ESPN: Danny Boy's Asian Ambition

The media conference in Sydney had been scheduled for 11am with a bombshell about to be dropped: Mark Viduka was retiring from international football and Danny Allsopp would take his place in the Socceroo squad.

The date was June 15th, 2007. And, as it turned out, the event never happened.

Then Australia coach Graham Arnold talked the big Newcastle striker into changing his mind at the last moment and the conference was cancelled. Viduka captained Australia at the Asian Cup in Thailand and Vietnam, while Allsopp remained an unused standby player.

The close call marked a missed opportunity for the 29-year-old Melbourne Victory striker, who's been patiently biding his time after excelling for Australia at youth level. He won the Golden Boot at the 1995 World Under-17 Championships in Ecuador, scoring five goals - and also represented his country in Under-20 and Under-23 teams.

Allsopp's one and only senior cap came just before last year's Asian Cup when he came on as a 78th minute substitute in the 2-1 defeat against Uruguay in Sydney.

Now, with resources likely to be stretched in Australia's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, Allsopp gets the chance to impress national coach Pim Verbeek with Melbourne embarking on their inaugural AFC Champions League campaign.

With the A-League season over, the Asian performances of Allsopp - along with teammate Archie Thompson and Adelaide's Paul Agostino - will be closely monitored as Verbeek looks at possible options up front in support of his Europe-based strikers. Newcastle Jets forward Joel Griffiths, the league's top-scorer, is at a disadvantage with the premiers inactive until next season.

As for Viduka, his international future - along with his immediate club career - remains in an ambiguous and frustrating limbo.

The AFC Champions League marks a potentially pivotal time for Allsopp: to once and for all shake his journeyman or 'nearly man' tag. If he can score against the top Asian club sides, especially away from home, Verbeek will almost certainly sit up and take notice.

His club coach, Ernie Merrick, swears by the tall striker who spent seven years bouncing around England's lower leagues with clubs like Notts County, Hull City and Manchester City in the days of Joe Royle.

Merrick stuck by Allsopp when his 20 games in Melbourne's first A-League campaign yielded just three goals. The following season, Allsopp vindicated the coach's faith by scoring 12 times - including a league-high 11 in the regular season - as the Victory marched to the title.

His third season saw Allsopp struggling with sickness and injuries, including painful broken ribs. He was also affected by the departure of Brazilian playmaker, Fred, for MLS club, DC United.
Even so, he found his form late in the season as Melbourne made a late run for the finals, producing seven goals. Victory garnered 10 points out of a possible 12 in their final four matches but still missed out on the playoffs, finishing fifth.

Merrick continued to sing Allsopp's praises and nominated him more than once for national selection. Any hint of criticism from Melbourne's demanding media corps was quickly struck down by the no-nonsense Scotsman.

'He's been a great player for us and will continue to be so,' Merrick said in January before ubruptly ending a press conference when the subject of Allsopp's performance was raised.
With the Victory commanding the A-League's biggest crowds - they averaged more than 26,000 per game in the 2007-2008 season - high-profile players like Allsopp, fellow striker Archie Thompson and captain Kevin Muscat, are constantly under scrutiny in Australia's unofficial sporting capital. Club officials are hoping that the bigger home games in the upcoming AFC Champions League campaign might attract more than 40,000 fans.

Allsopp predicts that Melbourne's strong finish to the A-League season will help them in Asia. In his interview with ESPNsoccernet, he also talks about how he and Thompson have learned to work together and says a current English Premier League manager is the toughest defender he's ever played against.

Q: Danny, why did the Melbourne Victory miss out on the A-League Finals after your triumphant run the season before? Are things looking better for the AFC Champions League?
A: As far as the AFC Champions League is concerned, we really lifted at the end of the season. We finished with three wins on the trot and a draw but it was a bit too late for the finals. We drew too many games earlier in the season and we just struggled to click the way we did last season. We managed to turn things around at the end of the season, so hopefully it will put us in good shape for the AFC Champions League.

Q: You are one of a handful of strikers on the fringes of national selection. What might make you stand out from the rest?
A: Hopefully if I can keep scoring goals like I did towards the end of the season and I'll just see what happens like I always do. I have to keep trying and doing my best. I just hope that strengths of my game are noticed by the coach.

Q: How have you and Archie Thompson developed such a good strike partnership? How do your styles complement each other?
A: We're pretty much opposite in terms of styles. We worked hard on our partnership and it didn't really click that well in the first season, but we both made changes for each other and we got a really good understanding. There's a difference of how we are physically but it's a good partnership where he can work off me as well, so it's become ideal.

Q: What do you consider to be the highlight of your seven years playing in Britain? Who was the best defender you faced?
A: There were a lot of highlights. I had a really good time at Hull City when we were promoted. Being a major part of that team, I just really enjoyed the whole place, so that was the highlight that sticks out the most. The best defender was probably Gareth Southgate. I just remember thinking on the day he was always one step ahead all the time and it was a really difficult playing against him.

Q: Are you surprised at how the Melbourne Victory and the A-League in general have taken off and how do you like your cult status with the Victory fans?
A: It was a little bit surprising but now it sort of seems normal. From the early days and being here from nearly the start of the club, there was basically nothing and how we've grown in such a short time is surprising. The number of fans we have is amazing and it's great to be part of it in my home city.
I don't know about a cult status or anything like that. You just try and do your best in the games and I try not to get too involved in all the crowd stuff, but I certainly enjoy playing when we've got such tremendous support.