As the referee blows his whistle to signal the end of a laborious 0-0 draw between Port Melbourne and Werribee City last Friday night, midfielder Andrew Milicevic slumps to the ground after another tireless shift in the Sharks’ engine room, frustrated not to have picked three points at home.
But while on the other side of the world some of his former youth teammates and opponents – including the likes of Barcelona wonderkid Alen Halilovic – wrap up preparations for their respective weekend fixtures at some of the world’s most illustrious clubs, the former Hajduk and NK Radnik [sister club of Dinamo] youth is unfazed, focused solely on his role at the Sharks.
The club couldn’t snap its barren run this time, drawing against Werribee City to extend its winless and scoreless run to three games, after at one point leading the competition with a blistering start to the season.
Whilst not receiving the same amount of plaudits as some of his teammates, Milicevic has been one of the standout players in the opening two months of the season, as Eric Vassiliadis’ men look to consolidate their place in the top six.
“Port Melbourne have been a really good team to play with for most of the season, we’ve dominated most games, had plenty of chances but the last three games we have not put the ball into the back of the net,” he says.
“I think this is the first game of the year where a team dominated us but every other game we have dominated and I am surprised in some of those we did not pick up all three points.”
The Melbourne Knights and Richmond junior’s steely determination can be attributed to his move to Croatia at the age of 14, where he spent some time at the youth academies of two of the country’s biggest clubs, experiencing first hand the pressure to win a do-or-die clash between fierce opponents.
“When I was younger, I moved back to Croatia and got myself a trial with the Hajduk Split youth team for whom I spent the next three years of my junior career at,” he says.
It was not long before his talents were recognised by the enemy, with Milicevic receiving an offer to join Hajduk’s fierce rivals Dinamo Zagreb.
“I received a call from Dinamo Zagreb and went for a trial there before they placed me in their second sister club NK Radnik, which was a really good standard.”
“I learned plenty over there, especially in terms of technique as some of the stuff they teach you is unbelievable.”
In his time in Croatia, Milicevic shared a locker room with some future stars, who at the present moment ply their trade at some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
He was also part of a strong contingent of young Australian footballers of Croatian descent playing abroad, which included current Socceroo Tomi Juric.
“I played against Alen Halilovic while I was in the Dinamo Youth set-up, and at Hajduk some of my teammates were Josip Radosevic who now plays for Napoli and Marko Pasalic who is on loan at Elche in La Liga from Chelsea,” he says.
“I’ve met Tomi Juric and his family outside of football a few times when I was over there and recall him playing for Lokomotiva Zagreb (another Dinamo sister club), while his brother Deni played for Radnik but in a younger age group.”
Milicevic, then 17-years-old, decided to move back to Australia to complete his VCE studies and did not go unnoticed by the local A-League clubs, trialling with both Melbourne Victory and City whilst also attracting strong interest from the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Although a potential A-League move fell through, Milicevic has since fought to make his name in Victoria’s NPL with some eye-catching performances for Port Melbourne.
Now in his second season at the Sharks, the youngster is enjoying his stint at JL Murphy Reserve, and in a classic football cliché, refuses to get ahead of himself, concentrating only the game in front of him – this week a tantalising clash against the unbeaten Bentleigh Greens.
“I was in contact with the Wanderers and had some discussions with them but there was no concrete offer on the table,” he says.
“If an A-League offer were to come calling I would of course be happy to take it, but at this moment I am just focusing on Port and trying to get my game to a certain standard.
“It’s a good club with a great system and some very good people involved and a good standard of facilities, coupled it with there being no politics around the place.
“We need to focus and get back on track as we have Bentleigh this week, where we can hopefully get all three points.”
Photo: Mark Avellino/FFV