When Tony Popovic was growing up in Western Sydney in the 1980s, deeply entrenched in the soccer scene, there were two voices that relentlessly championed the round ball game in Australia.
Beginning in 1984, legendary broadcaster Les Murray and former Socceroos captain Johnny Warren hosted On the Ball on SBS.
The program was must-watch television for soccer fans in Sydney and Melbourne.
Such was the impact that Warren had on Popovic, the current Socceroos coach is still driven by the man who led Australia 24 times and played at the 1974 World Cup.
“The late Johnny Warren always said we should aim to win World Cups and win major tournaments and not just aim to participate,” Popovic said.
“Regardless of age, regardless of experience or where they are at, why not this group to do something extraordinary and do something special and go further than ever before?
“I believe it will happen.”
A Socceroo to the core
Popovic’s association with the Socceroos goes back more than 30 years. He debuted in 1995 in a friendly against Ghana, and went on to play 58 times for the country, which included the drought-breaking 2006 World Cup.
In a squad which included Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill, Australia fielded a team now considered the “Golden Generation”.
Tony Popovic was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” that progressed out of the group stage at the 2006 World Cup. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Popovic can still remember the elation when John Aloisi scored the penalty against Uruguay to send the Socceroos to Germany.
“Like the whole of Australia, jubilant, relieved, ecstatic,” he recalled.
“As a generation or a group of players that were fighting for that for so long and dreaming of the World Cup, to finally realise it had happened, it was really hard to forget for the next couple of weeks.
“I think we all stayed in contact and we’re still celebrating for a while.”
That squad went on to make the Round of 16, the first time Australia has progressed out of the group stage, before being beaten by eventual champions, Italy.
Tony Popovic scored eight goals in his 58 games for Australia. (Tim Wimborne: Reuters)
Twenty years later, Popovic will guide Australia at the World Cup, becoming the first Socceroo to both play and coach the country in the tournament.
The 52-year old believes he’s instilled what it means to wear the Socceroos jersey at a World Cup into his squad, which has 17 players going to the tournament for the first time.
Some, such as Mo Toure, Cristian Volpato and Tete Yengi, have never played a competitive match for the national team.
An while Popovic doesn’t want to compare the squad he’s leading and the one from 2006, he accepts it’s a debate that will happen.
Tony Popovic will be the first former Socceroo to coach Australia at a World Cup. (AAP/Football Australia)
“This new crop is very much in its infancy and I hope it does get there and it does emulate, and that this generation can be even better [than 2006],” Popovic said.
“Because that’s really what we want [for] it to keep evolving and keep getting better and better. So I hope that’s the discussion we have in years to come.”
Coming to grips with legacy
In a coaching career spanning 17 years, Tony Popovic has become known as a process-driven, detail-oriented coach, and not prone to putting the destination ahead of the journey.
Even as the clock ticks down to the start of the Socceroos campaign, his focus remains narrow.
Tony Popovic has been bullish in his belief this Socceroos squad can go further than any before it. (ABC News: Tom Wildie)
But even he can’t ignore the fact that when Australia walks out onto BC Place in Vancouver to face Turkiye in its opening game, Popovic will make history as the first Socceroo to play and coach at a World Cup.
“I’m realising more and more the significance of it,” he conceded.
“Maybe when I move on and someone else is a Socceroos coach and that will be something that’s in history, a part of Australian football history, maybe it will kick in more then.
“I know what it means to represent your country. I know the pride that comes with it.
“I never thought when I was playing that one day I’ll coach the Socceroos.”
Undergoing a coaching evolution
Popovic has enjoyed huge success but also massive disappointment in his coaching career.
He started as an assistant at Sydney FC in the A-League, where he had finished his playing career.
In 2011 he went back to Crystal Palace in England as an assistant to friend and former teammate Dougie Freedman.
Popovic’s break came when Western Sydney Wanderers entered the A-League, and he was appointed the franchise’s inaugural coach.
Within two seasons he had guided the fledging club to the A-League’s Premiers Plate (as ladder leaders after the regular season) and to the AFC Champions League title.
A disastrous stint in Turkey, in which he lasted just 10 weeks in charge of Kardemir Karabükspor in 2017, saw him return to Australia as Perth Glory coach.
Tony Popovic has enjoyed immense domestic success as a coach, but struggled in Europe. (AAP: Richard Wainwright)
Again, success followed, with the Glory winning the Premiers Plate, but falling short in the Grand Final.
Popovic was lured back overseas in 2020 by Greek second division side Xanthi, but again struggled, sacked after just 10 league games.
A successful stint at Melbourne Victory followed, before he was named Socceroos coach in 2024, when he replaced Graham Arnold at the helm.
“I probably used to be a coach that told them exactly what I wanted done in every moment when I first started out,” Popovic reflected on his coaching style.
“I think you evolve as a person. You mature as a person as well. It’s not just that you do as a coach. In your own life, in your own personal life, you evolve and things change.
“There are things that the players must adhere to in terms of the structures, but they get the freedom within the structure.”
Carrying a nation on the world stage
Every four years, the Socceroos become the darlings of Australian sport.
Live sites around the country broadcast World Cup matches with thousands of fans riding every tackle and strike.
The Socceroos begin their campaign against Türkiye, before games against the USA and Paraguay round out their group stage. (ABC News: Tom Wildie)
The expectation and interest in the Socceroos isn’t lost on Popovic.
“We hear about Federation Square and all the different venues that are getting prepared for people to watch Australia play, and we know the whole country gets behind it,” he said.
“I’ve experienced it as a fan watching even the last World Cup.
“Every Australian wants to see Australia do well. We know that we have the nation right behind us. That’s quite special.
“Hopefully we can also do something extraordinary. We’ve always shown in football that we can more than match it with the best.”
