SOUTH Melbourne Hellas goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic says his A-League odyssey with Melbourne Heart was in equal parts “the best and worst year” of his professional career.
Roganovic is priming himself for Wednesday night’s hugely anticipated FFA Cup opener against the Palm Beach Sharks and insists the former National Soccer League powerhouse is confident it can emerge from the Gold Coast match with a spot secured in the round of 16.
For some of his teammates, Wednesday’s game will be the biggest of their career, but having played two games for Heart in the 2011-12 A-League season, Roganovic has already had a taste of the national stage.
On the back of three championship-winning seasons — two with Altona Magic in 2008 and 2009 and another with Green Gully in 2010 — Roganovic secured a three-month trial at Heart.
That experience initially came to nought, and the shot-stopper returned to Green Gully where he would win yet another title, but barely three weeks before the 2011-12 A-League season Heart came calling again.
“I was obviously signed as the No.2, but Clint Bolton got injured the week before the season,” Roganovic said.
“So I got my opportunity earlier than I expected and I was looking forward to the chance. My first game was away in Newcastle, I had friends and family fly up to watch and it was an awesome experience — I was living the dream, as they say.
“But, for me personally, everything happens for a reason and things didn’t quite work out.”
Heart lost that game 3-2 and also at home to Perth 2-1 the following week before Bolton returned from injury and Roganovic was shunted for the remainder of the season.
Roganovic said he respected coach John van’t Schip’s decision, but said his preparation for his A-League debut was far from ideal, particularly, as he said, when he could have been signed following his earlier trial.
“Having three weeks to prepare for the A-League, to be fair, is probably not enough time,” Roganovic said.
“If I had another opportunity, a good two, three-month pre-season would have been much better than a two, three-week pre-season because the difference between the A-League and the-then Victorian Premier League is massive and not many people realise that until they make that step.
“It was probably the best and the worst year of my life professionally. It was like an anticlimax where I’d trained really hard for the opportunity and wondered what it would be like and then when I got there it wasn’t what I actually thought it was going to be.
“But I’m definitely fortunate and thankful for the opportunity.”
Off the pitch, the 29-year-old owns a cafe, Kebab Joint, and a personal training business, Sweat Shop, both in Mulgrave.
Between business and football, Roganovic — whose older brother is DJ Dragan Roganovic, better known as Dirty South — has a lot on his plate, which is why recapturing that A-League dream isn’t necessarily at the forefront of his mind.
“I’m really happy at South Melbourne,” he said. “I feel physically better than I ever had in my life ... but I now just like going out there and enjoying my football.
“I haven’t said no to anything, but because work’s busy and I play for one of the best clubs, if not the best club, outside of the A-League, for me to jump ship and leave my life behind in Melbourne it would have to be a very good offer.”
Given South’s illustrious history, Wednesday night’s game is a massive occasion for the club as it reclaims a place on the national stage.
And Roganovic said the players are all too aware of the significance of the Cbus Super Stadium clash.
“It’s been a long time coming. I think the club has been craving national success so for them to be back on the national stage I think everyone is really, really excited,” he said.
“To be honest I believe we haven’t been playing to the best of our potential and we’ve still been winning games. Everyone is buzzing, it’s the business end of the season with a lot of important games coming up.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment