Former Socceroos goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac has cast serious doubts over the A-League's capacity to reach its full potential because Australia is too small as a football country and there is not enough money in the game.

Kalac, who played 54 times for Australia, also said the limitations imposed by the salary cap have forced clubs to fast-track players who are not developed enough to play first-team football.

The lanky goalkeeper who won a UEFA Champions League medal during a four-year stint with AC Milan said the A-League was strong and appealing in some areas but it is hampered by a lack of a proper development system at grassroots level.

"The quality is what it is," Kalac said. "At the end of the day we have a strict budget and we can only afford certain players and you will always have flaws in your teams.

"The A-League is built in a way to promote equality but the problem is we do not have that many players that can be called true professionals.

"The league says they are professionals but are they really full professionals? They simply are not good enough and then we scream for young players to be given more opportunities.

"Why don't we make it a youth league then? Basically, kids aged 17 or 18 - unless they are freaks - are not developed enough to be first-team players.

"Sure, there are a lot of good things about the competition. A professional set-up gives the gifted players an opportunity to grow and the best ones will go on to forge a career overseas like Mile Jedinak, Maty Ryan and Aaron Mooy did and not go backpacking overseas.

"Are we ever going to get it right? I don't know. What I know is we are not big enough as a football country, we do not have big budgets and our grassroots is a major problem. We are not developing players."

Kalac spoke at length about his extraordinary career at club and national level.

What are you doing now ... are you bored at home?

"I am head coach at my first club Sydney United, a challenge I was enjoying very much before COVID-19 stopped everything. This job made me love the game again and I realise I should have gone into coaching earlier. But like everyone I have to stay at home now and shake my head at this surreal coronavirus situation. I just cannot believe that our generation can be hit by something like this."

Who was the greatest influence on your career in those formative years at Sydney United?

"My father helped me a lot in my early days because he was from the old school and whenever I had a good game I expected a wrap but he would always find a negative side to my game and that enabled me to work on it and get better. A big difference from today's parents who would have their children believe they are the next big thing. I cannot thank my mother enough for all the clothes she washed for me and for driving me around. When I was a kid it was football, football and more football. Goalkeeper Ron Corry too played a big part in my career because he guided and supported me all along."

After a short stint with Leicester you had to come back to Sydney United. Did you think then that your dream to become a pro in Europe had been crushed?

"I just think that back in the late 1990s going to England as an Australian was not as easy as it is now. Those days players from outside the European Union had to play in 75 per cent of their country's matches to get a work permit and with Mark Bosnich and Mark Schwarzer as competitors for the jersey it was difficult for me to play enough games to qualify. I also probably went to Leicester when I was not quite ready."

Tell us about your four seasons in Kerkrade with Roda?

"I always knew I would go back to Europe and one day an opportunity came up to sign for Vitesse Arnhem. But Roda needed a goalkeeper and Graham Arnold, who was playing for them at the time, gave me a call and persuaded me to join him. It was an easy and good decision because I had a great time, played many matches and became a much better goalkeeper. The league was fantastic and I was facing great attacking players virtually every week"

Winning the Dutch Cup against NEC must have been a huge thrill for the club and yourself.

"It was one of my best years ever. We won the cup without conceding a single goal and I played in every match. I remember beating Ajax at home and Utrecht away when I saved a penalty in an extraordinary game. We played the first half in glorious weather and on a perfect pitch, then when we came out for the second half the pitch was covered in snow. After beating NEC 2-0 in the final we celebrated for three days."

You would have loved playing for Perugia, a decent team that on their day could beat anyone in Serie A.

"Funnily enough, the fact that I did well for Roda for a long time and caught the eye in a UEFA Cup tie against Milan in 2001-02 - which we lost on penalties - gave me the opportunity to play in Italy's Serie A. I was supposed to leave Perugia for Fiorentina when we got relegated but Perugia did not want to sell me. I stayed on in Serie B but we were demoted to the third division when the club went bankrupt. It was a disaster and at one stage they were not paying us. That was unfortunate because Perugia were fantastic and I played regularly - which was brilliant for a bloke coming from Australia."

The day you signed for Milan in 2005 you told me that being a 'back-up' for Dida at such a huge club was better than being a regular in a small team.

"I was 32 when I went to Milan so I basically had played my career. I could have gone to Fiorentina where I would have been number one but how could I say 'no' to Milan. It was a no-brainer. In football you never know and in the end I played a lot of matches for Milan."

Can you give us an idea of what kind of pressure you are under when you play for a club like Milan?

"This is something I learned. The pressure at Perugia was to survive and stay up but with Milan the pressure was on in every game because you had to win. Nothing else mattered.

