Mile Sterjovski (Macedonian: Миле Стерјовски) (born 27 May 1979 in Wollongong, New South Wales) is an Australian footballer of Macedonian origin, who currently plays for Perth Glory and the Australian national team. Sterjovski plays mainly as a right winger or as a second striker, but has also played as a left winger and as a central midfielder.
[edit] Club career
Sterjovski began his career in Australia at Wollongong Wolves and briefly played for Illawarra Lions before making a name for himself with successful spells at Sydney United and Parramatta Power, his performances and record of 31 goals in 68 games earning him a move to French Ligue 1 side Lille OSC in 2000.
After 4 seasons at Lille, Sterjovski moved to Swiss side FC Basel, where he remained for 3 seasons. In his first season at St. Jakob-Park, Sterjovski won the Swiss Super League and in his second season was part of the team that reached the UEFA Cup Quarter-finals. Sterjovski moved to Turkey in the summer of 2007.
On 2 September 2007 Sterjovski scored on his debut after coming off the bench for his new club Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ (now called Hacettepe Spor Kulübü) in their match against Fenerbahçe.
On January 9th 2008, Sterjovski announced his plan to leave Turkey for personal reasons relating to his family. He announced that he was in negotiations with Premier League side Derby County and joined them after work permit problems on the 24th of January, 2008.[1] He made his debut as a substitute against Tottenham in a 3-0 defeat, and was a regular in the side towards the end of the season, usually playing out on the right wing.[2]
In the 2008-09 season, Sterjovski was largely frozen out of the Derby squad by manager Paul Jewell, his first appearance of the season coming on 21 October 2008 against Blackpool, in which he scored his first goal for Derby. However, following Jewell's departure, he produced an impressive performance against Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final under caretaker manager David Lowe. New Derby manager Nigel Clough was watching in the stands. Following the match, Sterjovski said: "Now I am glad there is a new manager. It’s a new start for me and, hopefully, I will get more chances."[3] Sterjovski went on to make 14 further appearances before the end of the season, scoring once and playing well in the middle of the injury-hit Derby midfield.
After initial speculation linking Sterjovski with a move to Gold Coast,[4] he moved to Perth Glory on 11 June 2009 for an undisclosed fee on a three year contract as their marquee player.[5]
[edit] International career
Sterjovski made his Australian national team debut against Scotland in 2000. Sterjovski was selected to represent Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. In the build-up, he made an appearance in the Australia vs. Greece friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and also played against Liechtenstein, scoring the first goal for the Socceroos in a 3-1 win. In the finals he started in the games against Brazil and against Croatia.
Sterjovski was selected for the first group match in Australia's 2007 Asian Cup campaign, starting against Oman and substituted in the 46th minute, which Australia drew 1–1. Due to illness Sterjovski did not feature further in Australia's failed campaign in its first Asian Cup. Sterjovski scored against Ghana during friendly match, at the Sydney Football Stadium but was sent off at the 85th minute after receiving a second Yellow Card on Ghana's Richard Manu. He scored again on 20 August in a friendly against South Africa in which the Socceroos drew 2-2. On the 10th June 2009, Sterjovski notched his 9th goal for Australia in a 2-0 win over Bahrain at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, in his 41st appearance for his national side.
[edit] Personal life
Sterjovski and his wife Sharon have 2 sons: Luka and Sonny who was born on June 2nd, 2008.
[edit] Honours
[edit] International
[edit] References
[edit] External links
