Another big weekend of action for Australians plying their trade overseas saw Socceroos captain Lucas Neill debut for his new club in United Arab Emirates, while Adam Federici continued his stint on the bench at Reading in the Barclays Premier League.
Another big weekend of action for Australians plying their trade overseas saw Socceroos captain Lucas Neill debut for his new club in United Arab Emirates, while Adam Federici continued his stint on the bench at Reading in the Barclays Premier League.
Neill played a full game for Al Wasl in the UAE Pro League, and had a happy debut as they beat Al Wahda 4-1.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, defender Matt Spiranovic scored for Al Arabi in Qatar as they earned a draw with Al Khor, while fellow Socceroo Mark Bresciano played the full 90 minutes for Al Gharafa.
In the Barclays Premier League, Adam Federici spent another game on the bench for Reading - unsurprising given his girlfriend-s mid-week outburst against coach Brian McDermott.
Federici-s replacement, Alex McCarthy, put in a reasonably strong showing although he would have been disappointed with letting in Romelu Lukaku-s shot late in the game.
McDermott briefly discussed the goalkeeping situation after the game.
"He-s (McCarthy) in the team on merit. He-s a good goalkeeper. We-re still trying to look after Adam-s situation, we-ll see where that is next," McDermott said.
Fellow Aussie gloveman Mark Schwarzer was typically reliable for Fulham as they continued their strong start to the season with a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic.
It wasn-t a great day for Brett Holman, as his side Aston Villa were hammered 4-1 by EPL new boys Southampton, although the Socceroos star did play the full 90 minutes.
In the nPower Championship, Neil Kilkenny made his first appearance of the season in Bristol-s 2-2 draw with Watford, while there were full games for young gun Massimo Luongo at Ipswich Town, Shane Lowry for Milwall and Mile Jedinak for Crystal Palace.
Several Aussies shone in the Dutch Eredivisie over the weekend, with winger Tommy Oar having a bright game for FC Utrecht, including setting up the winner in the first half, while fellow Aussie Adam Sarota also played a full game for the club.
In Germany-s Bundesliga, Robbie Kruse played a full game and nearly set up the winner for Fortuna Dusseldorf, while fellow flyer Nikita Rukavytsya made his debut for new club FSV Mainz as they beat Augsburg 2-0.
James Troisi made his mark on Italy-s Serie A, coming off the bench for Atalanta in their loss to Palermo and picking up a yellow card in the process.
High-profile Socceroos star Tim Cahill nearly scored from a trademark header as New York Red Bulls drew 1-1 with New England in the MLS.
In Japan, Alex Brosque was on target for his club Shimizu S-Pulse, and while they ended up going down 3-2 to Cerezo Osaka, Brosque would have been pleased to take his tally for the season up to six goals.
Josh Kennedy and Jade North played full games for their J-League clubs Nagoya Grampus and Consadole Sapporo respectively.
In China, many thought Joel Griffiths wouldn-t see much game time after the arrival of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenua, but the Aussie striker played a full 90 minutes alongside the former Chelsea stars on the weekend and impressed with his smart interplay.