Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, who is currently the manager of NK Urania Baška Voda, who play in the Croatian third division. Nicknamed "Spider" due to his tall, gangly figure, standing at 2.02 m., Kalac is the tallest player to have represented the

Australia national football team Australia national soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national soccer team ** Australia men's national under-23 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-20 soccer team ** Australia men's national under-17 soccer team ** Australia ...

. Kalac's preferred playing number (when not the conventional number 1) is 18 and has generally worn this number when playing for Australia. However, when he joined Italian club

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in 2005, the number 18 was already claimed by

Marek Jankulovski Marek Jankulovski (born 9 May 1977) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender. His most notable achievements include winning the UEFA Champions League with AC Milan and being voted the 2007 Czech Footballer of the Year. ...

, who joined at the same time, and so he chose number 16. When he transferred to Kavala, number 18 was also taken, so he settled for number 60.

Club career

Early career

Growing up in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

community, Kalac began his professional career rising through the ranks at

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

, competing in the Australian

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. At the age of sixteen, he was included in the first team alongside first-choice keeper

Tony Franken Anthony (Tony) Franken (born 11 January 1965) is a former Australian goalkeeper. Biography He represented Australia on 14 occasions between 1984–1992 and represented his country at Under-20 level at the 1983 World Youth Cup Finals in Mexic ...

, playing the first eleven games of the 1989–90 NSL season in Franken's absence, before returning to the substitute bench – a place occupied throughout the 1990–91 season as a stand-out Franken remained fit and was first choice all season. In the off-season, Franken transferred to local rivals

APIA Leichhardt APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt, New South Wales, Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed ...

, but Kalac was now competing for a place with a young

Mark Bosnich Mark John Bosnich (born 13 January 1972) is an Australian former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, and sports pundit. He played in England for Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea. He also played in ...

(a former rival at

Marconi Fairfield Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a socia ...

), who had returned from an unsuccessful spell at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Kalac would start 21 out of 26 games in the 1991–92 season, the place cemented when Bosnich transferred to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

later in the season. When APIA Leichhardt were dumped out of the NSL for financial troubles at the end of the 1991–92 season, Franken returned to Sydney United to resume keeping duties, however selections were not as clear cut as before. Appearances were shared throughout the 1992–93 season and Kalac became first choice throughout the 1993–94 season, helping Sydney United to third place in the table before being eliminated in the semi-finals. He remained as first-choice throughout the 1994–95 season, again reaching the semi-final stage of the competition.

Move to England

In 1995, Kalac followed many Australian players in a move to Europe with English Division One side

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Here he only made three first team appearances, one each in the league and

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, and his final appearance as a substitute in the 1996 Football League First Division play-off Final against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, with the score 1–1. He came on in the final minute of extra-time as Leicester manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

believed that due to Kalac's size, he would be able to save penalties during the shootout. But

Steve Claridge Stephen Edward Claridge (born 10 April 1966) is an English football pundit, coach and former professional player. He was a pundit for BBC Sport football shows including ''Football Focus'' and ''The Football League Show'', until 2014 when he beca ...

scored at the other end with the last kick of the game, 20 seconds after Kalac had come onto the pitch, and the Foxes were promoted to the Premiership without needing a shootout. With Kevin Poole remaining as first choice keeper, a transfer deal was agreed for Kalac to go to

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

, along with fellow Australian

Steve Corica Stephen Christopher Corica ( born 24 March 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Australian club Sydney FC. A technically gifted and skillful attacking midfielder during his playing ...

for £1.75m. But after making the move to Wolves he was unable to attain a UK work permit, and amid a long appeal process, the deal fell through and he returned to Sydney United. The next season in the NSL, he played every match for United helping them to the most successful season in over a decade, comfortably winning the league before being beaten in the grand final. A move to England was again on the cards in 1997 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

, who was also coaching the Australian national side at the time, sought to sign Kalac but he was again denied a work permit and the deal fell through.

Roda

In 1998, he signed with

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

Roda JC Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

who were seeking to fill the gap left by

Ruud Hesp Rudolfus 'Ruud' Hubertus Hesp (born 31 October 1965) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Bussum, North Holland, Hesp started his career in the 1985–86 season at HFC Haarlem. He was recomme ...

's departure a year earlier. Starting as the club's number one, he held this position for four years. After narrowly avoiding relegation in 1997–98, Kalac's arrival helped the side rise to fifth in 1998–99 season, earning a

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

berth. The 1999–2000 season was less successful in the league (finishing eighth) but he helped Roda lift the 2000

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

, which Kalac rates as one of his greatest career achievements. A promising 2000–01 season (finishing fourth) earned a

place the following year that would be a memorable campaign. Roda progressed as far as the fourth round, pressing

to penalties. After a number of saves throughout regular time, Kalac saved two penalties in the shootout from José Mari and

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was c ...

, but it was not enough as Milan went through 3–2.

Perugia

In July 2002, he was signed by Serie A club

A.C. Perugia Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the . Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...

