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Mehmet Duraković

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Mehmet Duraković (Albanian: Mehmet Duraku,[2] born 13 October 1965) is a football coach and former player. Born in Titograd, Yugoslavia, now Podgorica, Montenegro, he spent his playing career as a defender for several clubs in the Australian National Soccer League (NSL), with a brief stint in Malaysia with Selangor FA. Duraković made 64 appearances and scored six goals for the Australian national team.

Mehmet Duraković
Personal information
Full name Mehmet Duraković
Date of birth (1965-10-13) 13 October 1965 (age 59)[1]
Place of birth Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1980–1982 Footscray JUST
1983 Port Melbourne Sharks
1984 Budućnost Titograd
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1988 Brunswick Juventus 61 (2)
1988 → Footscray JUST (loan) 25 (1)
1989–1995 South Melbourne 138 (5)
1995–1998 Selangor
1998–1999 Sydney Olympic 21 (0)
1999–2000 Gippsland Falcons 25 (0)
2000–2004 South Melbourne 98 (1)
Total 450 (12)
International career‡
1990–2002 Australia 64 (6)
Managerial career
2003–2005 Port Melbourne Sharks
2005–2007 FFV NTC
2008–2011 Melbourne Victory Youth
2011 Melbourne Victory (Caretaker)
2011–2012 Melbourne Victory
2014–2015 Selangor
2017–2021 Perak
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Men's Association football
OFC Nations Cup
Runner-up 2002 New Zealand
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 August 2014
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 August 2014

Early life

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Mehmet Duraković was born in Montenegro into an Albanian family.[2] Early in Duraković's childhood, his family left Yugoslavia and emigrated to Australia[2] to seek better work and opportunities for their growing children. Duraković's official playing days began with the Footscray juniors, and he moved on to Port Melbourne juniors when his family moved to the inner-city suburbs. He was with Port Melbourne from Under-10s to Under-16s.

After living in Australia for ten years, Duraković's parents moved back to Montenegro. Although Duraković was unhappy, he began to take soccer more seriously and played with local clubs in lower divisions. However, in just over a year Budućnost Titograd, who played in the Yugoslav First League, asked him to join them.[3] Duraković returned to Australia in 1984 by himself and immediately joined the Port Melbourne senior team. After a month, he had been signed by NSL club Brunswick Juventus.

Club career

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Early career

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Duraković was a defender for Brunswick Juventus from 1985 to 1988, making 61 appearances and scoring two goals for the club. He spent most of his first year at Juventus in the reserves or on the bench for the seniors. He came off the bench a couple of times in 1985 but did not make his full debut until late that season. His second game for Juventus was the grand final against Sydney City. He was part of Juventus' 1985 NSL Championship winning team.

Brunswick was relegated from the NSL by 1988. Duraković was loaned out to Footscray JUST in 1988 for one year. He made 25 appearances and one goal before moving to South Melbourne.

South Melbourne Hellas

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Durakovic made 138 appearances and scored five goals in his first sting at the club from 1989 to 1995. He was part of South Melbourne's famous 1991 NSL Championship winning team led by Ferenc Puskas.

Durakovic's performances at the club led him to becoming one of Australia's top defenders and a fan favourite at the club.

In his final move, Duraković returned to South Melbourne in 2000. He was named as part of South's Team of the Century in 2000.[4]

Despite his age, Durakovic led South to a top of the table finish in 2000/01, narrowly losing the Grand Final to Wollongong.

Durakovic announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2003/04 NSL season. At South Melbourne's final home National League Soccer match, the Hellas fans stormed the field at full time and carried Durakovic off.

Durakovic would make a further 98 appearances for Hellas scoring one goal.

In 1990 and 1992, Durakovic was twice awarded the Theo Marmaras medal for being the player of the season at South Melbourne.

Later career

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In 1994, Duraković moved to Malaysia, where he played for Selangor until he returned to Australia and joined Sydney Olympic in 1998. His next NSL club was the Gippsland Falcons, where he returned as the Falcons' key defender, sparking renewed interest from across the NSL despite being in his mid-thirties.

International career

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Duraković played 64 times for the Australian national team from 1990 to 2002, including several FIFA World Cup qualification campaigns. In the qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup, he scored a goal against Canada to level the tie on aggregate. In the subsequent play-off against Argentina, he marked Diego Maradona.[4]

Coaching career

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Duraković's coaching career began with the Port Melbourne Sharks in 2003. He then became coach of the Victorian Institute of Sport Football Program. In 2008, Duraković was appointed the inaugural coach of the Melbourne Victory Youth Team until 2011, when he was appointed caretaker coach of the Melbourne Victory FC senior team after Ernie Merrick was sacked during Victory's Asian Champions League campaign.[5][6]

Under Duraković as caretaker head coach, Melbourne Victory won one of their remaining Asian Champions League fixtures and tied the others. Subsequently, in June 2011, Duraković was named as Merrick's permanent replacement.[7][8]

As Melbourne Victory's coach, he signed Isaka Cernak,[9] Tando Velaphi,[10] Marco Rojas,[11] James Jeggo, Jean Carlos Solórzano,[12] Harry Kewell,[13] Fabio,[14] Lawrence Thomas[14] and Ante Čović.

