« VIDUKA GOES FROM HOT SHOT TO COFFEE SHOP

MARK VIDUKA famously walked out on Celtic and scored four for Leeds United against Liverpool. Now the Australian has gone…

DI worked my a*** off at Celtic. I refuse to accept when someone says otherwise

RIVE north out of the Croatian capital Zagreb, where the roads are steep and winding, the forestry thick and population ever thinning, and just beyond the striking, blue-roofed church of St Mirko, hidden in the hills, is a coffee shop.

Tracking down the owner has been difficult, primarily because he does not want to be found.

But for those who knew him when he made headlines in the Premier League, this hilltop retreat is the sort of sanctuary in which you would one day have hoped to find Mark Viduka, the scorer of 269 goals during a career that took in Celtic (below), Leeds, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. He never did court the limelight. This is his first newspaper interview since retiring in 2009. For while Viduka loved the game, he loathed the politics and falsity. ‘All the b ****** s’ he calls it.

But there was, he believes, a misconception about him. It is true. Many expect to meet a brooding, intense, distant soul. In reality, he is, as I put it to him, ‘a laid-back, unassuming, Aussie bloke’. ‘Exactly,’ says the 45-year-old, espresso in hand, Zagreb in the distance over his shoulder.

‘Why is that misunderstood about me? I still feel it today. The amount of people I meet who say, “You’re not what I expected”. I often wonder, “Why?”.

‘I wasn’t obsessed with fame. You’ve seen what football is like, a lot of a***-lickers and climbers, dishonest people who try to shaft you. But I always tried to stay true to myself. Maybe that’s why there is this negative perception, because I didn’t conform. I’ll stand my ground if I believe in something. ‘A lot of players suck up to fans, coaches, journalists, and everyone loves them. But what sort of people are they when you remove all the bull **** ? Are they good people or just playing the game?’ Our conversation detours to Joey Barton, his ex-Newcastle team-mate. Viduka, for the record, sees the good in him. But there was an incident at Anfield in 2009 that captures Viduka’s principles. Barton had been sent off for a lunge on Xabi Alonso, later admitting he was exacting revenge. Newcastle lost 3-0 and, in the dressing room, Barton and manager Alan Shearer clashed. Barton said: ‘You’re a s*** manager with s*** tactics.’ Only one Newcastle player intervened. ‘Joey was in the wrong,’ says Viduka. ‘He got sent off for no reason and Alan had a go at him. Joey went back and, that’s Joey, he kept going.

‘I said to him, “Joey, shut the f*** up, take it”. He was out of order, and he knew it. So he sat down.’

Viduka’s existence now is far removed from such tension. His only cause to play peacemaker is between his three teenage sons.

So why here? Why not his native Melbourne? Or Middlesbrough? He smiles and explains: ‘I left Australia to sign for Croatia Zagreb aged 19 and fell in love with the lifestyle. And we’d always wanted to run a cafe, for fun really. Listen, my missus does all the work, I just sit here and drink coffee!’

Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic is among the regulars at Non Plus Ultra, meaning No Higher Point.

Life is good here. But that tranquility was shattered on a Sunday in March of last year, when an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hit Zagreb.

‘It was as if someone picked up the house and shook it,’ says Viduka. ‘We were lucky it happened