"The pressure is on at training too and you must always perform at 100 per cent. One day I was having a drink in town and the waiter came up to me and said 'you were shit at training today'. I said to myself how the hell does this bloke know how I went. Then I found out that parts of our training sessions are streamed live for the supporters every day. And if you don't perform even at training you quickly lose the fans' respect.

"Also, every time you step out from home for a coffee or a meal it was all about the way you presented yourself."

Do you miss the Meazza stadium on the big nights?

"It is the best stadium in the world and I don't care what anyone says. When you play at the 'San Siro' and it's full the noise and atmosphere are incredible. It gives me goosebumps just talking about it now."

Who was the most popular character in the squad?

"Gennaro Gattuso is a great guy and has won everything but he is so humble and down-to-earth. He is a fiery character and caused 'trouble' all the time and we loved winding him up. The most influential player was Paolo Maldini. When he spoke everyone listened and the player you could not touch at training was Kaka. The idea was to keep him fit because he could win matches on his own for us. You could do anything you liked at training except kick Kaka.

"All the players in the squad were incredibly humble. That was the thing with Milan, they signed great players but they also had to be good people."

Which was your Milan highlight?

"Winning the 2007 Champions League was special, even though I did not play in the final against Liverpool after playing all the way to the quarter-finals. The season was a great success for Milan because they also won the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup."

You still managed to knock up 54 appearances for Australia despite stiff competition from Bosnich and Schwarzer. Does it require a strong discipline to be on the bench so many times?

"We were all playing regularly for our clubs and to be part of the national squad was important if you had a soul for your country. It was difficult but it didn't matter in the end. There were other top goalkeepers who missed out and today Belgium and Poland each have three or four top keepers but they can't all play. Football is about the team, after all, and if you do not accept that you are not a team player, are you?"

Yet during the 2006 World Cup you publicly vented your frustration at not being picked ahead of Schwarzer.

"Look, everyone wants to play so in a way players can be 'selfish'. I should have played before the game against Croatia and I did not get picked. It was up to the coach. Of course, you get frustrated but there were three of us in 2006 but only one could play.

"In hindsight we have a laugh about it when I speak to Frank Farina, for example. I did not play too many matches when he was in charge for seven years and that was the best period of my career. But that's the way it is. I could have walked away from the Socceroos but I would have let the team down and marred the team spirit."

You got your chance versus Croatia and you made what could have been a costly mistake. Did you ever buy Harry Kewell a beer for scoring the late equaliser that saved Australia and your blushes?

"I bought Harry plenty of drinks when on a night out. The Croatia game was just a football match. His job was to score goals and mine was to stop them and I made one mistake. I tell you, if it were against any team other than Croatia - like Japan or Brazil - we don't talk about it but because my background is Croatian we talk about it. It was not the biggest mistake made by any goalkeeper in the world. I've seen much worse from top keepers."

You went back to Milan after the devastating 1-0 loss to Italy in the round of 16. Did you notice any change in the way Australia was regarded after the tight game that could have gone either way?

"The Italians respected us even before the match. I just think people in Australia did not realise how good the team was but the Italians knew, don't you worry about that. And they know they were very lucky to win that game. I reckon that game in Kaiserslautern won them the World Cup because they came through a very hard game and it gave them the impetus to go all the way."

You have worked a fair bit with Socceroos coach Arnold. Is he the man to take us to the next World Cup?

"He has the right intentions to bring Australian football back to where it was. He has the experience because he has worked with some top coaches. He also was his own man at club level and was very successful. He also knows what our football is all about. We just have to get together as a football community and support each other."

Who was the best coach you have played for at club or national level?

"Carlo Ancelotti at Milan. To work under a coach of his stature and see the way he deals with the kind of star players he works with and how he keeps the dressing room happy was a privilege and a massive learning experience for me. Guus Hiddink was fantastic in his short time with the Socceroos, as was Terry Venables."

Finally, who are the best players you have played with or against?

"Maldini is probably number one as a player and leader. He had a strong character and personality and he is all-round a top human being. I also was proud to call guys like Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldinho and Kaka my teammates.

"I played against some top players but for me Francesco Totti was the best. He was very hard to stop, especially when he and Antonio Cassano led Roma's attack."

ZELJKO KALAC FACTFILE

Club career

1989-95: Sydney United

1995-96: Leicester City

1996-98: Sydney United

1998-02: Roda JC

2002-05: Perugia

2005-09: AC Milan

2009-10: Kavala

International career

1992-06: Australia (54 matches)

Honours

Roda: 2000 Dutch Cup; Milan: 2007 Champions League; Australia: 1996, 2000, 2004 OFC Nations Cup.

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