Under the weight of expectation, particularly in light of Kewell's arrival, Melbourne Victory started the 2011–12 A-League season poorly, failing to score in their first three games and remaining without a win until Round 4. As the season progressed, Melbourne Victory's performances remained inconsistent, and following successive away losses against Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners which saw Victory fall to the eighth position, in January 2012 Duraković was sacked.[15]

In November 2012, Duraković was appointed as senior technical director at Victorian Premier League club South Melbourne.

From 2013 to 2015, Duraković was manager and head coach of Selangor FA, the team he had played for in the 1990s.[16][17] Duraković managed to make them become the runners-up in the 2014 Malaysian Super League, quarter-finalist of the 2014 Malaysian Cup. He also signed former Indonesian international football player Andik Vermansyah from Persebaya 1927 and former Australian international football player Robert Cornthwaite from Jeonnam Dragons for the 2015 Malaysian Super League season, as well as Leandro Dos Santos from T-Team F.C. and Guilherme de Paula Lucrécio from FC Milsami Orhei. In 2015, Selangor their 33rd Malaysia Cup title as well as finishing runner-up again in the Super League.

In February 2017, Duraković took over as head coach of another Malaysian Super League side, Perak F.C., after the club terminated their former head coach's contract.[18] In October 2018, Duraković brought Perak to the 92nd Malaysia Cup finals and won against Terengganu on penalties with a score of 3–3. He also lead Perak to the 2019 FA Cup finals. In February 2021, Duraković and Perak agreed on mutual termination of contract, days before the start of the 2021 league season.[19]

Coaching statistics

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As of 7 November 2020
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Melbourne Victory   March 2011 January 2012 19 4 9 6 021.05
Selangor   1 November 2013 31 December 2015 73 36 18 19 049.32
Perak   22 February 2017 22 February 2021 122 56 35 31 045.90
Total 214 96 62 56 044.86

Honours

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Player

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Brunswick Juventus

South Melbourne

Selangor

Australia

As coach/manager

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Selangor:

Perak

Personal honours:

  • Theo Marmaras medal: 1990,1992
  • Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (The Meritorious Service Medal in Malaysia): 1995
  • South Melbourne's Team of the Century: 2000
  • Darjah Ahli Mahkota Perak (Malaysia): 2018

References

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  1. ^ Mehmet Duraković | Soccerway
  2. ^ a b c "Askush nuk e di, por Maradona është përballur dy herë me futbollistin shqiptar, ja kush është ai" [Nobody knows, but Maradona has faced the Albanian footballer twice, here is who he is] (in Albanian). Dosja. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. ^ Wallace, Neil Montagnana (2004). Our Socceroos. 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, NSW: Random House Australia Pty Ltd. pp. 164–169. ISBN 1-74051-306-1. Retrieved 14 March 2013.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ a b "Durakovic closes curtain on brilliant career". South Melbourne FC. 5 March 2004. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  5. ^ Foxsports Australia http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/a-league-giants-melbourne-victory-sack-coach-ernie-merrick-after-asian-champions-league-disaster/story-e6frf4gl-1226020259849
  6. ^ Sportal "Victory, Merrick part – Football – Sportal Australia". Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  7. ^ "Durakovic gets Victory job". Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
  8. ^ Courier Mail http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/mehmet-durakovic-to-be-named-melbourne-victorys-new-coach/story-e6frep5o-1226078808073
  9. ^ "Victory Swoop For Cernak". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Velaphi Move To Victory Sealed". FourFourTwo Australia. Haymarket Group. 8 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Victory secure Rojas signing". A-League Official Website. 11 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2011.
  12. ^ "Victory snare Roar's Solorzano". A-League Official Website. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2011.
  13. ^ Smithies, Tom (20 August 2011). "Harry Kewell signs three-year deal with Melbourne Victory". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney: Nationwide News Pty Limited.
  14. ^ a b "2011/12 Playing Squad Nearing Completion". Melbourne Victory. 15 September 2011. [permanent dead link‍]
  15. ^ "Durakovic given his marching orders". ABC. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  16. ^ Eric Samuel (31 October 2013). "Mehmet Durakovic is the new Selangor coach". The Star. Malaysia Online. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  17. ^ "Durakovic pikul tugas jurulatih Selangor (Kenyataan Media)" [Durakovic to assume Red Giant hot-seat (Press Release)]. Selangor FA Official Website (in Malay). 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  18. ^ "Soccer Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables – ESPN".
  19. ^ Muzaffar Musa (22 February 2021). "Perak FC sah tamatkan kontrak Mehmet Durakovic" [Mehmet Durakovic contract termination confirmed by Perak FC]. www.stadiumastro.com (in Malay). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Oceania Nations Cup 2002". Retrieved 14 October 2024.
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