Newcastle Jets striker, Marko Jesic, has been selected in Aurelio Vidmar’s Olyroo squad to compete in a Four Nations Tournament in Vietnam next week.
Newcastle Jets striker, Marko Jesic, has been selected in Aurelio Vidmar-s Olyroo squad to compete in a Four Nations Tournament in Vietnam next week. The 20-player squad will assemble in Sydney on Wednesday 15 September for a two day training camp before departing for Vietnam on Friday 17 September where they will play matches against the Under 23 National teams of DPR Korea & Kuwait and also the Vietnam National team.
A Marconi junior, Jesic is a graduate of the NSW Institute of Sport and the Australian Institute of Sport. He has also represented Australia at both the U17 and U20 level. Jesic made his debut for the Newcastle Jets on 6 October 2008, when he came on as a substitute against the Wellington Phoenix. Jesic scored his first goal for the club two weeks later when he scored in Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory on the 18 October 2008 in the 86th minute.
The selection marks a heroic comeback by the youngster who has had a cruel run with knee injuries having replaced the anterior cruciate ligament in both of his knees. In 2008, he tore his right knee’s ACL for the second time in his career, during the Boxing Day clash with the Central Coast Mariners. In a remarkable act of family loyalty, doctors removed the tendon from his brother Cedo’s hamstring and put it in Marko’s right knee to replace the torn ligament. In contrast to his first two reconstructions, Marko did not return to running until three months after surgery to allow the foreign tendon time to take in his knee.
On being told of his selection, Jesic stated “it is good news, I have been out for such a long time and to get the news that you are in an Australian squad is an awesome feeling. I am just happy that all the hard work has paid off. I am particularly grateful to my brother Cedo who made a big sacrifice to help me get back on track”.
Former Newcastle Jets, Jason Hoffman (Melbourne Heart) and Mirjan Pavlovic (Wellington Phoenix) have also been selected in the squad.
The full squad is;
Luke BRATTAN (Roar), Oliver BOZANIC (Mariners), James BROWN (Gold Coast), Isaka CERNAK (Fury), Luke DeVERE (Roar), Mate DUGANDZIC (Victory), Diogo FERRIERA (Victory), Antony GOLEC (Sydney FC), Marko JESIC (Jets), Jason HOFFMAN (Heart), Matthew JURMAN (Sydney FC), Tahj MINNIECON (Gold Coast), Daniel MULLEN (Adelaide), Mitch NICHOLS (Roar), Scott NEVILLE (Glory), Chris PAYNE (Fury), Mirjan PAVLOVIC (Phoenix), Andrew REDMAYNE (Roar), Sebastian RYALL (Sydney FC), Jerrad TYSON (Gold Coast)
