Zeljko Kalac farewells his beloved Sydney United

The Socceroos legend, who bid farewell to the United faithful in his last game at Sydney United Sports Centre, showed glimpses of the form from his heyday in Sydney United?s 2-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets.
Australian football icons Craig Moore, Ante Milicic, Mark Rudan and Tony Popovic all put on the famous red jersey to send ?Spider? out in style in front of a 3000 strong crowd at Edensor Park.
The two metre giant said he was overwhelmed by the turnout and was honoured to end his football career in front of his friends and family.
?This is where it all started, so to come back and finish here is fantastic,? he said.
?It was great to see so many people back at this fantastic stadium.
?I couldn?t have asked for a better day to go out.?
When the game finally began, it didn?t take long for the main attraction to leave his imprint on the game, denying Labinot Haliti from close range with a brilliant save low to his left.
But there was very little the United legend could do when a beautifully weighted pass from Adam D?Apuzzo found a charging Jeremy Brockie.
The no.14 did well to get behind the Reds defence, laying the ball back to an unmarked Ali Abbas who slotted home from the far post.
The Jets were making inroads on their opponents and were creating several opportunities up front.
Ben Kantarovski turned several defenders on his road to setting up Michael Bridges, but despite being one-on-one with the Englishman, Kalac again proved difficult to crack.
But the veteran keeper soon made his first blunder of the afternoon, misreading a long ball from Adam D?Apuzzo, allowing Jeremy Brockie to run behind him and head home the Jets? second of the match.
Craig Moore and Mark Rudan made an early exit from the match, earning a heroes send off when they left the field moments before half time.
The Jets made several changes for the second period, allowing the likes of Sasho Petrovski and Jobe Wheelhouse to make their way on to United Sports Centre for the first time.
Two of the three remaining United legends, Ante Milicic and Tony Popovic, both called it a night just after half time.
It took more than an hour, but United finally made Jets keeper Ben Kennedy work.
A curling shot from Michael Cindric looked destined to reduce the deficit to one, but Kennedy?s diving save to his left kept United at bay.
Despite pleasing the crowd with several saves, the biggest cheer of the night came when Kalac departed his beloved field for the last time, receiving a standing ovation as he farewelled the crowd in the 73? minute.
Luka Glavas was given a short stint in the second half and could have opened the account, but Kennedy was again called into the action and thwarted Glavas? long range effort.
While the Jets were impressive in their two-goal, the day belonged to Kalac.
The 37-year-old admitted he was sore after the match, and said his decision to retire came at the right time.
?My feet are killing me because that was the hardest goal mouth I?ve ever played on in my life,? he said.
?I don?t miss it at the moment because I made the right decision to stop at the top.
?I probably would have been disappointed had I have walked away when things went bad.?
?When the body says no more you can?t fight against it.?
Match Stats
Sydney United 0
Newcastle Jets 2 (Ali Abbas, Jeremy Brockie)
Venue: Sydney United Sports Centre, Edensor Park
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Crowd: Approx 3000.
Sydney United: 1.Zeljko Kalac, 5.Damon Collina, 3.Craig Moore, 4.Tony Popovic, 21.Mark Rudan, 8.Shane Lyons, 7.Ivo Bosnar, 2.Mitchel Thompson, 39.Kyle Ewart, 10.Ante Milicic, 16.Elsid Barkhousir
Substitutes: Petar Markovic, Luka Glavas, Mitchell Spears, Peter Zorbas, Tommy Cirjak, Sean Mitchell, Michael Cindric, Joe Vrkic, Ryan Norval, Steven Veleski
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Newcastle Jets: 1.Ben Kennedy, 21.Brodie Mooy, 3.Adam D?Apuzzo, 4.Nikolai Topor-Stanley, 5.Ljubo Milicevic, 7.Kasey Wehrman, 6.Ben Kantarovski, 8.Michael Bridges, 16.Jeremy Brockie, 14.Labinot Haliti, 19.Ali Abbas
Substitutes: 2.Taylor Regan, 10.Ruben Zadkovich, 12.Jobe Wheelhouse, 13.Sasho Petrovski, 17.Marcello Fiorentini, 18.Marko Jesic, 22.Kaz Patafta, 28.Mario Simic, 30.Paul Henderson
Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
– Michael Chammas