Kewell, Harry

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Harry Kewell (born September 22, 1978 in Smithfield, Sydney), is an Australian football player regarded by many as Australia's all-time best. He currently plays for Liverpool F.C. and was part of the Australian squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He is married to British actress Sheree Murphy, who came second in the British game show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! 2005. On the show she made some contentious remarks about Harry - indicating, for example that 'Harry loves the Backstreet Boys.'

He joined the English Premiership football club Leeds United on trial at 16 from New South Wales Academy. He made his Leeds debut as a 17-year-old on 30 March 1996 in a 1-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough. He made his Australia debut in April 1996 in 3-0 defeat by Chile. The first goal he scored for Leeds came some time later, in October 1997, in a 3-1 League Cup victory over Stoke City.

In November 1997 Kewell was selected to play for Australia in the country's upcoming World Cup qualifying match against Iran. At the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, in front of an estimated crowd of 120,000, Kewell scored his first ever goal for his country and gave Australia a 1-0 lead. But Iran eventually drew level and the game resulted in a 1-1 draw. This set up a tense return game in Melbourne.

A record crowd of 85,000 - at the Melbourne Cricket Ground - witnessed the second leg of this World Cup qualifier against Iran as well as Kewell's second goal for his country. The Socceroos eventually streched their lead to two goals. But Iran fought back and scored two vital away goals to finish the game 2-2. By default of the away goals rule, Iran qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France, while the Socceroos were left empty-handed. Nevertheless, Kewell was the star of the show.

A month after Australia's world cup qualification defeat, Kewell again featured for the Australian national team, this time at the Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia - a competition they were to reach the final of thanks in part to another Kewell goal, this time against Uruguay in the semi final. In the final the Australians faced Brazil, and despite the latter romping to a 6-0 victory, Kewell's career and prospects continued to enhance.

Playing mostly in a left midfield role and in attack, Kewell became one of Leeds's young stars in a troupe of highly promising youngsters, eventually forming a striking partnership with fellow Australian Mark Viduka. The high point of this period was when they helped Leeds to the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League in 2000-01. However, the club began to suffer financial difficulties and, by 2002-03, having sold many of their best players, Kewell and Viduka's efforts in front of goal merely prevented Leeds side from being relegated from the Premiership.

Kewell moved to Liverpool for the start of the 2003-04 season, reportedly snubbing an offer from Manchester United. The transfer was highly controversial, with claims that Liverpool paid Kewell's manager a substantial fee to ensure that he ended up at Anfield. (It is alleged that, of the £5 million that Liverpool paid for Kewell, £2 million went to his non-FIFA registered agent.) Kewell sued Gary Lineker in 2005 for defamation around such claims made by Lineker, but after the jury failed to agree a verdict, the two parties settled out of court.

His performances in the first half of his debut season for Liverpool were generally thought of as good, although many critics and pundits believe that Kewell has failed to achieve these heights ever since. As of October 2004, his inconsistent form has cost him a guaranteed first-team football.

On May 26, 2005 Kewell became only the second Australian (behind Craig Johnston) to win the UEFA Champions League, playing in Liverpool's narrow win over A.C. Milan in penalties, thus winning the coveted cup. Kewell was controversially selected by Benítez ahead of the defensive midfielder Hamann, with the aim being to attack AC Milan from the start. The gamble failed, and a limping Kewell was substituted early in the first half with a torn groin muscle, causing some sections of the Liverpool support to boo him, as Kewell had gained a reputation of not being willing to try hard for the sake of the club. Kewell's replacement, the Czech winger Vladimír Šmicer, scored Liverpool's second goal and converted the decisive penalty, in his last game for the club.

In November 2005, after recovering from the injury sustained during the final, Kewell voiced out to Liverpool FC official website www.liverpoolfc.tv, saying that he had a strong desire to repay his manager Rafael Benitez for showing confidence in him by fielding him in the Uefa Champions League Final. He also thanked his wife and friends for the support given to him during his injury period. In response to the booing fans at the Uefa Champions League Final, Kewell also stated that if the fans knew the state he was in when the injury plague struck him again on the pitch after 20 minutes in the Final, perhaps people would think otherwise about him instead of the thinking of him as being a player with no desire to play for the club. He insisted that he did not care about what others thought about him and that people can say whatever they like about him as a player.

In November 2005, Australia, aided by Kewell's efforts, qualified for the 2006 World Cup taking place in Germany. No Australian soccer team had qualified for the World Cup since 1974 when it was held in what was then known as West Germany. Kewell was instrumental in the Socceroo's home leg defeat of Uruguay, with the Uruguayans being in firm control of the match until he entered the fray.

Honours

• 1996/97 FA Youth Cup
• 2004/05 UEFA Champions League

Preceded by: Nicolas Anelka	PFA Young Player of the Year 2000	Succeeded by: Steven Gerrard
Preceded by: Christian Karembeu	Oceania Player of the Year 1999	Succeeded by: Mark Viduka
Preceded by: Mark Viduka	Oceania Player of the Year 2001	Succeeded by: Brett Emerton
Preceded by: Brett Emerton	Oceania Player of the Year 2003	Succeeded by: Tim Cahill

Trivia

In the 2002-3 and 2003-4 seasons, he was the leading scorer of left-footed goals in the Premiership

External links

• FootballDatabase provides Harry Kewell's profile and stats

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