A wonderfully talented footballer, Terry Antonis has struggled to make an impact internationally. He is yet to make a proper mark on the Australian national team because of injury, and there is some thought he may never will.
Antonis is Sydney FC’s young footballing prodigy. Born in Bankstown, he was thrust into our households when he was only 10-years of age. He had won a football talent competition on the now axed Channel 7 show Today Tonight, and the prize was a trip to Madrid to make a training skills DVD with one of the football world’s global superstars, David Beckham.
The judge of the competition was one Frank Farina. As fate would have it, Farina would later become Antonis’ coach during a frustrating two years at Sydney FC. At the time of the youngster’s competition victory, Farina said: “his juggling is very good, he pulled out a squash ball and started juggling that and didn’t drop it once, he is very impressive.” Adidas was particularly impressed with his juggling skills and subsequently, decided to sign him as an athlete of its brand.
Those impressive skills were recognised by English Premier League club Everton, mainly through its association with then-player Tim Cahill. Regardless, Everton had offered a 14-year-old Antonis a five-year deal. However, Football Federation Australia had implemented FIFA’s rule which prevented the transfers of young players overseas and consequently, the Everton deal fell through.
With the opportunity for signing for the Merseysiders taken away from, it was not long until Antonis secured a professional deal, trialing for Sydney FC. The Sky Blues were so impressed with his abilities that they signed him on a three-year deal after just one game. By signing him at only 16-years of age, Antonis became the youngest ever arrival at Sydney FC. His official competitive debut came against Wellington Phoenix in September 2010, a game which Sydney went on to lose 2-1.
Despite developing with Sydney FC, rumours remained that a number of European clubs were keeping a close eye on the talent youngster. Upon turning 18, Antonis was still linked with Everton while Internazionale from Italy’s Serie A and Olympique de Marseille from France’s Ligue One were said to be among the interested parties keeping tabs on midfielder. As these rumours remained, so too did a commitment to Sydney FC.
Antonis had long been considered a superstar in the making and in some circles, the heir apparent to the technically gifted Harry Kewell. He provided glimpses of his immense talent and potential in five games during the 2011-12 A-League season. In an unfortunate turn of events, Antonis had fallen victim to a knee injury. Once he recovered, he was on a plane to Germany where he trialled unsuccessfully with Borussia Monchengladbach.
It was in 2013 where injuries began to take its toll on Antonis. Early in the year, he had linked up with the Australian Under 20 squad. In a friendly game Bonnyrigg White Eagles, he limped off but recovered quickly with Sydney FC. But mid-2013 is where Antonis’ injury woes peaked.
Having again linked up with the Australian Under 20 squad in preparation for the FIFA Under 20 World Cup, Antonis tore a quadriceps muscle that ruled him out of the World Cup. The injury had greater implications though, as Antonis and Sydney FC had agreed to transfer the player to Parma in Italy. With news of his injury travelling fast, among other reasons, Parma opted against signing the Sydneysider.
Luck was not with the young man. It seemed that every time Antonis was called up to any national side, he would promptly get injured and would then be ruled out.
Antonis’ latest injury was devastating to his career. He was forced to sit out the rest of 2013, having gone on to rupture a thigh tendon which complicated his rehabilitation. Medical staff did not want to put a timeline on his return, further frustrating his time on the sidelines.
Antonis spent nine long and difficult months completing a vigorous rehabilitation program. It was a tough road for the youngster, primarily because his injury affected his long-awaited departure to European shores. Antonis continued and completed his rehabilitation at Sydney FC. The club’s medical staff were unsure if he would ever return and their rehabilitation program focused on getting Antonis fit for everyday life first and football second.
Nine months later and Antonis was back. Along with himself and the club, the fans were ecstatic at his return. Everyone had their fingers crossed that he was finally over his injury struggles and it seemed he was. Antonis played most of the games in the back half of the 2013-14 A-League season, playing a part in Sydney’s run to fifth place. His return game against Perth Glory coincidentally also saw Antonis score his first goal since the devastating injury.
