Author: SMFC Administration

One opening. Regardless of how he is playing, that is all South Melbourne striker Milos Lujic needs to alter the result of a game.

“I’m a different kind of player,” Lujic tells smfc.com.au. “Whereas a winger’s game can be judged on crosses and dribbles, I get marked on my goals.”

“I’m always going to be in the box and trying to score because that’s my game. I’m the type of player where even if I don’t get a touch the whole match I can just pop up and score a goal.”

Lujic’s goal scoring nous was no more evident than in South Melbourne’s NPL Victoria round four clash against Bulleen Lions at the Veneto Club on March 14, 2016.

Two-nil down and being outplayed by the Lions, South dug its heels in and reduced the deficit through a Mathew Theodore strike in the 84^th minute. South Melbourne continued to press but scoring an equaliser so late in the game looked increasingly unlikely.

Enter Milos Lujic.

Having been well held for the majority of the match, Lujic drifted into a dangerous area and was found by a sumptuous cross from the left wing by Nick Epifano. Lujic rose above both a desperate Lions’ centre-back, and goalkeeper Griffin McMaster, to nod home the equaliser and send the strong away contingent into delirium.

Self-belief is a major barometer for Lujic. It is the faith that he has in his goal scoring ability that has helped him to win the last three league golden boot awards.

“I’m confident of scoring goals in every game I go into and if I wasn’t then I wouldn’t be the striker I am today,” Lujic says.

Lujic endured an interrupted start to South Melbourne’s campaign as he missed the latter part of the preseason due to family commitments. In spite of this, his goal against Bulleen was the 26-year-old’s third in four matches.

“To be honest I had a really good preseason but then I had my wedding and the honeymoon and that set me back a little bit,” Lujic says.

“With me it’s just about getting fit. There’s no real in or out of form; if I’m fit I score goals.”

Life away from football also assists in keeping Lujic grounded. As a grade three teacher he is helping to mould the next generation of youth.

“I coached the kids first and then decided to get into teaching as well,” Lujic says.

“I love working with kids and always wanted to be a P.E. teacher and it sort of went into classroom work as well after I finished my degree.”

Lujic’s nurturing character is also evident at South Melbourne as he is prone to taking younger players under his wing.

“I started playing seniors at 16 so I try to give a bit of advice to boys in a similar situation like Andy Kecojevic,” Lujic says. “I tell them not to stress out too much and just work hard.”

“It’s important that they don’t get too down on themselves, because I remember when I was a kid and things didn’t go my way, I’d be a bit harsh on myself. Putting pressure on yourself is not the right thing to do.”

“The most important thing I’m encouraging the boys to do it just enjoy the experience. I know I’m really starting to enjoy my football especially now in the later years of my career.”

For any young player, the chance to move to England and chase a professional footballing career would be a dream come true.

One need only look at the new English Premier League television rights deal to see the extent to which English Football has become a powerhouse.

So, when defender Luke Adams was called to try out for Derby County in England’s second tier, he jumped at the chance to prove himself.

However, the Kiwi Youth International’s ambitions of one day playing in the English top flight quickly turned sour.

“It was only two days into my first trial over there and I did my ACL,” Adams tells smfc.com.au.

Any 18-year-old who succumbs to an injury of this severity during the biggest opportunity of their life has the potential to break down mentally. Adams, however, was only made stronger by this setback.

“To have gone through something like that at such a young age was massive for my mental toughness,” he says.

“You’ve got boys like KK (Kristian Konstantinidis), Eagar, Schroen and others at South Melbourne who have done it recently so it’s one of those things that you learn how to handle and get over it and you’re better for it in the long run.”

Despite the injury, Derby offered to keep Adams. At a crossroads, Adams was faced with the choice of leaving and completing his rehabilitation on his own, or staying and recovering overseas.

Ultimately, he decided to sign with the English side.

“It was a big decision for me to stay but I’m glad I did because there’s no way I’d be back to where I am now if I had have left,” Adams says.

“You know how it is you when you are young. I probably would have come back to my mates and not been as diligent with my recovery as I was over there.”

After a stint in the A-League at Wellington Phoenix – in which he made three senior appearances – and a brief period at Waitakere United, Adams joined South Melbourne for the 2015 NPL Victoria season.

Today, as a stalwart in South Melbourne’s central defence, Adams has rediscovered his top form.

In 2015 he played a total of 21 games and contributed to a defence which conceded only 22 goals in 26 games and ultimately won the premiership on goal difference.

