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Birthdate:
22.09.1978
Birthplace: Smithfield, Australia
Other clubs: Leeds, Galatasaray
Bought from: Leeds
Signed for LFC: £5000000 09.07.2003
International debut: 23.04.1996 vs. Chile
International caps: 46/13 (19.06.2010)
Liverpool debut:
17.08.2003
Last appearance: 16.02.2008
Debut goal: 30.08.2003
Last goal: 13.05.2007
Contract expiry: 01.07.2008
LFC league games/goals: 93 / 12
Total LFC games/goals: 139 / 16
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Player Notes:
Harry Kewell could be the player Liverpool fans have been waiting for since John Barnes was bought to the club in 1987. Kewell was on tour with the Australian soccer academy in England in 1995, when he was spotted by Howard Wilkinson who contacted Leeds. 3 months later he played his first game in the Premiership for Leeds only 18 years of age. Harry was voted the most promising player in the Premier in 1999-2000 and the future was still bright as he was still relatively young. Kewell played 242 games and scored 63 goals in his 7 years at Leeds. He is a true Red who has supported the club since he was a kid and showed his allegiance by turning down more lucrative offers in financial terms to go to his beloved Liverpool.
Kewell began his career at Liverpool in promising fashion, playing 49 games in the 2003-2004 season, scoring 11 goals. 9 of those goals came in the first half of the season which so far has been his best spell for Liverpool. Injuries and subsequent loss of form hindered his progress at Liverpool and it wasn't until the latter half of the 2005-2006 season that he seemed to be approaching his best. An amazing fact to portray how unlucky he has been is that he has been forced to be substituted in three successive finals with Liverpool, vs. Chelsea in the Carling Cup final in 2005, vs. Milan in Istanbul 2005 and West Ham in the FA Cup Final 2006!
Australia qualified for the first time since 1974 for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Kewell played in the opening 3-1 win vs. Japan, only featuring as a sub in the 0-2 loss vs. Brazil. Kewell scored Australia's second goal in a 2-2 draw vs. Croatia and guaranteed his team a place in the last 16 where the Aussies faced the Italians. Unfortunately as he suffered from septic arthritis, a bacterial infection in his left foot, he could not play as Australia lost 0-1 to Italy. Kewell's injuries kept him out for most of the second part of his Liverpool career and when his contract expired in July 2008 he departed Liverpool for Turkish champions Galatasaray where he signed a 2-year contract.
Harry enjoyed a reasonably successful first season in Turkey and managed to score nearly as many goals in a single season as he had managed in five seasons as a Liverpool player. However, it was no surprise to anyone that injury played a part in his season and he had to return to Australia in December, 2008 for an operation to repair a hernia problem. On his return, Harry helped his club reach the last 16 of the UEFA cup but at that stage they were beaten 4-3 on aggregate by Hamburg. On the international stage, Harry Kewell helped Australia qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa by finishing top of a group that included Japan, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan. With the player's 30th birthday passing during his debut season in Turkey, 2010 is likely to be Kewell's last chance of appearing at a World Cup and sadly, because of his past history, injury might still play a part in how much he can still give to his country.
In the 2009-10 season Harry Kewell probably surprised a lot of people, maying including himself, by staying relatively injury-free, compared to previous seasons anyway. He played in 17 Turkish League matches, scoring nine times; and made a further 11 competitive cup appearances, adding five more goals. Twenty-seven goals from 65 matches after two seasons in Turkey represented a decent goals-per-game ratio, a ratio Liverpool supporters never came remotely close to witnessing between 2003 and 2008.
The player survived the South African World Cup without adding to his lengthy injury history ... but he was sent off for deliberate handball in Australia's group match with Ghana and with that went his "World Cup dream". In the third week of July 2010, Galatasaray announced that they had agreed a deal to extend Kewell's contract by a further year. |
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