Ante Covic

Ante Covic (Croatian: Ante Čović; [ˈaːntɛ ˈtʃɔːʋitɕ]; born 13 June 1975) is a former Australian football (soccer) goalkeeper.

This article is about the Australian football (soccer) player. For the Croatian football player, see Ante Čović (Croatian footballer).

Ante Covic
Ante Covic, goalkeeper for the Wanderers
Personal information
Full name Ante Covic
Date of birth (1975-06-13) 13 June 1975
Place of birth Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1995 Hurstville Zagreb
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1997 APIA Leichhardt Tigers 23 (0)
1997–1999 Marconi Stallions 46 (0)
1999–2001 PAOK 8 (0)
2000 → AO Kavala (loan) 15 (0)
2001–2002 Dinamo Zagreb 0 (0)
2002–2007 Hammarby IF 121 (0)
2007–2009 Newcastle Jets 54 (0)
2009–2011 IF Elfsborg 59 (0)
2011–2012 Melbourne Victory 24 (0)
2012–2015 Western Sydney Wanderers 78 (0)
2015–2016 Perth Glory 28 (0)
2017–2018 Rockdale City Suns 49 (0)
2018 Wellington Phoenix 0 (0)
Total 505 (0)
National team
2006–2008 Australia 2 (0)
Teams managed
2018– Marconi Stallions (goalkeeping coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Covic was a member of the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and represented Australia on two occasions.

Personal life

Covic is of Croatian heritage. He is married to Vanessa Covic and has 2 kids, Emelie and Christopher .[1]

Club career

He formerly played for Marconi Stallions and Sydney Olympic in Australia's National Soccer League, PAOK Salonika and AO Kavala in Greece and Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.

Hammarby IF

Leaving Australia in 1999 Covic made numerous appearances in various European clubs before arriving in Hammarby IF, a Swedish club based in Stockholm. There he battled Erland Hellström for the spot as first keeper, a fight where the outcome in no way was predetermined. 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 history of the club.[2]

Newcastle Jets
Ante Covic training with Newcastle in 2008.

Covic made his A-League debut in a 3–2 loss to Adelaide United in December 2006 at Hindmarsh Stadium. Čović was the starting goalkeeper for Newcastle Jets in the 2007 season 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.

Melbourne Victory

On 4 October 2011, Covic signed a one-year deal with Melbourne Victory as an injury replacement for Tando Velaphi who was ruled out for 12 weeks. Čović debuted in the opening game for the A-League season against Sydney FC at Etihad Stadium in front of 40,000 in attendance. Covic achieved instant hero status with the home fans when he thwarted 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 round 5 match between Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory in 2011, Covic, along with fellow Victory defender Matthew Foschini, were controversially sent off by referee Ben Williams for challenges against Roar defenders, reducing the Victory to playing with nine men throughout the match.[3]

On 1 May 2012, it was announced new Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou would not resign the veteran goalkeeper, opting to stay with younger goalkeepers Lawrence Thomas and Tando Velaphi. The shock decision came after Covic was awarded 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.[4] The Wanderers performed above expectations and won the Premier's Plate in their maiden season,[5] with Čović being named in the inaugural A-League All-Star team.[6] He helped his side to win 2014 AFC Champions League, with keeping 8 clean sheets in 12 matches. At the end of the final which they defeated Al-Hilal, he was named as MVP of the tournament.

Perth Glory

On 8 July 2015, Covic joined Perth Glory.[7]

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,[8] and joined Rockdale City Suns in January 2017.[9] 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.[10] In December, he joined Wellington Phoenix as short-term injury cover following an injury to first-choice goalkeeper Filip Kurto.[11] He remained on the bench for the duration of the side's 3–1 win over Sydney FC.[12]

International career

He was part of the Australian squad for the 2006 World Cup play-offs against Uruguay and was Australia's third choice goalkeeper behind Mark Schwarzer and Zeljko Kalac for the finals in Germany.

He made his debut for Australia against Bahrain on 22 February 2006 in an Asian Cup qualifier. On 22 March 2008 he earned his second and last cap against Singapore in an international friendly and was captain for part of the second half after Harry Kewell and Jade North left the field.

Career statistics
As of 15 May 2015

CS = Clean Sheets

Club Season Division League1 Cup International2 Total
Apps CS Apps CS Apps CS Apps CS
Marconi Stallions 1997–98[13] National Soccer League 251400002514
1998–99[13] 2170000217
Total 46210000 4621
PAOK 1999–2000[13][14] Alpha Ethniki 41223194
2000–01[14] 40100040
Total 813231 134
AO Kavala (loan) 1999–2000 Alpha Ethniki 15?0000150
Total 15?0000 150
Dinamo Zagreb 2001–02 Prva HNL 00000000
Total 000000 00
Hammarby IF 2002[13][14] Allsvenskan 2000020220
2003[14] 261200002612
2004[13][14] 26900413010
2005[14] 2680000268
2006[14] 2390000239
Total 121380061 12739
Newcastle Jets 2006–07[15] A-League 83000083
2007–08[13][15] 25852003010
2008–09[13][15][16] 2133121265
Total 54148321 6418
IF Elfsborg 2009[16] Allsvenskan 291020643714
2010[16] 1750042217
2011[16] 1362131188
Total 592141137 7629
Melbourne Victory 2011–12[15] A-League 2430000243
Total 2430000 243
Western Sydney Wanderers 2012–13[15] A-League 2911––––2911
2013–14[15][16] 2810––1284018
2014–15[15][16] 2131062285
Total 7824101810 9734
Career Total 4051211344221 460145

1 – includes A-League final series statistics
 2 – includes continental tournaments and FIFA Club World Cup; AFC Champions League statistics are included in season ending during group stages (i.e. ACL 2014 and A-League season 2013–14 etc.)

National team statistics
As of 23 January 2014

CS = Clean Sheets[16]

Honours
Covic playing for Newcastle Jets in front of the club's fans in 2007.

Club
PAOK
Newcastle Jets
Western Sydney Wanderers

Individual

Records

References
  1. "Former Socceroo, Ante Covic "the Croatian community has more players play for Australia than any other nationality"". Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  2. "Julkalendern lucka 12: Australien" [Christmas calendar luck 12: Australia]. Hammarby IF (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. 16 December 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  3. "Nine-Man Victory Heroically Hold Champs". FourFourTwo Australia. 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  4. "Wanderers snare Covic and Haliti". Football Federation Australia. 2 July 2012.
  5. "Wanderers Secure Premiership With 3-0 Win Over Newcastle!". Western Sydney Football. 29 March 2013.
  6. "A-League All Star team to face Manchester United full of Mariners, Wanderers". ABC. 20 June 2013.
  7. "Ante Covic heads west for more Glory". Perth Glory. 8 July 2015.
  8. Chadwick, Justin (24 June 2016). "Glory sign journeyman goalkeeper Reddy". Yahoo7. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  9. Parkinson, Andrew (17 January 2017). "Covic joins Rockdale". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  10. "Episode 182". Bill and Boz. 13 November 2018. Fox Sports.
  11. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/a-league/109145348/wellington-phoenix-sign-43yearold-goalkeeper-ante-covic-as-injury-cover
  12. https://www.sofascore.com/wellington-phoenix-sydney-fc/wucstbd
  13. "Ante Čović » Club matches". worldfootball.net.
  14. "Ante Čović Soccer Stats". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  15. "Ante Covic (Western Sydney Wanderers)". Ultimate A-League.
  16. Ante Covic at Soccerway
  17. Jackson, Jamie (20 July 2013). "Manchester United thrash A-League All Stars to give David Moyes first win". The Guardian. Sydney. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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