, quickly cementing his place as first choice, helping them to a place in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

. The Italian side went on to win their cup final, Kalac not conceding once in the competition. The domestic

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

ended in relegation after finishing fourth last and losing a playoff against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

. Kalac stayed with Perugia in Serie B in 2004–05 and played 29 times as Perugia finished third, but were demoted to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

for financial troubles.

Milan

With Perugia relegated again, Kalac joined

in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer. It was not until February 2006 that he made his debut in a Milan shirt, when an ankle injury suffered by incumbent

Dida In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was introduc ...

forced a substitution in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. As a result, he played his first Serie A match since 2004, keeping clean sheets against

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

and

Empoli F.C. Empoli Football Club, commonly referred to as Empoli, is an Italian football club based in Empoli, Metropolitan City of Florence. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs that do not belong to a provincial ...

He also played in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

tournament until Milan were eliminated by underdog Palermo on a disappointing 3–1 aggregate. On 21 November 2006, Kalac made his second UEFA Champions League appearance for Milan as he came off the bench in the final 15 minutes of the group match against

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

. Dida tore knee ligaments and was predicted to be out for two to three months, which finally gave Kalac a chance to make more competitive appearances for Milan. Kalac's first full game in the 2006–07 season was on 25 November 2006 in Milan's 1–0 win over

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

in the Serie A. On 14 January 2007, Kalac suffered an injury against

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

and was replaced by a recovering Dida for the following match against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. These goalkeeper injury concerns prompted manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...

to sign Messina goalkeeper

Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan ...

, who became the third goalkeeper in the Milan first team with veteran Valerio Fiori being the fourth. Storari replaced Dida and Kalac in Milan's Serie A matches against

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and A.C. Siena in mid-February, when both were out with injuries. Despite this extra competition, Kalac recovered from injury in time to play for Milan in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

on 20 February. In the next Serie A match against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

five days later, Dida was nevertheless able to make his comeback after being out for nearly one month and subsequently remained in goal until suffering a shoulder injury in mid-April, which enabled Kalac to make further two Serie A appearances before Dida returned in goal for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals against

on 24 April. Kalac finished his second season at Milan having made 10 appearances in the Serie A and another 3 in the Champions League. In March 2007, Kalac signed a contract extension with Milan, keeping him at the San Siro until at least 2009. In the 2007–08 season, he made appearances in the Champions League again after Dida was suspended for simulation in a match against Celtic, helping Milan through to the knockout phase. Kalac made a number of appearances in the Serie A, after Dida suffered a combination of injuries and poor form midway through the season. Kalac notably kept a clean sheet away to

on 3 February 2008 as he snuffed out a Fiorentina attack moments before the final whistle, a save that earned praise from media and coach

. Later in the month he collected another clean sheet at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacity ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in a 0–0 draw during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen, producing several good saves in the second half and being named Man of the Match by UEFA. In the second leg of the tie, he conceded two late goals as Milan were eliminated by Arsenal after a 2–0 loss at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

. The combination of

Christian Abbiati Christian Abbiati (born 8 July 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Abbiati, who had been with AC Milan since 1998, started his career with Monza, and later played more than 300 official matches for Mil ...

's return from his loan spell at

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

and a poor performance in Milan's 5–0

Russian Railways Cup Russian Railways Cup (russian: Кубок РЖД) was an annual pre-season football tournament, held in Moscow and hosted by FC Lokomotiv Moscow. The first edition of the tournament took place in 2007. Dutch club PSV Eindhoven won the title afte ...

thrashing at the hands of

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

on 4 August 2008"Chelsea 5 Milan 0: Anelka's four-goal haul impresses Scolari"
''The Independent'', 8/4/08 spelled the end of Kalac's brief first-team run. He was consequently demoted to third-choice behind Abbiati and Dida, and did not play for Milan again until appearing in the second half of a friendly against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

on 29 January 2009, and one Serie A appearance against Juventus as an injury replacement on 10 May. He was released by Milan on 11 August, following an agreement reached with the club.

Kavala

On 1 September 2009, Kalac signed a two-year deal with Greek Super League side Kavala F.C. joining fellow goalkeeper

Charles Itandje Charles Hubert Itandje (born 2 November 1982) is a retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in France, Itandje represented the Cameroon national team. Club career Lens Born in Bobigny (a suburb of Paris) of Cameroonian ...

in moving to the club and

Fanis Katergiannakis Fanis Katergiannakis ( el, Φάνης Κατεργιαννάκης, born 16 February 1974) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Ethnikos Pylaias Katergiannakis started his career in the young team f ...

who won

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

. He made his Greek Super League debut for in the 2–2 home draw against Panathinaikos on 18 October 2009. Following the end of the 2009–10 season with Kavala, Kalac announced his retirement from club football.

International career

Kalac was an Australian international for more than fourteen years, but has spent many years as understudy to first

and later

Mark Schwarzer Mark Schwarzer (; born 6 October 1972) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented Australia at international level from 1993 to 2013, and was selected for both the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups ...

