A-League Round 13 - Facts & Figures

Sydney’s turn to hit 100,000

Following on from Queensland Roar and Melbourne Victory both recently attaining 100,000 home spectators, Sydney FC is set to become the next club to reach an aggregate of 100,000 home venue spectators in the Hyundai A-League.

With 93,096 watching Sydney’s six home matches so far, the 6,904th person to come through the games at Aussie Stadium in this Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash with in-form Perth Glory will be the club’s 100,000th home spectator for the season.

Saturday night’s encounter will see a battle of some of the league’s most prolific goalscorers, including Sydney’s Sasho Petrovski (six goals scored so far this season), Dwight Yorke, Kazu Miura and David Zdrilic, who will be up against Glory’s Bobby Despotovski (the league’s top goalscorer so far with seven goals after 12 rounds) and – probably Australia’s most lethal scorer of all-time – Damian Mori.

Welcome Kazu

The Hyundai A-League is currently playing host to one of the true legends of world football, Japanese superstar Kazuyoshi Miura.

“Kazu”, who has joined Sydney FC for a guest stint, has one of the most remarkable records in international football, scoring 56 international goals in 91 “A” internationals for Japan from 1990 to 2000.

Although all-time international records are difficult to verify, it is believed that only 16 players have scored more than 55 goals in “A” internationals. Kazu stands alongside such world legends as Gerd Muller (West Germany, 68 goals), Ronaldo (Brazil, 57 goals), Gabriel Batistuta (Argentina, 56 goals), Romario (Brazil, 55 goals) and Bobby Charlton (England, 49 goals) in the all-time top international goalscorers list.

Kazu comes to Australia with a wealth of experience under his belt, following stints with many clubs in several countries. After growing up in Japan, he moved to Brazil in 1982 where he played with Juventude, Santos, Matsubara, Regatas Maceio, XV de Jau and Coritiba.

He returned to Japan in 1990 where he had stints at Yomiuri, Verdy Kawazaki, Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vissel Kobe. In 1994-95 he also played with Italian Serie A side Genoa, and in 1998-99 turned out for Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia.

His time in Japan included a Most Valuable Player award for the 1993 J-League season, and the League’s top scorer in 1996 - both times with Verdy Kawasaki. He won Championship medals in seasons 1993 and 1994 (both with Verdy). He made 295 appearances and scored 136 goals over 13 J-League seasons.

His 56 goals ranks him as Japan’s leading international scorer, and includes 27 goals scored in World Cup qualifiers.

The Hyundai A-League also boasts some of Australia’s all-time top international scorers. Damian Mori (Perth Glory) stands at the top of Australia’s all-time scoring list with 29 goals in “A” international matches, while the country’s equal fifth all-time best goalscorers David Zdrilic (Sydney FC) and Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory), with 20 goals apiece, are also prominent Hyundai A-League players.

Adelaide United coach John Kosmina also features on Australia’s all-time goalscoring list, with 25 goals in “A” internationals (equal second highest).