OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
And Skoko becomes an Olympian
IF not for a broken foot to then Socceroos captain Paul Okon, Josip Skoko may never have become an Australian Olympian.
The former North Geelong gun, who had only recently moved to Belgium to play for first division outfit Genk, received a call from team management soon after Okon injured himself in a Premier League clash for Middlesbrough.
Okon was set to be one of the three players outside the mandated age limit of 23, alongside Stan Lazaridis and striker Mark Viduka.
But fate had other plans for both he and Skoko, who says his experience at the Sydney Games could best be described as a whirlwind.
“I was 24 at the time so I was just outside the age but I wasn’t the first choice for the Olympics,” Skoko recalled.
“Mark Viduka, Stan Lazaridis and Paul Okon were selected to play but then Paul broke his foot two weeks before the Olympics and so I got a call about two weeks before the first game.
“It was last, last minute and I had just moved to Belgium so it was a tough time but I wasn’t going to give up an opportunity to play in the Olympics.
“I hardly had any preparation time but I basically flew over and went into camp and then I was with the team for about a week, so it was a bit of a whirlwind.”
In the days following Skoko’s arrival back home, he was preparing to take on one of the competition favourites, Italy, at the MCG.
That match was scheduled before the Games had officially begun, two days prior to the now famous opening ceremony, but the Olyroos players managed to make it to Sydney in time for the occasion.
However, with another game the following day, their experience and recollections of the night are somewhat different to the rest of the Australian Olympic contingent.
“We didn’t get to walk at the opening ceremony because we played on the Wednesday night, then flew up on the day of the opening ceremony (the Friday) and we were in the stands but we had a game the next day,” Skoko said.
“So our coaches said it would be better to make an appearance and then get ready for the game the next day. We were all a bit disappointed because we wanted to march and be with the whole team.
“We still took in the atmosphere and probably had a better view of some things. It was pretty electric. We were right up the end where they lit the flame so it was good in that sense, and an exciting event, but I remember the night was cut short for us. It would have been nice to march with everyone, but it wasn’t to be.”
Skoko has fond memories of his time with the Olyroos in Sydney but says he would have liked to experience the Games in their totality.
“It was very quick and I didn’t have a lot of contact with the team leading into the event, and we didn’t really get to do a lot of things together with the whole Australian Olympic team,” he said.
“Even at the Olympic village we were a little bit away from the Australian team so we were a bit on our own and it would have been nice to be part of the whole experience properly.
“We weren’t at the village the night before the opening ceremony, we were in Melbourne, and then by the time day one came — which we lost — we were basically out of the competition.
“The time spent at the village was still amazing but it would have been nice to be part of it a bit longer and experience it a bit more because the week went by in a flash.
“I may have seen one event but for me the highlight was being part of that village and seeing all the different athletes who we’d looked up to in all different sports.
“Being Croatian, myself and
Mark Viduka knew a lot of the Croatian athletes, like Goran Ivanisevic, so that was really amazing even if it was shortlived, but at least we got a feeling for it.”
On the pitch, the Olyroos were never able to get going after a brave loss to Italy on the opening night of the competition. A one-nil loss thanks to an 81st-minute goal to Andrea Pirlo denied them a point in front of 93,252 people at the MCG, and their subsequent performances (a 3-2 loss to Nigeria and a 2-1 loss to Honduras) left them winless from three games.
Skoko would go on to captain his Belgian side to a national title, help the Socceroos reach a breakthrough World Cup, and now works closely with North Geelong Warriors in his role as football director.
And, while the results did not go the Aussies’ way at the Olympics, he says it remains one of his career highlights.
“I had been with the national team for a few years and we had played in front of some massive crowds,” he said.
“I didn’t play Iran in the World Cup qualifier in ’97 but there were 130,000 people there so I was used to big crowds.
“But crowds are one thing, having a big crowd at the MCG is another thing, especially when you’re playing in the Olympics against a starstudded Italian team.
“So it was a huge event and the biggest night in a lot of our careers at that point, for sure.
“It was a big occasion and to be fair it was quite a good game, and we played quite a decent game and we were probably unlucky to go down.
“Had we got a draw I think we would have been in a better position to go to the next round but they got a goal late so we didn’t get the result.”
As for the nature of Skoko’s last-minute call-up and how he might not have been there if Okon had not injured himself, he says he is reminded by the twist of fate that resulted in him competing every time he shows his kids his team uniform.
“I’ve still got the Olympic team gear but it is all too big for me because I came in so late,” he laughed.
“My kids ask me why it’s so big but I have to tell them, ‘it wasn’t meant to be for me’.
“But it is great to be part of the Olympic family. Since I have been back in Australia I have done a few clinics for schools in regional Victoria and just all the people you meet, it was an amazing experience. And having it in Sydney and being part of that, it meant a lot.”
IT WAS LAST, LAST MINUTE AND I HAD JUST MOVED TO BELGIUM SO IT WAS A TOUGH TIME BUT I WASN’T GOING TO GIVE UP AN OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY IN THE OLYMPICS. I HARDLY HAD ANY PREPARATION
TIME BUT I BASICALLY
FLEW OVER AND WENT
INTO CAMP AND THEN I WAS WITH THE TEAM FOR ABOUT A WEEK, SO IT WAS A BIT OF A WHIRLWIND.”