Theoklitos basks in Aussie glory

Michael Theoklitos has described the past year as the best of his career after a nightmare stint at English club Norwich City last season.

Now playing for the Brisbane Roar in Australia’s A-League, Theoklitos was the hero of a dramatic 4-2 grand final penalty shootout victory against the Central Coast Mariners on Sunday, making two saves to help the Roar clinch their first title.

It capped off a remarkable turnaround for the 2010-11 A-League Goalkeeper of the Year, who left hometown club the Melbourne Victory to join then-League One outfit Norwich last term.

Theoklitos’ debut for the East Anglian club was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons, as he conceded seven goals in a drubbing dished out by local rivals Colchester United on the opening day of the 2009-10 season.

He never played again for Norwich and was forced to swallow his pride and return home but says hard work and keeping the faith have eventually paid off.

“It just goes to show when you’re down, to keep believing and working hard on your game. Anything is possible,” Theoklitos said.

“I’ll tell you what – if you told me I’d come back to the A-League and win goalkeeper of the year and win a double, I probably wouldn’t believe you.”

“To play a home grand final in front of 50,000 people I wouldn’t have thought was possible. I’ve gone from the most difficult year of my career to the best by far.”

The fact the match even went to a penalty shootout is unbelievable.

Brisbane, who were unbeaten in their last 27 A-League matches, headed into the grand final as short-priced favourites.

But a brave Mariners outfit battled hard before scoring through Adam Kwasnik and Oliver Bozanic in the first period of extra time that seemingly gave them one hand on the title.

Buoyed on by over 50,000 fans, Brisbane came back and scored twice in the second period of extra time to take the match to penalties, with Henrique scoring the first with four minutes left.

The Mariners, who had already lost two Grand Finals in the A-League’s short six-year history, looked shaky and Erik Paartalu pounced, heading home a corner in the last minute of extra time to take the game to penalties, where Theoklitos shone.

“At 2-0 down I thought we were struggling but we don’t give up and it showed. Matty McKay said at half-time of extra time that we’re capable of scoring two goals in 15 minutes and that we’d just dig in and keep going and to his and the boys’ credit, we did,” he said.

“When Erik Paartalu scored the equaliser it was an amazing feeling and the crowd erupted.”

“It wasn’t over – we had the penalty shootout – but I got in the zone and I focused on what I had to do.”

“I was a bit disappointed with my first attempt, and I should have saved it, but I made two crucial saves and we won the trophy. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.”