Aurelio Vidmar

Football manager infobox
playername = Aurelio Vidmar
fullname = Aurelio Vidmar


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|2|3
cityofbirth = Adelaide
countryofbirth = Australia
position = Manager (former Attacking Midfielder)
height = height|m=
currentclub = Adelaide United
clubnumber =
years = 1985-1991 1991-1992 1992-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996 1996-1998 1998-1999 1999-2003 2003-2004
clubs = Adelaide City K.V. Kortrijk K.S.V. Waregem Standard Liège Feyenoord FC Sion CD Tenerife Sanfrecce Hiroshima Adelaide City Force Adelaide United Career Total
caps(goals) = 157 0(29) 030 0(10) 057 0(25) 032 0(22) 015 00(2) 013 00(7) 025 00(1) 024 00(6) 137 0(23) 0 ? 0 (?) 490 (125)
nationalyears = 1996
1991-2001
nationalteam = flagicon|Australia Australia U-23
flagicon|Australia Australia
nationalcaps(goals) =
044 0(17)
pcupdate = 14 August 2007
ntupdate = 14 August 2007
manageryears = 2007-present
managerclubs = Adelaide United

Aurelio Vidmar (born February 3, 1967 in Adelaide) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He previously played in Europe in the mid 1990's in Belgium, where he was the league's top scorer in the 1994-95 season. He also played in Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands and in Japan. He captained the Australian national team for several years. He currently coaches A-league club Adelaide United.

Club career

He retired from playing in 2005 at Adelaide United; after two years as an assistant, he was appointed as head coach on May 2, 2007 despite allegedly actually not being the selection committee's recommended candidate.

The 2007-2008 A-League season was not very successful for Aurelio Vidmar, his side finishing 6th out of 8 teams on the ladder. Calls for his resignation were being made and his unsuccessful Asian Champions League campaign, albeit against talented opposition, only fuelled these accusations, coming 3rd in his group with only the winner progressing to the quarter finals.

The 2008-2009 season has been much more successful for Aurelio Vidmar. Securing valuable acquisitions such as Cristiano and Sasa Ognenovski has built up Adelaide's defence and improved their attacking options. After 5 games played by all teams, Adelaide are currently 3rd on the ladder on 7 points, 4 points behind the league leaders and runners up. Adelaide United's second Asian Champions league campaign has been a lot more successful too. After being put in a group with Korea's Pohang Steelers, China's Changchun Yatai FC and Vietnam's Binh Duong FC, Aurelio Vidmar guided his team to the top of the group after 6 games, 2 points above Changchun Yatai FC to qualify for the quarter finals. Aurelio Vidmar's men were then drawn against the recent Japanese champions, Kashima Antlers, in a 2 legged playoff clash. Aurelio Vidmar successfully guided Adelaide through the 2 legged playoff to defeat the Kashima Antlers, 2-1 on aggregate, a stunning achievement for Aurelio Vidmar considering Kashima's salary cap was 10 times larger than Adelaide United's.

International career

Vidmar was a member of the Socceroos team for 12 years and was a member of three unsuccessful FIFA World Cup campaigns. He played and scored against Diego Maradona's Argentina in 1993, he played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Iran in 1997 when a 2-0 lead slipped from Australia's grasp.

Family

He is of Italian origin - his father's heritage is Slovenian, hence the family name. He is the older brother of Tony Vidmar, also an Australian football player. He and his brother Tony were educated at Underdale Highschool, Adelaide.

Honours

With Australia:
* FIFA Confederations Cup: 1997 (Runners-Up)
* OFC Nations Cup: 2000With Adelaide City:
* NSL Championship: 1986Personal Honours:
* Belgian League Top Scorer: 1994-1995 with Standard Liège - 22 goals
* Oceania Footballer of the Year: 1994

External links

* [http://www.adelaideunited.com.au/default.aspx?s=aufc_coachingstaff&pid=511 Adelaide United profile]