Simon Colosimo

Simon Colosimo

Personal information
Full name	Simon Colosimo
Date of birth	8 January 1979 (1979-01-08)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Melbourne Heart
Number	4
Youth career
1996–1997	AIS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2000	Carlton SC	50	(10)
2000–2001	South Melbourne	18	(2)
2001–2002	Manchester City	6	(0)
2002	Antwerp	0	(0)
2002–2003	Perth Glory	14	(0)
2003–2004	Parramatta Power	23	(1)
2004	Pahang FA	20	(6)
2005–2008	Perth Glory	50	(2)
2007	→ Sivasspor (loan)	14	(1)
2008–2010	Sydney FC	34	(0)
2010–	Melbourne Heart	33	(1)
National team‡
1997–1999	Australia U-20	15	(5)
2000	Australia U-23	14	(0)
1998–	Australia	26	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:30, 23 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:48, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Simon Colosimo (born on 8 January 1979) is an Australian football (soccer) player who plays as a central defender for Melbourne Heart. He has represented the Australia national team on over twenty-five occasions.

Club career

Colosimo completed the Australian Institute of Sport football program in 1997 and signed with new National Soccer League club Carlton for their inaugural year. Interest had been shown from Bayern Munich and Panathinaikos to sign Colosimo, but a knee injury sustained in a horror tackle by Andrew Cole whilst on Soceroos duty kept him out of the game for most of the 1999/00 season, but made his return on 14 March 2000 to score against South Melbourne, who would eventually acquire the midfielder after the demise of the Carlton club.

After a year at Souths he sought a move to Europe and joined English side Manchester City for a season followed by a move to Belgium with Royal Antwerp. Unable to settle, he returned to Australia in 2002 to join Perth Glory in the NSL for a season, then moved to Parramatta Power until the demise of the league in 2004.

Along with a number of Australian players he made a move into Asia in the newly restructured Malaysia Super League at Pahang FA, helping them win the 2004 championship.

He was enticed back to Australia with the relaunch of the A-League returning to Perth Glory signing a three year deal. Colosimo received MVP for Perth Glory for the 2006-07 season.

Colosimo joined Turkish club Sivasspor on a four-month loan during the A-League off-season, and returned to Perth Glory for the start of the A-League 2007-08 season, and was handed the Perth Glory captaincy.

With his contract at Glory at an end, Colosimo was linked with a move to Sydney FC in 2008, receiving a hostile reception from Perth supporters who let him know he was no longer welcome and was dropped from the starting side for some final matches. Unable to reach a contract agreement, Perth released him from the club on 22 January 2008.

It was announced by Sydney FC that Colosimo had signed a two year deal, and he joined the club from the start of the 2008-09 season. Colosimo became a standout performer as a centreback, with consistent performances impressing through the new 2009-2010 season. On 31 March 2010 the defender switched clubs to Melbourne Heart, along with his teammates Clint Bolton and John Aloisi. He became the captain of the new club and scored one goal in their debut season, an important equaliser against Adelaide in the final minutes of the game, which Heart triumphed 2-1 in stoppage time.

International career

Colosimo first entered the Australian national selection framework at Under-20 level in 1997 while at the AIS. This led quickly to a national team debut in 1998 against Fiji at just 19 years of age. He remained in the national focus, selected as part of the squad at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Later that year he was called up by then Socceroo manager Raul Blanco to make an appearance in the Socceroos friendly against Manchester United on 18 July at the MCG. What started as a spirited game finished in horror for Simon, as Andy Cole lunged into a tackle with his leg raised and studs showing, felling the Australian midfielder in full-flight. Simon was stretchered off in pain by stewards, and was diagnosed with having sustained tears to his anterior cruciate and medial ligaments, needing a complete knee reconstruction. He underwent surgery soon after, which included his anterior cruciate being replaced with a piece of his hamstring tendon. A rehabilitation process began, in which Simon would not kick a ball for six months. There was talk at the time of impending legal action against Cole by Carlton's General Manager Lou Sticca, though no formal proceedings were ever entered into.

Following his recovery, he was selected for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and was part of the national team squad for the 2005 Confederations Cup. Colosimo was selected in matches leading up to the Asian Cup 2007, but was not included in the squad for the final tournament although he was named as a standby reserve.

Personal life

Colosimo is of Italian descent, and has a wife named Bianca, with whom he has two children.

He is first cousin to Australian actor Vince Colosimo.

National team statistics

Australia national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1998	4	0
1999	0	0
2000	5	0
2001	4	2
2002	0	0
2003	0	0
2004	7	0
2005	3	1
2006	0	0
2007	1	0
2008	0	0
2009	0	0
2010	2	0
Total	26	3

Honours

With Australia:

• OFC Nations Cup: 2000, 2004

With Sydney FC:

• A-League Premiership: 2009-2010
• A-League Championship: 2009-2010

With Pahang FA:

• Malaysia Super League: 2004

With Perth Glory:

• NSL Championship: 2002-2003

Personal Honours:

• Joe Marston Medal: 2002-2003 with Perth Glory
• Joe Marston Medal: 2009-2010 with Sydney FC
• Perth Glory Most Glorious Player Award: 2006-2007

External links

• Melbourne Heart profile
• Oz Football profile