Soccernet talks to Craig Moore
Craig Moore's introduction to the A-League has been anything but an easy-going return home to Australia's Sunshine State.
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The former Newcastle defender was unveiled as the Roar's marquee player.
Within the first month, the Queensland Roar's marquee player has been red-carded and suspended, faced more questions about his international future and travelled across the country to Perth to skipper a come-from-behind victory. All that while trying to adapt to life back in Brisbane with his wife and two young children after more than a dozen years in Europe.
Approaching his 32nd birthday, the former Newcastle United and Rangers defender has linked up with one-time national coach Frank Farina at the start of a two-year contract with the Roar. Danny Tiatto, the ex-Manchester City defender, also joined the club this season.
Moore's A-League career began disastrously in August when he was sent off after 68 minutes in the season-opener with Adelaide United after two rash challenges on Nathan Burns. Moore stood over the Olyroos striker in anger before throwing down his captain's armband and storming off on receipt of a red-card. The following day - despite their long-time friendship - he was summoned to appear before manager Farina.
But after serving a one-match ban, Moore has made a smoother transition with the Roar building a solid start to the season to lie third with five points after four matches. In round-4, he captained the side to an away victory against Perth Glory, expertly marshalling the defence after the Roar fell behind to an early goal to secure all three points at Members Equity Stadium.
A former national skipper, Moore has barely played for the Socceroos - and hinted at retirement - since his outstanding performance at the 2006 World Cup where Australia made the second round. But with his former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat emerging as the hot favourite to be appointed Socceroos' coach ahead of next year's World Cup qualifying, there's strong speculation that Moore might make a comeback.
In a wide-ranging interview with ESPNsoccernet, Moore hints that his door is still open for international football, speaks about the surprising technical quality of the A-League and recalls his Glasgow glory days with Rangers where he made 250 appearances in two different spells, spanning more than a decade.
Q: Craig, you're roughly a month into the season, what's your impressions so far of the A-League and how would you rate its standard compared to England and Scotland?
A. Well so far I've been impressed with the standard; the boys are just as fit and just as strong as any other league in Europe to be honest with you. The only one big difference here is the maybe the actual tempo of the game, it's not as quick as what you'd experience in Europe. Technically they're just as good, physically just as strong, fitness-wise up there, but I think when you see an English Premier League game, it's fast and it's furious and you need to think quicker.
Q: I first covered you back in 1993 when you were just starting out: part of the Australian team that surprisingly made the semi-finals of the FIFA Under-20 World Championships. Are you surprised by the strides that football in Australia has made in the 14 years since?
A. No I'm not surprised at all; obviously the major part of that progression has been in the last few years. We've always had the players that have been there and playing at some very big clubs in Europe, but the biggest factor for me, and which was always going to be the case, was for us to actually play on the world stage and that was qualification for the World Cup. It played a massive part in the recent success of Australian football.
Q: What's it like to be playing for a professional football team in Queensland? Do you feel that the Roar have made strides in Rugby League and Rugby Union-dominated territory?
A. Yeah, very much so. We're very fortunate to be in a country and especially a state where people love sport. Success for the Brisbane Lions or Brisbane Broncos or Queensland Roar, is something that is good for the state itself and I think we've definitely closed the gap. We're attracting more and more people to our game and that can only be a good thing.
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The defender's focus remains on the A-league.
A. My body's good now; I did have injuries and it was the same hamstring injury in both seasons at Newcastle. Coming back to Australia, less games is obviously a plus for me and yeah it was a big factor. I just felt I'd had 14 years in Europe and the UK and I was at a stage where I was wanting to come home. I'd done enough, I'd done everything that I wanted to do and achieve in Europe, so for me it was time to not only think of myself, but to think about my family.
Q: Have you played your last game for the Socceroos? If your long-time Rangers manager Dick Advocaat gets the Socceroos' job, will that affect how you look at your international future?
A. Firstly, whether Dick gets the job or not is not really going to change my perspective and the way I think about the national team. I'm just tackling one thing at a time and my priority at the moment is to reach peak fitness and perform at my best for Queensland Roar in the A-League. I've just moved my family from overseas, which is a big thing to do, and we're only just settling into our new surroundings.
Q: What was the biggest personal highlight from the 2006 World Cup for you? Was it scoring that penalty against Croatia in Stuttgart that helped Australia through to the second round?
A. Obviously it was nice to have scored in that game and it probably goes down as my biggest moment with the national team. To be honest though it wasn't because of the goal, it was because that was the game that put us through to the next stage, so for Australia that was the next step. The group situation we've seen beforehand, and our aim was to progress through that group and that was the game that got us through to the next stage. So that was a great night; not because I scored in the game but because of everything that it meant as a country and the celebrations with the fans after the game as well. It was just an extraordinary night.
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement at club level? Was Rangers the highlight?A. Yeah definitely my successes at Rangers, I mean I ended up winning six league medals, three Scottish Cup medals, two Coca Cola Cup medals and they're all winners. My highlight there would probably have been the season that we did the treble. I played a big part, 40 or 50 games and it was one of those seasons where I managed to stay fit and play throughout the season and we won the treble - it was a really, really good season.
Q: And was Borussia Moenchengladbach the worst experienced? Were you sacked and, if so, what did you do?
A. I wasn't sacked, no. I just decided that Germany wasn't for me. I had my family and I wanted to be somewhere where they were going to be happy and I didn't feel that Germany was going to be the place. I left in the last week of the season and that was my formal agreement with the club, so I signed off on that. I was more than happy because it just wasn't a place where I wanted to stay for another two or three seasons. I realised that and wanted to get out.
Q: At the 2006 World Cup, Lucas Neill blossomed into a top-notch central defender playing alongside you. Is that his best position in your view - and should he be the next long-term Socceroos captain? A. As far as should he be the next long-term captain, he's probably the one that's best suited for that. I think he'll be a very good captain for the national team but it's not my choice obviously and I won't be selecting who's captain and who's not captain. Lucas is very fortunate in that he's very comfortable in a central role, but he can also play right full back or left full back, so he's one of those players that can play several positions which is always good for any manager.
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Moore's A-league career began badly when he was sent off in the season opener against Adelaide United.
Q: How do you rate the young defenders coming through for the Socceroos: the likes of Michael Beauchamp and Mark Milligan?
A. I've seen enough of them to think that they're both going to have long careers with the national team. They're very young just now but they're doing all the right things and making all the right noises; Milligan came in and did extremely well, I thought, in the Asian Cup and Beauchamp is doing well too. He's come into the team and played and he'll grow and continue to develop; playing in Germany will only help h is development.
Q: Finally, what's the best thing about being home and earning your living in Australia?
A. The best thing is just I think the way of life, the lifestyle. To be getting up for training and the majority of the time the weather's good, it makes such a difference to your day. You're really enthusiastic about getting on and getting your job done which is a great feeling; I've been in the UK for 14 or 15 years where very rarely do you wake up in the morning and see the sun shining and hear the birds singing in the morning.
• Sydney-born Jason Dasey (www.jasondasey.com) is an anchor for Soccernet SportsCenter and SportsCenter on ESPN.
