Tony Vidmar

Vidmar was born in Adelaide to a Slovenian father and Italian mother. His biggest impact in club football came whilst at Scottish side Rangers, for whom he played over 150 games and won the Scottish Premier League twice, the Scottish League Cup twice and the Scottish Cup three times. His goal against Italian side Parma in a UEFA Champions League qualifying round tie in 1999 cemented him a place in Rangers folklore. He left the club in 2002 and joined Middlesbrough on a free transfer. He then joined Welsh side Cardiff City on a free transfer in 2003, with manager Lennie Lawrence being quick to sign him after missing out the previous year following his release from Rangers. Vidmar quickly became a fans favourite at Cardiff and made 73 appearances for the club before leaving in 2005 to re-sign for Dutch side NAC Breda, the club he had left to join Rangers.

Highly criticised as one of the main weak points in the Australia national team's defence under Frank Farina's tenure, Guus Hiddink's appointment sparked a tremendous improvement in his performance, culminating in an impressive performance in the second leg of the World Cup qualifying tie against Uruguay. Vidmar notably volunteered to take his teammate Mark Bresciano's kick in the penalty shoot-out (after the latter had been substituted through injury). This was successfully converted, giving Australia a 3–1 lead, and they subsequently won 4–2 on penalties. On 9 May 2006, Vidmar announced he was withdrawing himself from World Cup team selection for medical reasons, specifically an irregular heart rhythm. Doctors discovered this irregularity was due to a blood clot in his left coronary artery. Following an operation in London, Vidmar was given the all-clear to resume his professional football career. Vidmar announced his international retirement after the friendly fixture against Paraguay on 7 October 2006, in which Australia drew 1–1.

Club

International

Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vidmar goal.

Vidmar is the father of Kane Vidmar and Mikayla Vidmar, who are both footballers. His brother, Aurelio Vidmar was also a former footballer and current football manager.