Danny Vukovic

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Personal information
Danny Vukovic
Full name	Danny Vukovic
Date of birth	March 27, 1985 (1985-03-27) (age 23)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Central Coast Mariners
Number	20
Youth clubs
	St Clair United Nepean Southern Districts Bonnyrigg White Eagles
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2004 2004-2005 2005-present	Parramatta Power Bonnyrigg White Eagles Central Coast Mariners	05 (0) 43 (0)
National team²
2005 2006-present	Australia U-20 Australia U-23	04 (0) 18 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 September 2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 22 October 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Danny Vukovic (born March 27, 1985 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He currently plays as a goalkeeper for the Australian A-League club the Central Coast Mariners.

1 Club career
- 1.1 2008 Grand Final Controversy
2 Honours
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Club career

Vukovic's family is of Serbian descent and he attended Westfield Sports High School in Sydney.

He previously played for Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Parramatta Power.

Vukovic made his A-League debut for the Central Coast Mariners in September 2005 against Melbourne Victory after the team's first-choice keeper suffered a season-ending hip injury. They lost the game 2-1, however Vukovic saved an Archie Thompson penalty and was widely praised for his debut effort. He went on to play 19 more games for the Mariners in the 2005-06 season, achieving five clean sheets, and also saved a penalty from Sydney FC's star player, Dwight Yorke.

Like many Mariners players, Vukovic still spends time in schools and at local junior football games, encouraging football at a grassroots level.

[edit] 2008 Grand Final Controversy

During the third A-League Grand Final on February 24, 2008, Vukovic received a red card for striking an official following an accidental and unaffecting handball^[1] by Newcastle Jets player James Holland. On the day after the Grand Final, Football Federation Australia (FFA) gave Vukovic a 15-month ban (with 6 months suspended), meaning he wouldn't be able to play in the A-League until November 24, 2009.

On 4 March 2008, this ban was reduced on appeal to 12 months (with 3 months suspended), meaning that if Vukovic re-offended in the following year, the 3 month suspended sentence would be activated. The ban extended to national team duty, which precluded him from competing in the 2008 Summer Olympics with the Australian U-23 team, the Olyroos, which he represented in all Olympic qualifiers for Beijing and had captained on occasion.

Vukovic's ban was appealed a second time and on April 22, 2008 Football Federation Australia announced that the appeals committee had settled on a split suspension; up to 24 June, 2008 and then from 29 August through to 5 October, 2008. Vukovic was also fined $10,000 and will have a further part of his sentence suspended from 6 October, 2008 through to 25 January, 2009.

Although Vukovic will be ineligible to play for the Mariners in the early rounds of the Hyundai A-League 2008/09 season, the decision means he will be eligible for selection for the Australian Olympic team competing in Beijing.^[2]