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Mark Schwarzer
It’s been more than a decade now since Mark Schwarzer established himself as not only Australia’s premium goalkeeper, but one of the world’s best. With his quick reactions and innate composure, Mark has taken his career from humble beginnings in rural New South Wales to become a mainstay of what most sportspeople consider the greatest football league in the world, the English Premier League.
After spending his schooldays at North Richmond Primary and Colo High School, Mark made his impact on the Australian League (then the NSL) at the age of nineteen, and quickly entrenched himself as a regular by guiding his side, Marconi Fairfield, to the NSL championship. Mark’s talent was quickly recognised by overseas scouts and at the age of twenty-one he was signed by Dynamo Dresden in Germany. After temporary stops at clubs Kaiserslautern and Bradford City, Mark found his home at Middlesbrough where the wiry Australian was the longest-serving player, notching over 300 matches. These days, he’s Fulham’s shot-stopper, winning their Player of the Year Award in 08/09 – the same year he won Football Australia’s Player of the Year. He was also awarded an OAM for his services to football.
Mark’s heroics in the penalty shootout that got Australia to the 2006 World Cup will forever be remembered as a highlight in Australian sport, but they were just a small part of his ongoing Socceroo story that began with penalty saves against Canada in 1993.
Mark is just under two metres tall (6 foot 5 inches), has worn the same pair of shin pads since turning professional as a nineteen-year-old in 1992, and speaks three languages (English, German and Spanish). He lives just outside of London and is married to Paloma. They have two children, Julian and Amaya. After living in Europe since 1994, he looks forward to the day when the family will come home to Sydney’s sunny shores.
Q&A with Mark Schwarzer
Do you call it football, soccer or Vootball?
I call it football. That's what the majority of the world calls it and I think that's what it should be called in Australia as well. We are still trying to educate the Australian public on this.
Did you always play as a goalkeeper?
No, I first started playing in goal from the age of ten. My Dad was the coach and no one wanted to play in goal, so I had to do as I was told. I am however thankful today that my Dad made that decision for me.
How do you save penalties?
I try and stay on my feet as long as possible to make the penalty taker make the first move. Then just try and react after the ball is kicked.
How long have you played football overseas?
I have now been playing for almost fifteen years in Europe (editor’s note: for a total of almost 500 top level professional matches and more than seventy Socceroo games at the time of writing).
What’s your best memory of playing football?
Helping Australia qualify for the World Cup in Germany when we beet Uruguay in November 2005 on penalties in Sydney in front of 83,000 people.
Do you have any superstitions?
Some people would say that I do, as I have worn the same pair of shin pads for the last seventeen years and have had the same wash bag since 1995. I would call it… being sentimental.
How did you get involved with writing books?
After meeting Neil whilst he was writing the book Our Socceroos, we formed a friendship. A couple of years later Neil came to me with the idea to write the Megs series and asked if I wanted to be involved. I did, and as they say, the rest is history!
What’s something we don’t know?
Did you know that the two characters, Paloma and Val, are mine and Neil's respective wives? |