But in August 2014, Antonis’ injury demons returned.
Antonis had been called up to the Australian national team for friendly fixtures against Belgium and Saudi Arabia. Just days after his selection, he injured his hamstring in a pre-season fixture for Sydney FC, ruling him out of appearing for the national team.
The coach of the Australian national team, Ange Postecoglou, spoke of Antonis’ injury.
“Terry Antonis has pulled up sore with a hamstring after Wednesday night’s game and after consultation with the Sydney FC medical staff it has been decided he will not make the long flight to Europe for the matches. It is a shame for Terry because we were looking forward to getting him into the Socceroos camp and giving him an opportunity,” Postecoglou said.
Antonis went on to recover and was thankful it was not as horrendous as his previous injuries. He became a vital cog in the early part of Sydney FC’s campaign in the 2014-15 A-League season. Antonis had formed a formed a great partnership with Milos Dimitrijevic and based on their early season showings, the pair was expected to dominate the A-League that season.
Postecoglou rewarded Antonis for his performances early in the season. However, Antonis’ injury curse continued to follow him. Having been called up to Australian national team for its friendly against Japan in November 2014, Antonis was on his way to the airport to fly out to Japan. En route to the airport, Antonis was involved in a car accident and complained of head and neck pain. He was taken to the hospital but released later that night having been cleared of any major injury.
Medical staff and Postecoglou decided it was not in Anotnis’ best interests to fly out to Japan, despite being cleared of any serious injury. Sydney FC monitored his injury and deemed him fit to play on the following weekend in the blockbuster game against eternal rivals Melbourne Victory. However Football Federation Australia stepped in, saying that despite being cleared of injury, he was picked for the national squad and therefore not available to play, even though he was ruled out. It was a decision that went on to infuriate Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold.
The Bankstown-born midfielder returned to the Sydney FC squad a week later and continued to impress everyone with his good form. With the AFC Asian Cup on home soil, Postecoglou was ensuring that he had a strong squad for the tournament. Once again, he rewarded with Antonis with a spot in his final squad.
If there was ever a stage to quash the injury curse it was to be at the Asian Cup. Unfortunately for everybody and Antonis himself, he did not play a single minute during the tournament and returned to Sydney FC, seemingly picking up an injury while on national team duty.
Back at Sydney FC, Antonis’ game time had been limited due to his new injury. He was able to come off the bench in the Sydney Derby at Parramatta Stadium and went on to score the winner in a game that finished 4-3.
In March 2015, Arnold noted that it was injury and not the form of Mickael Tavares keeping Antonis out of the squad. Arnold reiterated this was the reason why Antonis had been limited to appearances off the bench.
“Antonis the last few weeks has been struggling with a knee injury. He’s had another injection yesterday.”
He has barely featured since.
And now the question needs to be asked, is there really a curse on Terry Anotnis?
The logical answer would be no, and his injuries while on national team duty seem purely coincidental. But one has to ask, given his current injury: is it worth picking him for the national side upon his return and with games under his belt?
Well, no again.
One would rather see him complete a full season where he is able to garner consistency and more match experience before bringing him back into the national team set-up.
Antonis’ current injury is a knee injury and in early April he was due for an MRI scan. He has not trained for at least three weeks and a cortisone injection a few weeks ago has done nothing to improve Antonis’ injury. Arnold is hoping to have a somewhat partially fit Antonis play a part in the A-League finals as an impact player off the bench.
With Antonis’ injury history and knees not being that easily replaceable, one wonders whether Antonis will come back at all this season, let alone next season. Of more concern is whether he will be able to ever make a proper impact with the national team.
What is of no doubt is that Antonis has an extreme amount of potential. It is imperative to get him fit first, competing second and, finally, judging what loads he can handle, for example, regular national team appearances which include long haul travels between club games.
If this can be addressed and managed successfully, then there is no doubt Australia will one day get to see Antonis at full blast. But if it cannot, then the player may never be able to see out a successful A-League career.
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