Special K: How Barbarouses achieved his goals
Kosta Barbarouses wrote his name into the record books when he scored in Wellington Phoenix’s big win over Macarthur in Wellington on Saturday night.
Barbarouses’s 22nd minute goal was the 93rd of his A-League Men career, taking him past All Whites legend Shane Smeltz as the highest scoring New Zealand player in league history.
The Phoenix were seeking a win to give them the best shot at winning the Premiers Plate and Barbarouses led them on their way he raced onto a long ball from Nicholas Pennington and slotted the ball past Macarthur goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
The goal was Barbarouses’s 13th of the season, making this the second most prolific spell of his decorated career. Only when he scored 15 goals for Melbourne Victory in 2018-19 has Barbarouses scored more in a single season.
The 34-year-old will have at least two more opportunities to add to his tally with the semifinals looming in two weeks.
Barbarouses said he never thought he would ever catch Smeltz, having spent most of his career out on the wing.
“Even this year I’ve probably only played as a No 9 for half of the games. When I was on the wing I would always set out a goal of double digits and I think that’s a good goal to set,” he said.
“IgotitafewtimesandayearatVictory I played up front and did well but it wasn’t in my sights to be known as a goalscorer because I was out wide for 10-13 years.
“To do it after mostly playing out wide it’s really good and I’m really proud of that.”
Barbarouses has played for four different clubs - the Phoenix, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC - and he scored at least one goal in 14 of the 15 seasons he has spent in the A-League.
After winning championships with Brisbane, Victory and Sydney, Barbarouses came home to Wellington last season to try to help the Phoenix win their first title.
But Barbarouses endured a difficult season. He was in and out of the starting XI and only managed two goals.
But Barbarouses has experienced a rebirth under new coach Giancarlo Italiano and is now back to his best.
Barbarouses has picked up the slack in
Oskar Zawada’s injury-forced absence, carrying the Phoenix to their highest-ever finish by contributing 13 of their 42 goals.
The first goal
His name was spelled Costa Barbarouses on the scoresheet when he opened his A-League account as an 18-year-old by scoring a 31st minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw
with Adelaide in round 20 of the 200809 season – his second season with the Phoenix. Born Konstantinos Barbarouses, Barbarouses spelled his first name with a C back then as his mum preferred the spelling. Accurate statistics are hard to find but Barbarouses has not scored too many with his head since.
The big goal
The most important goal of Barbarouses’ career should not have actually counted.
Barbarouses was credited with the winning goal in the 2018 grand final after leading Melbourne Victory to a dramatic 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets. VAR failed in the 30 seconds leading up to the ninth-minute goal and was unable to detect an offside in the leadup.
Barbarouses has played in five grand finals and scored in three of them.
The next ‘goal’
As Barbarouses has no plans to hang up his boots any time soon, he could become just the fourth player in A-League Men history to reach the 100-goal milestone.
The Phoenix only have semifinals and a potential grand final to come, which does not leave him with much time to score the seven goals he needs to hit the mark this season. However, it is realistic to think Barbarouses could crack the ton next season, especially if he can add to his tally in the upcoming matches.