The legendary Australian goalkeeper has endured his share of controversy in the public spotlight, and hopes the contest will shine a light on inequality.
Wandering down central Sydney’s Clarence Street to meet Australian soccer legend Mark Bosnich for a pre-lunch, my mental checklist of big topics to knock off in our chat is interrupted by the realisation that the man universally known as Bozza has arrived early.
He extinguishes his cigar and lays it on a ledge outside the restaurant, as he leads the way down the steps with the promise that “they always look after me here”. The 50-year-old’s career has contained its fair share of such upsets, which are all topics on my mental checklist. However, our initial chat is on comfortable ground as we reminisce about the Premier League of Bosnich’s prime playing years.
In Sir Alex Ferguson’s biography, the legendary Manchester United coach took a hurtful swipe at Bosnich’s professionalism, complaining about his penchant for over-eating. So, when the waitress arrives, Bosnich jokes that he will have to be careful not to show me how much he really eats. Bosnich credits his father with keeping him focused on his sporting endeavours as a kid, saying he had a similar no-nonsense attitude to life to Alex Ferguson.
It was at Villa where he stumbled into his first big controversy, which still makes him wince as it is brought up over our starters.Playing at the home ground of Tottenham Hotspur – a club known for its large Jewish following – he raised a Nazi salute at the crowd. The image was plastered on every newspaper in the UK and back home.
“I learnt a great lesson, that is the only way to say it. It was a difficult time, but it was one that I brought upon myself.”With starters largely devoured and main courses on the way, conversation returns to the days of his Premier League pomp, when he was considered so good he was signed by Manchester United to replace legendary keeper Peter Schmeichel.
“In the first half Bryan Robson, who was one of the biggest names in the whole world of football, argued about a foul being given and got booked. On the bench we were thinking ‘this will be interesting,’ but fair play to Ferguson, at half-time he absolutely gave it to him.Bosnich’s Premier League career infamously came to an end at Chelsea due to a positive cocaine test, which precipitated a troubled period of drug addiction and depression.
“Obviously, what happened happened, and that was a bit of a tragedy. We could be here for two days going through it all,” Bosnich says. Brandishing his notes, he is prepared when I ask about the chorus of disapproval that has surrounded the World Cup.problems with Qatar’s hosting of the competition, raised by Amnesty International, are the criminalisation of homosexuality, terrible working conditions of migrant workers, and discrimination against women.
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