. He was selected as a member of Australia's

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

squad, making one appearance. He was part of the Australian squad for the

1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship The 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the third edition of the tournament, was held in the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Motherwell, Aberdeen, and Dundee between 10 June and 24 June 1989. Players born after 1 August 1972 could participa ...

as second-choice keeper behind Schwarzer. He was again a squad member for the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

again as a second choice, but this time behind Bosnich. His first full international appearance was against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 11 August 1992, as a stand in for

Robert Zabica Robert Zabica (born 9 April 1964 in Spearwood, Western Australia) is an Australian former goalkeeper. Zabica represented the Australian national team 28 times in 'A' international matches and also represented Western Australia. Playing career ...

. Australia lost 1–0, and he was replaced for the next match by club teammate

. In Australia's final first round match of the

between Croatia and Australia, coach

Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (; born 8 November 1946) is a Dutch former football manager and professional player. He enjoyed a long career playing as a midfielder in his native Netherlands. Retired as player in 1982, Hiddink went into management, leading both c ...

surprisingly selected Kalac over Schwarzer. With Australia needing a draw or better to advance and with the score tied at one apiece in the second half, Kalac fumbled a long range shot from

Niko Kovač Niko Kovač (; born 15 October 1971) is a Croatian professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Bundesliga club VFL Wolfsburg. Kovač was the long-standing captain of the Croatia national team until his retirem ...

and conceded what he later described as a "shit goal." Fortunately for Kalac and the Australians,

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...

scored later in the half and they advanced to the round of sixteen. After the match, Kalac spoke of his relief: "You're looking at the ground to eat you up. Obviously for me, it's very relieving to get that result." His performance sparked criticism in Australia, dubbed by the fact Kalac himself is of Croatian by root. Kalac announced his international retirement on 4 October 2006. He played his last game against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

on 7 October, along with fellow international retirees

Tony Popovic Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory. As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney Un ...

Tony Vidmar Antony Vidmar (born 4 July 1970) is an Australian soccer coach and former player, who serves as an assistant coach with the Australia national team. He was a member of the Australia national team, competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelon ...

and Stan Lazaridis, coming off as a substitute in the 90th minute for Schwarzer.

Coaching career

On 9 August 2011, it was announced he had signed a contract to be goalkeeping coach at

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

. Despite the dismissal of

Frank Farina Frank Farina OAM (born 5 September 1964) is an Australian football (soccer) coach and former player who played as a forward. His playing career spanned Australia, Belgium, France, Italy and England, and was a major player for the Australian ...

at the conclusion of the 2013–14 season, Kalac chose to remain at the club, working under new manager

Graham Arnold Graham James Arnold (born 3 August 1963) is an Australian soccer manager and former player. Arnold was appointed to work as an assistant coach of the Australian national soccer team in 2000. After head coach Frank Farina was sacked in 2005, Ar ...

. At the end of the 2014–15 season, with one year remaining on his contract, it was announced that he would be leaving Sydney FC, eventually being replaced by one of Arnold's closest coaches

John Crawley John Paul Crawley (born 21 September 1971) is a former English first-class cricketer who played at international level for England and county cricket for Hampshire and Lancashire. Crawley, one of three brothers who all played first-class crick ...

. On 22 May 2015, it was announced that Kalac would join cross-town rivals

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

, reuniting with fellow coach

, whom he worked with at

. On 1 October 2017, Kalac would leave his position as goalkeeper coach at the Wanderers to follow manager

and assistant coach Andrés Carrasco to Karabükspor in the Turkish League. He was replaced by fellow goalkeeping coach Davide Del Giovine, who worked with him as an understudy at

and during his time at the Wanderers. In July 2018, Kalac joined Melbourne City as their goalkeeping coach. For the 2020/21 season, Kalac joined

Sydney United 58 Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

as their manager, the first time he will hold a full managerial position. Kalac has so far signed Adrian Vranic, Danijel Nizic, Jacob Esposito and ex-

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisba ...

and

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

player,

Devante Clut Devante Clut is an Australian football player who plays as a midfielder for Sydney United. Career Nike The Chance In July 2012, Devante Clut was one of three chosen from the Chance Pacific Finals to compete in the world finals of Nike The Chan ...

Personal life

Kalac's wife is named Diana. They have a daughter Abby and a son Oliver, who is also a goalkeeper playing for the

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

Career statistics

Club

''Updated 1 September 2009'' ¹Include one match at Playoffs
²Include 2 matches at

2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Málaga, Fulham, and Stuttgart. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- - ...

³Include 6 matches at

2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Schalke 04, Villarreal, and Perugia. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it a ...

⁴Include two matches at Relegation Playoffs

International

Honours

Club

;Leicester City * First Division play-offs: 1996 ;Roda JC *

: 2000 ;Perugia *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

;A.C. Milan *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 2006–07 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

International

;Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

: 1996, 2000, 2004

References

External links

OzFootball profile

Interview with Zeljko Kalac – OleOle's coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2007
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalac, Zeljko 1972 births Living people Australian soccer players Soccer players from Sydney A.C. Milan players Leicester City F.C. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Roda JC Kerkrade players Sydney United 58 FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Eredivisie players Serie A players Serie B players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands National Premier Leagues players UEFA Champions League winning players Melbourne City FC non-playing staff Australian people of Croatian descent Association football goalkeepers Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players 1996 OFC Nations Cup players 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 OFC Nations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Sydney United 58 FC managers