Pivotal to South Melbourne’s success last year was the solid centre-half partnership that Adams had formed with Captain and fellow countryman Michael Eagar. The defensive duo form South’s ‘Kiwi Konnection’.

“It’s funny I didn’t really know Eagar before I came to South Melbourne. I knew of him and had had a few chats with him but had never played with him,” Adams says.

“It’s been awesome partnering him down back. We’re always communicating and we’re actually pretty similar defenders so it makes things so much easier.”

Interestingly, Adams has not been a defender for his entire career. For his first ever club, Fencibles United, he played as a striker but was moved into defence at the age of 12. In a way, this has helped him with his defensive responsibilities.

“Having played up front it helps a lot with defending for sure. You know the runs strikers make because you used to make those runs yourself,” he says.

“It also helps with your ball control at a young age. As a striker you get a better understanding and more time on the ball as opposed to being an out-and-out centre back.”

At only 21-years-old, Adams strongly believes that there is still growth to be made in his game. He maintains high hopes of redeeming the misfortune that struck him down during his previous attempt at playing professionally.

“It’s all about consistency for me at the moment. I think it comes with team consistency because if the team is playing well then it sort of means I’m also playing well,” Adams says.

“I’m looking to go pro again if I can, so I’m hoping to really develop and push on this year and who knows what opportunities could be ahead.”

With aspirations of one day returning to professional football put to one side, Adams has his sights firmly set on a stellar 2016 season with South Melbourne. And, if statistics are anything to go by, he is off to a great start.

After three rounds of the 2016 NPL Victoria season, Adams has already contributed to a defensive unit which is yet to concede a goal and sits undefeated on top of the table. Adams also managed to open his goal scoring account with a strike against Port Melbourne in South’s 2-0 round three victory at SS Anderson Reserve.

After completing a stellar 2015 season, South Melbourne FC right back Tim Mala believes there is still room for improvement in 2016.

Mala was strong in his defensive duties in 2015, contributing to a defensive unit that conceded less than a goal a game in last season’s NPL Victoria competition. Considering that South held off the Bentleigh Greens to be crowned back-to-back Premiers thanks to a superior goal difference, these efforts are exponentially heightened.

Mala’s performances were rewarded with a place in both The Corner Flag’s 2015 Media, and Fan Voted teams of the season. Despite these achievements, niggling injuries and a change to his usual off-field routine didn’t allow Mala to have as good a season as he had hoped.

“2014 was a really good year for me on-field but last year I had a couple of injuries that kept popping up. They were little injuries that didn’t keep me off the field, however they impacted me on the field” Mala tells smfc.com.au.

“I didn’t realise just how much they affected me because I might have been a bit naïve, so I was more doing a job than I was playing my game. Plus I had just opened up a business with my family so my whole body and routine was a bit off.”

It is moving forward as part of South’s attacking unit that Mala is looking to exploit more throughout the 2016 season. “I stopped who I needed to stop; maybe there was a couple of occasions where my opponent got the better of me. So on the whole, I did my job but it was more my going forward and linking up with those boys (the forwards) that was limited last season.”

The overlapping runs and crosses into the box that Mala’s body did not allow him to produce in 2015 are a particular area noted for improvement this season.

Having had one of his best pre-seasons yet, he is well on track to kick-start the 2016 campaign in a far more attacking manner. “This year my pre-season has been great. My tackles are much harder again and I’m getting in the face of the wingers and our opponents so I’m not holding back or being tentative at all.

“My aim is to just get back to the level of fitness I had in 2014 and just work with the team and try to win every bit of silverware available.”

Whilst remaining resolute in his team duties and responsibilities on-field, Mala is prone to having a laugh whenever possible away from football. He is the innovator of SMFC TV’s popular segment ‘Minute with Mala’, which is set to return in 2016 from a year-long hiatus. “I generally try and chill out and take the funny side of things,” he says.

Worringly for his teammates, Mala has a warning for them to be on constant lookout throughout 2016. “You can call me a little bit of a prankster. I think during every interview that’s occurred in pre-season, I’ve thrown stuff at people. Whoever is in the room – it doesn’t matter who it is – if you’re there and I see an opportunity, I’ll probably take it and deal with the outcome later!”

Surprisingly, the laid-back Mala plays some of his best football in the face of off-field adversity. “It’s funny how it works but I find that when I’m stressed outside of football, I can come here relaxed, ready to play and not have to worry about anything else that’s going on… so I guess coming and playing football for 90 minutes is the therapeutic release that you need.”

