Ante Covic (born 13 June 1975) 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 ...

. Covic is a member of the Australian national team at the

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 ...

in Germany and represented Australia on two occasions.

Personal life

Covic is of Croatian heritage. He is married to Vanessa Covic and has two children, Emelie and Christopher.

Club career

He formerly played for Marconi Stallions and

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

in Australia's

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 ...

PAOK Salonika P.A.O.K. FC ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, '' Panthessaloníkios Athlitikós Ómilos Konstadinoupolitón'', "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of ...

and

AO Kavala AO, aO, Ao, or ao may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Adults Only, an entertainment rating * AO Music (AOmusic), a world-music fusion group consisting of Jay Oliver, Miriam Stockley and others * Ao: The Last Hunter, a 2010 prehistoric d ...

in Greece and

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in Croatia.

Hammarby IF

After Australia in 1999, Covic made numerous appearances for various European clubs before arriving in Hammarby IF, a Swedish club based in Stockholm. There he battled

Erland Hellström Erland Folke Henry Hellström (born 16 December 1980) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Hammarby before leaving via a mutual consent agreement. Due to injuries he retired from the game in 2011. Club career ...

for the spot as first keeper. About a month into the Swedish Allsvenskan series, Covic made his debut between the posts (however, not his debut game with Hammarby as he made an appearance roughly three weeks earlier in a cup game) and after that he was more or less given in the starting eleven. Covic left Hammarby in 2006 after having played 121 games - a feat that has only been surpassed by three other goalkeepers in the club's history.

Newcastle Jets

Covic made his

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 ...

debut in a 3–2 loss to Adelaide United in December 2006 at

Hindmarsh Stadium Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...

. Čović was the starting goalkeeper for Newcastle Jets in the 2007 season, in which he won the A-League championship. On 17 March 2009, it was announced that Covic was leaving the Jets for a three-year deal with Swedish club

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

Melbourne Victory

On 4 October 2011, Covic signed a one-year deal with

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

as an injury replacement for

Tando Velaphi Tando Yuji Velaphi (born 17 April 1987) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Kochi United. Club career Early playing career Velaphi trained at the AIS in Canberra on a football scholarship. Perth SC (20 ...

, who was ruled out for 12 weeks. Čović debuted in the opening game of the A-League season against

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 ...

at the Etihad Stadium. Covic achieved instant hero status with the home fans when he saved Emerton from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute, he was named man of the match in the 0–0 draw. He was again named man of the match after the Melbourne Derby two weeks later. In the A-League fifth round match between Brisbane Roar and

in 2011, Covic, along with fellow Victory defender

Matthew Foschini Matthew Foschini (born 19 October 1990) is an Australian footballer who plays as a defender for Oakleigh Cannons. Club career Early career Foschini began his football career at Glen Waverley Junior Soccer Club. Melbourne Victory On 18 Augus ...

, were controversially sent off by referee Ben Williams for challenges against Roar defenders, reducing the Victory to playing with nine men throughout the match. On 1 May 2012, it was announced new Melbourne Victory coach

Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he moved ...

would not resign the veteran goalkeeper, opting to stay with younger goalkeepers Lawrence Thomas and

. This decision followed Covic inning the Player's Player of the Year award at the Melbourne Victory Awards Dinner.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 2 July 2012, Covic joined A-League expansion club Western Sydney Wanderers on a free transfer. The Wanderers performed above expectations and won the Premier's Plate in their maiden season, with Čović being named in the inaugural A-League All-Star team. He helped his side to win

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

, keeping 8 clean sheets in 12 matches. The Wanderers defeated Al-Hilal in the final, after which he was named as MVP of the tournament.

Perth Glory

On 8 July 2015, Covic joined

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 19 ...

Rockdale City and retirement

In June 2016, at the end of his contract, Covic decided to leave Perth Glory to return east to be closer to his family, and joined

Rockdale City Suns Rockdale Ilinden Football Club (formerly known as the Rockdale City Suns Football Club from 1992 to 2020) is an Australian Macedonian soccer club based in Sydney suburb of Rockdale. Founded in 1969, the club competes in the highest men's compe ...

in January 2017. He retired from football at the end of the 2018 NPL season in November 2018, after two seasons at the club, to take a position as goalkeeper coach for Marconi Stallions. In December, he joined

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

as short-term injury cover following an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Filip Kurto. He remained on the bench for the duration of the side's 3–1 win over

International career

He was part of the Australian squad for the 2006 World Cup

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and was Australia's third choice

behind Mark Schwarzer and

Zeljko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former soccer goalkeeper, 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& ...

for the finals in Germany. He made his debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

on 22 February 2006 in an

Asian Cup The AFC Asian Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), determining the continental champion of Asia. It is the second oldest cont ...

qualifier. On 22 March 2008 he earned his second and last cap against

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in an international friendly and was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for part of the second half after

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 ...

and Jade North left the field.

Career statistics

''CS = Clean Sheets'' ¹ – includes

final series statistics
² – includes continental tournaments and

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 ...

;

statistics are included in season ending during group stages (i.e. ACL 2014 and A-League season 2013–14 etc.)

National team statistics

''CS = Clean Sheets''

Honours

Club

; PAOK *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most im ...

: 2000–01 ; Newcastle Jets *

Championship: 2007–08 ; Western Sydney Wanderers *

Premiership:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Individual

Victory Medal: 2011–12 *

A-League Goalkeeper of the Year The A-League Men Goalkeeper of the Year is an annual soccer award presented to the best goalkeeper in the A-League Men. The award is determined by a panel of experts. The A-League was founded in 2005 to replace the semi-professional National Socc ...

* PFA A-League Team of the Season:

* A-League All Star:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Most Valuable Player:

Records

* Oldest Western Sydney Wanderers player: 39 years, 326 days * Oldest

player: 40 years, 309 days

References

External links

Western Sydney Wanderers profile

*
Ante Covic Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Covic, Ante 1975 births Australian people of Croatian descent Australia international soccer players A-League Men players Association football goalkeepers Wellington Phoenix FC players Perth Glory FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players Melbourne Victory FC players IF Elfsborg players Newcastle Jets FC players Hammarby Fotboll players PAOK FC players Kavala F.C. players Hurstville Zagreb players APIA Leichhardt FC players Marconi Stallions FC players Rockdale Ilinden FC players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Allsvenskan players National Soccer League (Australia) players Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Greece Australian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Croatia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Sweden Australian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Soccer players from Sydney Living people Croatian Football League players National Premier Leagues players Australian soccer players