |
| 2015–16 | 22 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 12 | |
| 2016–17 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 | |
| Total | 238 | 67 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 16 | 280 | 87 | |
| Melbourne City | 2017–18 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 2018–19 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | |
| Total | 18 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9 | |
| Career Total | 321 | 97 | 21 | 8 | 32 | 16 | 374 | 121 | |
1 – includes A-League final series statistics
2 – includes FIFA Club World Cup statistics; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season commencing after group stages (i.e. 2008 ACL in 2008–09 A-League season etc.)
Awards and Achievements
Team Awards
Melbourne Victory
- A-League Championship: 2006–07
- A-League Premiership: 2006–07
Adelaide United
- FFA Cup: 2014
- A-League Premiership: 2015–16
- A-League Championship: 2015–16
Australia National Team
- AFC Asian Cup: 2015
Individual Awards
- A-League Goalkeeper of the Year: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15
- Adelaide United Club Champion: 2008–2009, 2009–10
- Adelaide United Player's Player of the Year: 2008–2009, 2009–10, 2011–12
- A-League PFA Team of the Season: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
- A-League All Stars: 2014
- PFA A-League Team of the Decade: 2005–15
Individual Records
- Most Goalkeeper of the Year Awards: 4
See also
In Spanish: Eugene Galekovic para niños
