Michael Zullo (born 11 September 1988) is an Australian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

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 ...

of the

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 career

After being signed by the former

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 ...

coach

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 ...

on a two-year contract, Zullo played five of the six opening games of the season, coming on as a substitute. On his first eleven debut against

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 ...

, his sixth appearance for Queensland, he scored in the opening minutes of the game and set up a first half added-time goal for fellow youngster and close friend

Robbie Kruse Robbie Thomas Kruse ( ; ; born 5 October 1988) is an Australian professional footballer who last played as a forward for Melbourne Victory and the Australia national team. He played his junior football with Albany Creek in the Pine Rivers distr ...

. He previously played in the

Brisbane Premier League Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

for the

Brisbane Strikers Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season and was one of two ...

During a match against

, Zullo limped off the field with a torn

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

which ruled him out for 6 weeks. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Zullo received offers from Dutch

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 ...

clubs

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

and

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion fr ...

but declined both offers and cited his preference to stay in the A-League for another season. On 2 April 2010, along with fellow Roar players,

Thomas Oar Thomas Michael Oar (born 10 December 1991) is a retired Australian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Oar played youth football for Burleigh Heads, Palm Beach and at the Queensland Academy ...

and

Adam Sarota Adam Tomek Sarota (born 28 December 1988) is an Australian footballer who plays as a central midfielder. Career Club Brisbane Roar Sarota was named National Youth League Player of the Year for 2008–2009. As a result of his solid performance ...

, Zullo joined Dutch side

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

on a three-year deal, in a collective transfer deal rumoured to be worth in excess of A$1.8 million. He made his debut for Utrecht in a 1–1 draw with

on 28 February 2011, coming off the bench on the 81st minute. On 29 August 2013, he signed a one-year loan deal with Australian

club

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

. On 14 July 2015, Zullo signed a one-year deal with Melbourne City. On 11 May 2016, Zullo signed a two-year deal with

. In his first season at the Sky Blues, he played an influential role as an attacking fullback, assisting three goals and forming a good partnership with left winger

Miloš Ninković Miloš Ninković ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Нинковић; born 25 December 1984) is a Serbian footballer who currently plays for A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers. Club career Čukarički At a young age Ninković joined FK Čukarički's you ...

. Zullo scored his first goal for Sydney FC in a 3–2 win over

. In January 2018, Zullo committed his future to Sydney FC for a further two seasons. On 16 May 2022, Zullo departed Sydney FC after six seasons with the club.

International career

Due to outstanding form since making his debut for Brisbane Roar, Zullo was called up for the first time for the

Australia national under-23 football team The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a member ...

before their qualifier against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, in which they won 2–0. He was also a train-on player with the national U-17 squad, the Joeys, at 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. On 28 January 2009, Zullo made his full international debut, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with Indonesia in the group stage of qualifying for the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifte ...

Personal life

Zullo has a younger brother, Julian, who appeared in Season 3 of football talent show

Football Superstar ''Football Superstar'' is an Australian reality television series that aired on FOX8. It was hosted by Lee Furlong and Brian McFadden, with Kris Smith replacing McFadden in the third season. The show aimed to find a new football (soccer) star ...

on Australian television channel Fox8. Zullo also attended Villanova College Coorparoo where he played for the 1st XI football team. Zullo attended St Anthony's Primary School in Alexandra Hills. Zullo and his wife Georgia have two children who are twins.

Career statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 17 May 2022.''

Honours

Club

Brisbane Strikers *

Premiership: 2006 * Brisbane Premier League Championship: 2006

* A-League Premiership: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20 *

A-League Championship A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professionalism in association football, professional men's association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Austral ...

: 2016-17, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual

* PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2016–17

External links

Brisbane Roar profile

FFA - Olyroo profile

First Goal against Wellington Phoenix
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

FC Utrecht profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zullo, Michael 1988 births Living people People educated at Brisbane Boys' College People educated at Villanova College (Australia) Association football fullbacks Soccer players from Brisbane Australian soccer players Brisbane Strikers FC players A-League Men players Brisbane Roar FC players FC Utrecht players Eredivisie players Australian expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Australia international soccer players Brisbane City FC players Australian people of Italian descent Adelaide United FC players Melbourne City FC players