In late 2015, star South Melbourne midfielder Iqbal Jawadi, along with a group of former teammates, visited an orphanage in Fiji.

Jawadi originally went over to participate in a mini soccer tournament to simply raise money for the children. However, once he and his friends saw the conditions in which the youth were living, they knew that donating their time would be just as important as raising money.

“We visited Muslim kids in an orphanage in Fiji and for a day we experienced what they go through in each day of their lives. We sat with them and ate the food that they eat and even saw their rooms and the conditions they sleep in,” Jawadi tells smfc.com.au.

“We played soccer with them; held little clinics and tournaments and they loved it. It was a sort of lifetime opportunity for them, but for us it was the least we could do.”

The conditions made it difficult to set up the clinics, but Jawadi and his friends made the best of the situation so that the kids could get the most out of the experience.

“They had one park between around 100 kids and there was about 20 of us over there so we each took some drills,” he says. “It wasn’t really structured, we just tried to make things as fun as possible.”

“At the end we were taking photos with the kids and the big smiles they had on their faces was just so heart-warming. It was really touching to see how much they love soccer.”

The tournament itself was a raging success, allowing the group to raise over $3000, which is enough for a year’s worth of food and supplies.

The generosity did not stop there as Jawadi attempted to do everything in his power to improve the living conditions of these young children.

“I went over with a whole luggage of clothes and came back with nothing because I gave all my clothes and everything else away,” Jawadi says.

Unsurprisingly, Jawadi describes the experience as somewhat of an eye-opener. But, he himself is no stranger to adversity.

Jawadi was born in Afghanistan on February 9, 1994, a time when the country was being ravaged by war. When he was only four months old, his mother felt the safest thing for their family was to flee.

Iqbal, his mother, and his four siblings, spent the next seven years of their life in India before moving to Australia in search of a better life. Today, as a stalwart in South Melbourne’s midfield, Jawadi has been able to make the most of the opportunity afforded to him.

Still, due to the struggles Jawadi has had to overcome, an ability to keep life in perspective is something that he has always had. This quality was only enhanced by what he witnessed in Fiji.

“Looking at the kids reminded me of the first time I started playing soccer. I had next to nothing,” he says.

“Even today I wouldn’t say I’m as fortunate as others, but when you take a second to stop and look at those kids you realise that you are very fortunate to be in the position you are in because I am really well off when you compare my current situation to theirs.”

Having dealt with hardship in the early stages of his life, there is no better person than Iqi Jawadi to have shown the children in Fiji that life can turn around, and dreams can come true.

Since arriving at South Melbourne Football Club in November 2015, attacking midfielder Marcus Schroen has taken little time to settle in.

This can be put down to the fact that Schroen called SMFC home for a brief time as a junior.

“The first year I played here was in the under-18s and that was under George Stamatelos. We had a really good year and ended up winning the league. Then the next year I played under Joe Montemurro and that was another great year because we won the league with about five games to go.”

“I was also involved with the seniors a fair bit as well,” Schroen tells smfc.com.au. “It was a really good experience for me to be part of the seniors at such a young age and to come off the bench twice was great for my development.”

While Schroen was not a complete stranger to his current surroundings, he received quite a shock at the newly furnished facilities that are now present at Lakeside Stadium.

This is due to the fact that he departed South Melbourne in 2011, the exact year that construction of the then Lakeside Oval began.

“The first thing I noticed since returning was the facilities,” Schroen says.

“The facilities that you see here are second to none in the State and just being here is amazing. Not only that, the professional setup and environment of the whole club is really positive and the culture around the club is really good.”

The reasoning behind Schroen’s decision to part with South Melbourne in 2011 was the chance to join Dutch side FC Den Bosch. This was an opportunity that the young player could not pass up.

Schroen spent two years in the Dutch club’s youth system, an experience which he found beneficial in the growth of his game.

“The technical and tactical side of the football in Holland is on another level,” Schroen says.

“I played against some great players and some great clubs, and just to be in that environment when you’re living and breathing football day in, day out, and training in a professional environment it was really great for my development and took me to a whole new level.”

After a stint with the then Melbourne Heart Youth Team in 2013, Schroen signed for the Dandenong Thunder ahead of the 2014 NPL season. He made 11 senior appearances and scored two goals.

His breakout season, however, came last year with Hume City.

In the 2015 PS4 NPL Season Schroen made 24 appearances for Hume City, netting an impressive six times.

