London calling for relieved Schwarzer

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Sebastian Hassett

SOCCEROOS goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has ended months of speculation about his future after rejecting an offer to stay at Middlesbrough and signing a two-year deal with London Premier League club Fulham.

Destinations such as Juventus and Bayern Munich had been bandied about as it became clear Schwarzer was looking for a fresh opportunity after more than a decade on Teesside.

The move to Fulham virtually assures him of first-team football, something he'll need if he is to fulfil his oft-repeated ambition of being coach Pim Verbeek's No.1 goalkeeper should Australia qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

While reluctant to talk about the move before tonight's friendly against Ghana, Schwarzer, who only flew to Australia after concluding the deal on Wednesday, said it was a relief to have put pen to paper.

"It's not an ideal situation, of course, and things don't always happen that way, but I felt that once I got so far [into negotiations] I had to sort it out sooner rather than later and not let it affect our preparation for the qualifiers," Schwarzer said yesterday.

"I said a couple of weeks ago that I always wanted to be available for this game, but you can't always foresee your future."

While most of his teammates have been in camp for the better part of a week, Schwarzer said he was more than ready for the task of holding together a very youthful Australian defence.

"It was a long trip, but I've done it before, I did it with the Qatar game coming in the day before, and I feel fine," he said. "I trained [yesterday] morning at nearly 100 per cent."

By selecting four goalkeepers in his squad, Verbeek has made it clear that while Schwarzer, 35, is his first-choice custodian for now, he's more than willing to canvass new options before the next World Cup. These include Reading's Adam Federici and Turkey-based Michael Petkovic.

However, Schwarzer is unperturbed by the competition.

"I think it's great. Obviously Pim is new in the job, and there's a lot of guys who haven't been involved before, so it's a great opportunity for them to come in and show what they can do and stake a claim," he said.

Meanwhile, striker Joel Griffiths said he was preparing to give everything in the hope of impressing the coaching staff after being repeatedly overlooked. "I'm going into the game with nothing to lose, I know we're a little bit short on strikers at the minute, and with a good performance, I could be in the camps for the next month or so," he said.

"You've got to believe in your own ability. I'm pretty confident and I'm feeling pretty good, and hopefully we can have a good result for myself and the team."

After a scintillating season with the Newcastle Jets, Griffiths has been on-loan with second division Japanese club Avispa Fukuoka since March. And he has continued his good form, despite being sent off in his last match for the club.

While he confesses the club was fractured by ill-discipline and dissent levelled against coach Pierre Littbarski, he loved the Japanese culture and lifestyle - and would like to try his luck with a different club.

"A lot of players didn't agree with the gaffer. It sort of split the team in half, and it was really hard for the foreigners when you knew some players weren't giving 100 per cent," he said.

"It wasn't a happy dressing room, there was a lot of cancerous people in the sheds and it was going through the whole team, including the staff.

"But I enjoyed Japan so much, if I could go back there, I probably would. The lifestyle is very good, my wife enjoyed it, we had a ball. I'd give it another shot with another club because I just like the way they play football and I felt I adapted."

In a curtain-raiser for tonight's game, the Australian women's team will play a friendly against Canada.

---

Article Source http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/london-calling-for-relieved-schwarzer/2008/05/22/1211183002647.html