Profile: Eugene Galekovic

Ah, the plight of the back-up goalkeeper. Forced endlessly to watch from the bench, called in only when the first choice keeper is injured or red-carded. And unfortunately for Eugene Galekovic, the Melbourne Victory’s 2nd goalkeeper, first choice Michael Theoklitos has been in excellent form and perfect condition this year.

It all started very promising for Galekovic, who was Australia’s first-choice keeper at the Athens Olympics in 2004. After a disappointing stint at Portuguese club Beira Ma, where he rarely appeared as part of the first team, Galekovic returned home for the A-League’s inaugural season. He made his début for the Melbourne Victory in their first match. Throughout the season, Ernie Merrick rotated between Galekovic and Theoklitos, with neither keeper ever gaining the upper-hand.

By the time August 2006 came along, something had obviously turned in favour of Theoklitos, who played the first 12 matches straight and kept a clean sheet in 6 of those. Galekovic only saw his way into the team when Theo picked up an injury. After making 11 appearances in season 1, he made only 4 appearances in season 2. He is yet to play a game in season 3.

Galekovic is a classic example of why a reserve league running alongside the A-League could be vital for the development of players. As I argued when I wrote about Evan Berger, simply training players off the field isn’t going to develop them into better players. Players need competitive game time.

Read more about Eugene Galekovic:

• Eugene Galekovic on Wikipedia
• Galekovic profile on Melbourne Victory website