The day Mark Schwarzer became a Socceroos penalty shootout hero

Mark Schwarzer began his 20-year career as an international football hero in Edmonton, when Australia took on Canada for a place in the 1994 World Cup. After going through the Oceania rounds, the Socceroos, under Eddie Thomson, were drawn to play the North American side in the play-off showdown. 

With Robert Zabica sent-off, the young Marconi Fairfield goalkeeper entered the game as a substitute, ending as Australia came away with a 2-1 defeat, a vital away goal scored in the quest to play a South American opponent, which turned out to be Argentina.

Canada, a country with certain commonalities with Australia and New Zealand, enjoyed a golden age in the sport during the 70s and 80s. They had been one of the main beneficiaries of the NASL, which was genuinely trans-national in reach, a league in which Canadian players were bred and developed. Whereas between 1950 and 1990, the USA produced only two players who looked like they could run on the same field as the galaxy of stars to come and go from the NASL, namely Rick Davis and Hugo Perez, Canada produced many more and the national team was a respectable outfit in the CONCACAF zone. With Mexico hosting the 1986 World Cup, the door was left open for the Canucks to qualify, a goal which they achieved. The NASL had been disbanded two years before, and only a handful of Canadians had European experience, but they fought well and restricted the likes of France to a 1-0 win. Though they lost all three games of the campaign, they emerged from the World Cup with some credit for their battling qualities.

Fast forward eight years, and with a few more internationals plying their trade abroad, namely Craig Forrest, Frank Yallop, Alex Bunbury and Nick Dasovic, Canada finished runners-up to Mexico in the 1994 qualifiers. This earned them the right to play Australia, who had not qualified for a World Cup in 20-years and had been compelled after 1982 to play in an ‘Oceania’ zone. In 1985, it was a Scotland side managed by Sir Alex Ferguson who overcame the Socceroos 2-0 on aggregate. Four years later, Australia were runners-up behind Israel, who went on to face Colombia.

In 1993, Australia was to embark on an adventure that this time lasted a little longer. It was an era of change for the Australian game, both domestically and internationally, no matter how incremental. The player drain from the NSL, in common with most leagues around the world, was beginning to have its impact. The former domestic competition, for all its faults, produced plenty of diamonds in the rough. Only now is the A-League able to do the same, a decade into their existence. The Socceroos team of the day contained players who were either making a name for themselves abroad, some would either go on to play or coach in the A-League (Mehmet Durakovic, Frank Farina, Ned Zelic, Paul Okon, Aurelio Vidmar, David Mitchell, Graham Arnold), while others would present the game to us on TV (Robbie Slater).

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Schwarzer did enough in Edmonton to be rewarded with a starting place in Sydney for the return leg on August 15 1993. Goals from Frank Farina and Mehmet Durakovic ensured it was 2-1 after 90 minutes, taking the tie to extra time. Then came the penalty shootout, and here Schwarzer made his name by saving denying two spot-kicks. Australia converted four penalties to ensure a tie with Argentina, in which Mark Bosnich was favoured to take up the gloves in what was another ‘heroic elimination’ for the Socceroos. The decline in the latter’s career would ensure Schwarzer would become first choice for his country.

A move to Europe followed for Schwarzer, initially at Dynamo Dresden, then on to Kaiserslautern and Bradford City. In February 1997, Schwarzer joined Middlesbrough, where he would be managed by Bryan Robson and would play alongside Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson and Craig Hignett, enjoying runs to League Cup and FA Cup finals. He stayed for the next 11 years, experiencing relegation, promotion, a League Cup win and a UEFA Cup final. During this period, he was firmly established as Australia’s No.1. Very often he was a saviour, as he would prove on November 16, 2005 in the historic penalty shootout against Uruguay, ensuring the 32-year World Cup drought was finally broken. It is perhaps this moment which he is best remembered for, not only by Australians but by all football fans. In 2008, with Middlesbrough clearly in decline, Schwarzer left to join Fulham where he enjoyed European action, culminating in another lost final.

He would only retire from the international game in 2013, after being left out of the squad for the previous two friendlies against France and Canada, but it would have been fitting for him to have played the Canucks for its symbolic significance. In the last 20-years, the paths of Canada and Australia in world football have diverged, the former has stagnated, frustrated yet hopeful  as signs from its participation in the MLS emerge. The latter has progressed to the point where not only qualification for a World Cup, but a respectable showing is expected and indeed demanded by the football public. Both countries had Holger Osieck as coach, although in Canada’s case it brought a success that was never repeated.

Schwarzer’s move to Chelsea meant that he was no longer a first choice goalkeeper, and only played four Premier League games for the Londonders before joining Leicester City in 2015, where he currently serves as back-up goalkeeper to Kasper Schmeichel.

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