Profile of Harry Kewell on Famous Like Me

Harry Kewell (born September 22, 1978 in Smithfield, Sydney), is an Australian-born football player regarded by many as Australia's all-time best. He currently plays for Liverpool F.C. where he wears the number 7 shirt.

He joined the English Premiership football club Leeds United on trial at 16 from New South Wales Academy. He made his Leeds debut as a 17-year-old on 30 March 1996 in a 1-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough. He made his Australia debut in April 1996 in 3-0 defeat by Chile. The first goal he scored for Leeds came some time later, in October 1997, in a 3-1 League Cup victory over Stoke City.

Playing mostly in a left midfield role and in attack, he became Leeds' "jewel of the crown" in a troupe of highly promising youngsters, eventually forming a striking partnership with fellow Australian Mark Viduka. The high point of this period was when they helped Leeds to the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League in 2000-01. However, the club began to suffer financial difficulties and, by 2002-03, having sold many of their best players, the efforts in front of goal of Kewell and Viduka merely prevented a mediocre Leeds side from being relegated from the Premiership.

Disillusioned with the plight of cash-strapped Leeds, Kewell moved to Liverpool for the start of the 2003-04 season, reportedly snubbing an offer from Manchester United. The transfer was highly controversial, with claims that Liverpool paid Kewell's manager a substantial fee to ensure that he ended up at Anfield. (It is alleged that, of the £5 million that Liverpool paid for Kewell, £2 million went to his non-FIFA registered manager.) Kewell sued Gary Lineker in 2005 for defamation around such claims made by Lineker, but after the jury failed to agree a verdict, the two parties settled out of court.

His performances in the first half of his debut season for Liverpool were exceptional, although it is generally believed that Kewell has failed to achieve these heights since. As of October 2004, his inconsistent form has cost him guaranteed first-team football. Proof of Kewell's qualities (at least in the past) is the fact that, in the 2002-3 and 2003-4 seasons, Kewell was the leading scorer of left-footed goals in the Premiership.

Kewell has not always turned out for the Australian national team due to a constant tug-of-war between club versus country obligations. However, when he has, his efforts have been outstanding, scoring on a regular basis against strong teams and helping in victories, most importantly to most Australians — against England.

On May 26, 2005 Kewell became only the second Australian (behind Craig Johnston) to win the UEFA Champions League, playing in Liverpool's narrow win over A.C. Milan in penalties. Kewell was controversially selected by Benítez ahead of the defensive midfielder Hamann, with the aim being to attack AC Milan from the start. The gamble failed, and a limping Kewell was substituted early in the first half with a torn groin muscle, causing some sections of the Liverpool support to boo him, as Kewell had gained a reputation of not being willing to try hard for the sake of the club. Kewell's replacement, the Czech winger Vladimír Šmicer, scored Liverpool's second goal and converted the decisive penalty, in his last game for the club.

At the start of the 2005/06 season Kewell remains injured and unavailable for selection and seemingly has a lot to do to recapture the promise shown in his earlier days.

Honours

• 2004/05 UEFA Champions League

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Harry Kewell