Still, his most notable performances came in the FFA Cup where a remarkable run of three goals in three games led to Hume City exceeding all expectations by making the semi-finals of the competition.

Marcus Schroen was consequently named in the 2015 FFA Cup All Star Team and is now hoping to repeat his heroics for South Melbourne in order to build upon the club’s prestige.

“Whether it’s scoring goals, or putting the ball on Millsy’s (Milos Lujic) head, or even helping out defensively, I’m just happy to contribute to the team,” Schroen says.

“The club’s got a rich history and we want to build on that going into the future. I feel like it is my home and i love being here”

After such a big season with Hume City last year, Schroen was eased into the current preseason. Nevertheless, he is now looking to hit his strides as the commencement of South Melbourne’s 2016 campaign approaches.

“Ever since coming back from the New Year we’ve been going really hard and getting the fitness levels up to game standard so it’s going really well,” he says.

At only 22 years of age, Schroen’s feet remain firmly on the ground as he understands there is still plenty of growth in his game.

“You hear the players at the top of the game even when they get to that latter stages of their career they’re still developing and learning every day,” Schroen says.

“Coming here and being a part of what I’d say is probably the best club in the state will only help me to develop further.”

Having worked his way up through its youth system, South Melbourne striker Leigh Minopoulos is now poised to begin his fourth season as part of the club’s senior team.

Minopoulos is now a key cog in South’s attacking unit due to his vision, explosive pace and lethal finishing. However, back in 2011 when he was first looking to break into the starting XI, he found first-team opportunities very difficult to come by. “I was still quite young at the time and South had a good squad,” Minopoulos tells smfc.com.au. “I was probably just a fringe player back then but I managed to become a senior player down at Werribee City.”

Minopoulos had a two-year stint away from SMFC as he searched for regular first team football. He joined Werribee in 2012 ahead of the State League 1 season, immediately finding himself as part of the Bees’ starting line-up. His experience as part of Werribee’s senior team played an important role in his on-field growth. “Once you’re playing every week and you’re one of the senior guys, you develop a lot quicker and you develop alot of confidence and strength. That definitely pushed me forward and helped me to become a better player.”

In his two seasons at Werribee, Minopoulos scored an impressive 31 goals and was awarded the club’s Best and Fairest award in 2013. His consistent goal scoring also played a key part in Werribee’s promotion to the NPL Victoria for the 2014 season. Whilst at Werribee, Minopoulos was elevated to the leadership group and believes that this also assisted with his development. “It was important because at one stage our captain missed a few games due to injury. As vice-captain, I actually ended up stepping in (as captain) for a few league games. You tend to look at things from a team point of view and stop worrying about yourself so much.”

When presented with the opportunity to move back to South Melbourne at the beginning of 2014, it was a relatively straightforward decision for Minopoulos to make. “South Melbourne is the best club in Victoria, and apart from one or two A-League teams, possibly Australia. We have as good facilities as anyone else so it was a no-brainer really. If you want to play soccer you want to play for this club,” he says.

Since re-joining SMFC, Minopoulos has played a total of 48 league matches and scored eight goals. His total statistics during both of his stints at the club show 52 league appearances for eight goals, with 64 appearances and 13 goals across all competitions. Along with his 13 goals, the 26 year old has spent the last two seasons assisting star striker Milos Lujic in winning the last two Golden Boot awards. “We usually play with one up front so I tend to float in one of the three roles behind the striker. Obviously we’re looking to help Milos continue his goal scoring form because when he plays well we generally win.”

Pre-season standards have been as high as ever and it is the club’s 2016 signings that are helping to keep everyone on their toes. “In my four years here, every pre-season has been to a high level the whole way through but this one is probably as good as I’ve seen it. We’ve got a few new faces that will add to the depth and overall class of the squad, which is really helping to push everyone along.” New arrivals for the 2016 season so far include Jason Hicks, Matthew Foschini, Luke Eyles, Zaim Zeneli and Marcus Schroen.

Performing to a high standard week-in week-out is a clear focus for Minopoulos heading into the 2016 season. “Personally I want to have the best season I’ve had so far. I’m aiming for some consistency; in past seasons I’ve had some good patches and some poor patches so I’m just wanting this season to be my best and most consistent so far.”

Personal aims have been set high by Minopoulos but he is also hungry for team consistency, with his club looking to achieve the ultimate success in 2016. “I think a club like South Melbourne should always aim to win the league; anything less is a failure.”