Aurelio Vidmar

NSL Career: Adelaide City, Adelaide United 294 (52) / 1985 - 2003/04

Socceroos Career: 44 (17) A Internationals / 9 (1) B Internationals

On the topic of Australia's greatest footballers and national team players, Aurelio Vidmar is usually overlooked in the conversation. A classy footballer who moved the ball exceptionally well in midfield and was clinical up front, Vidmar was one of the first Australian footballers to stand-out in a European competition and was arguably the best performing Socceroo of the 1990s.

As was the case for younger brother Tony, Aurelio Vidmar was exposed to Aussie rules in the western suburbs of Adelaide before starting his junior football career with Woodville City. Vidmar's obvious talent saw him join Adelaide City's junior ranks and the attacking midfielder made his first team debut in the NSL at the age of 18 as City coach Edmund Kreft built a side centred around local players.

Vidmar made 10 league appearances in his debut season before becoming a regular in 1986 as Adelaide City qualified for the finals series for the first time. Vidmar scored in the Southern Conference Major Semi-Final and Grand Final before helping the side overcome a one-nil deficit in the first leg of the NSL Grand Final to win the away leg three-one and claim the club's first NSL Championship.

Developing in to a top class midfielder over the next three seasons when his younger brother Tony joined the club, Aurelio scored a header to put the 1989 NSL Cup Final beyond doubt for City against Sydney Olympic. Vidmar went through a strong run of form in front of goals in the 1989/90 season, scoring eight goals in 22 league games, including the opening goal in City's elimination semi-final loss to Sydney Olympic. Vidmar made his full international debut against Czechoslovakia the following season, his first Socceroos cap since playing in two B internationals in 1988. 

After helping City reach the preliminary final in the 1990/91 season, Belgian side Kortrijk signed Vidmar for a massive $250,000 transfer fee, following Paul Okon's record transfer ($300,000) to Club Brugge. Vidmar had a strong first season in Belgium where he scored 10 goals in 30 appearances before earning a move to Waregem as Kortrijk were relegated at the end of the 1991/92 season. Vidmar scored 18 goals in 32 league games in the 1992/93 season, helping Waregem finish fourth in the Belgian First Division and qualify for the UEFA Cup for just the third time in their history. 

The silky midfielder was influential in getting Australia within touching distance of the 1994 World Cup - setting Frank Farina up for a bicycle kick goal before finding him again with a brilliant long pass to set-up Mehmet Durakovic for the equaliser in Australia's Inter-confederation play-off win against Canada. 

Australia then faced off against Argentina for a place in the World Cup where Vidmar never looked out-of-place amongst the superior South American side and was assisted by brother Tony to score the first leg equaliser. Unfortunately, a deflected shot off Australia's Alex Tobin by Argentine striker Gabriel Batistuta sealed the Socceroos' fate.

Vidmar stayed with Waregem for another season as they got relegated and joined Belgian giants Standard Liège for the 1994/95 season. With Liège, Vidmar was the league's top scorer with 22 goals in 32 games, becoming the third Australian to top the scoring charts in a European league and helped the side finish runners-up in the league and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

The Socceroos midfielder's next stop in Europe was the Netherlands with Eredivisie giants Feyenoord, where he spent the first half of the 1995/96 season before joining Swiss side FC Sion. Vidmar scored seven goals in 12 games for Sion as the club finished runners-up in the league. 

Vidmar then became the first Australian footballer to make a league appearance in the Spanish top flight with Tenerife, becoming a regular in the side and helping them reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. Despite missing action for Tenerife during the 1997/98 season, Vidmar played an important role in Australia's qualifying campaign for the 1998 World Cup. 

After failing to convert a number of chances in the second leg of the Inter-confederation play-off against Iran, Vidmar produced a bit of magic to set up young forward Harry Kewell for the opening goal before scoring the second himself as Australia unfortunately conceded two late goals and missed out on a place in the World Cup for the sixth consecutive time.

Vidmar moved to J.League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima for the 1998 season where he joined former Socceroos coach Eddie Thomson and fellow Australians Graham Arnold, Tony Popovic and Hayden Foxe. Following a season and a half in Japan, Vidmar returned home where his experience helped Adelaide City finish fourth and qualify for the finals series. The experienced midfielder remained with the club until their final NSL season where they narrowly missed out on a spot in the grand final before pulling out of the league due to a lack of funding. 

Prior to the 2003/04 NSL season (the last season of the competition), Adelaide United was formed and Vidmar became the club's inaugural captain. Playing in front of crowds that made Adelaide City look like a state league team, the United squad quickly bonded and finished third in the league before reaching the preliminary final, losing five-nil to eventual champions Perth. 

Vidmar hung up his boots at the age of 37 and became John Kosmina's assistant at United for their inaugural A-League season. Vidmar succeeded Kosmina following Melbourne Victory's demolition of the club in the 2006/07 A-League Grand Final and held the reigns for three seasons. With Vidmar in charge, United became the first Australian club to progress to the knock-out stages of the AFC Champions League in 2008 and went on to reach the final, losing five-nil on aggregate to Japan's Gamba Osaka.

With Japan hosting the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup, United gained entry to the tournament and finished in fifth place after striker Cristiano scored arguably the goal of the tournament. Following the tournament, United progressed to the 2008/09 A-League Grand Final, losing one-nil to rivals Victory.

Following his time at United, Vidmar spent six years with the national team: coaching the Olyroos, Young Socceroos and served as an assistant to Holger Osieck and Ange Postecoglou in the Socceroos. Since ending his engagement with the national team, Vidmar has had a successful coaching career in Thailand and Singapore. Vidmar was selected as left-forward in FFA's Socceroos Team of the 1990s.