Eugene Galekovic is keen to stake his claim for a permanent role in the national fold during the current camp on the Central Coast.
Eugene Galekovic knows just how limited chances are for goalkeepers to impress national coach Holger Osieck, especially if your name isn't Mark Schwarzer, and as the only keeper in the current three-week camp, the Adelaide United stopper sees this as his best chance to push for a permanent spot in the national set-up.
Long regarded by many as one of the best keepers in the Hyundai A-League, Galekovic is moving to establish himself as the second choice behind Schwarzer.
Along with Mat Ryan he was on the bench for the Socceroos last match against Oman and with European-based keepers Mitch Langerak, Adam Federici and Brad Jones all not seeing much game time for different reasons, Galekovic is in a prime position to secure a spot as the back-up keeper for the Socceroos.
“There are a lot of good goalkeepers around and with those boys performing you take your chance to show what you have and I-m in that position now, so I-ll be doing my best,” Galekovic said.
“Goalkeeper is one of the strongest points in the Socceroos, in the past there has been Bozza (Mark Bosnich), (Zeljko) Kalac and now Schwarzer and even now there are a lot of good young keepers in the likes of Langerak and Ryan, the only thing I can do is show what I can do.
“Every opportunity you have when you get picked, you try to take that, there are a lot of keepers all over the world playing or not playing, for me the place to show I have what it takes is in these camps because my season is over.”
Proving yourself to the national coach under intense scrutiny means pressure and while Galekovic is aware the coach will have a close eye on him he believes years as the last line of defence for the Reds have steeled him when it comes to handling the pressure in sink or swim situations.
“There is always pressure in these camps, you-re coming into a new environment with new players all the time so you want to show what you have got and there is always pressure when you-re representing your country, but I believe I-m ready for it.”
Galekovic also believes having an Australian-based squad for a Socceroos camp is a true sign of the times ahead and is also confident his Reds teammates will succeed, especially Adelaide-s Player of the Year Dario Vidosic.
“Dario had a great season he won our Player of the Year, and Jon McKain is here too, it-s good to have Adelaide boys involved, it makes it a bit more comfortable when you-re in camp knowing people here,” Galekovic said.
“As the A-League has gone on there have been a few more boys getting picked who are playing here, if this league keeps improving I don-t see why there wouldn-t be a better chance for more A-League boys to be picked.”
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