The Failed FootballerThe Failed Footballer
He may have failed as a footballer, but luckily you don't need to have made it to have an opinion. OlanTekkers knows football, and with some icons of …He was let go from an A-League team after playing in a Grand Final, literally told in the airport on the way home he no longer had a place. He then went on to play at three World Cups. His teammate Jackson Irvine says he's the most underrated Socceroo of all time, and he's now one of the most experienced leaders at Melbourne City FC. Aziz Behich has had quite the journey.
He joins OlanTekkers about the setbacks that shaped his career, making it overseas, facing some of football’s biggest names and the mentality that kept him going when things weren’t working out. He also relives his famous chance against Argentina, explains why it still haunts him, gives his honest take on the hype around young Socceroos and Australian football, and shares what he thinks the A-League needs to do to keep growing.
In this episode:
0:00 From NPL Vic with Green Gully to the A-League
1:53 The wing-back position
3:40 Breaking into professional football
4:18 Being told he wasn’t wanted at the airport
5:32 The trial that changed his career
6:17 Advice for young players on trial
8:01 Moving to Turkey
9:13 The toughest players Aziz has faced
10:25 How the fullback position has evolved
12:53 Aziz’s Socceroos journey
14:17 Struggling for game time overseas
15:05 His mentality when he’s not playing
16:31 Three World Cups with the Socceroos
17:35 The Denmark game in Qatar
18:06 That famous moment against Argentina
18:54 The importance of the Paraguay game
19:28 Pressure on the current Socceroos generation
21:17 The most underrated Socceroos
23:46 Are left backs underappreciated?
24:49 Switching off from football
26:50 How can the A-League improve?
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Olan may have failed as a footballer. So do 99.9 of players who try and make it, but how many of them can say they got a podcast out of it? Here you'll get unqualified takes from Olan, and expert commentary from football legends who actually made it. All the goals, all the drama, all the ammo for your group chat from football's biggest leagues around the world.
