If there is one man that encapsulated Brisbane Roar’s romp to the minor premiership and their incredible grand final victory it is Matt McKay. The talented midfielder led the team by example, with a blend of commitment and flair that certainly caught the Australia coach’s eye.
The 2010/11 campaign was certainly his breakthrough season for the Australian public. McKay’s star turns took Australia all the way to the 2011 Asian Cup final, but for Brisbane Roar regulars this was merely the latest impressive spell from their captain, who embodied the club’s spirit both on the pitch and off it.
Still living at home when his A-League career started, the player nicknamed “Possum” by his team-mates was quick to impress and featured 18 times in his first season (2005/06) with two goals to back it up. His debut for the Roar, against the New Zealand Knights at 22, ended in victory and was the first of 131 games for his home town team, enough to hand McKay Brisbane’s appearances record.
After six seasons in the A-League that featured two short loan spells – McKay spent time at K-League side Incheon United and Chinese Super League outfit Changchun Yatai – there has now been an official move for the midfielder from Glasgow giants Rangers. It says much for the player’s focus that with the transfer in the offing he put his country first and focused on international duties as Australia took on Wales for the very first time.
Such is McKay’s importance to the Socceroos that despite not having started the mandatory 75% of games in the past two years to qualify for a work permit in Scotland, a hearing will be told that the midfielder will be first choice for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. This is a player who has broken into the Australian squad and looks set to stay.
It is easy to see why Rangers manager Ally McCoist and Socceroo coach Helger Osiek value McKay so highly. A hard running, intelligent midfielder, he combines vision and control with positive play and a commitment to the team. The 22-year-old’s current coach Ange Postecoglu is certainly a fan, having gone on record as touting McKay as a future mainstay of the Australian national team. But having allowed his charge to shine so brightly, Postecoglu has always remained open to losing his star man, declaring he would take it as a compliment to his coaching if a big club came after his captain. With that now in progress Postecoglu has been true to his word and backed his player publicly.
2011 may yet have a fairy tale ending for this talented midfielder, but it will be the third of an unbelievable year. The first, in January, was establishing himself in the Australian national team with a series of eye-catching performances at the Asian Cup, not least his man of the match turn against Uzbekistan in the semi-final that saw him entrusted against Japan for the trophy, only to see his team denied by a goal late into extra time, the first major final Australia have appeared in.
Back in the A-League the Brisbane talent captained his team to a record-breaking 28 games unbeaten and all the way to the A-League grand final where history looked to be repeating itself. After being undoubtedly better value for the win Brisbane were held goalless going into extra time in the final. By half-time in extra-time the Roar were two goals down and heads were beginning to drop – but not McKay’s. As team-mate Erik Paartalu puts it: “I gave up hope in the first part of extra time. I thought it just wasn’t our day and was basically resigned to the fact that the Mariners had won. But Matt McKay came out and gave a great speech and we all responded.”
“Two goals down? Fifteen minutes to go? So what, we’ve done it before, we can do it again.” And do it they did, scoring the equaliser in the 120th minute and going on to win the shoot-out with McKay, of course, scoring. It is hard to determine what more a team could ask from their captain.
With a move to Europe and Scottish giants Rangers, this could be the perfect end to McKay’s perfect year and it says much for the player that it is the man he inherited his current armband from that is recommending him, fellow Australian and ex-Rangers player Craig Moore. And, with a buy-out clause in his contract of around $400,000, McKay represents good value for a player who can stand out in a midfield featuring Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill and Brett Holman on the international stage.
With the cut off for European competition fast approaching and possible work permit delays, this may not turn out to be the year that McKay makes his mark in Europe as he already has in Asia, but it looks increasingly like that milestone will not be too far off.
