Kevin Muscat

Muscat represented Australia at Under-20 level at the World Youth Cup finals in Portugal in 1991 and Australia in 1993, and at Under-23 level at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He made his full international debut in September 1994 against Kuwait, and went on to make 51 appearances for the national team, including Confederations Cup tournaments in 1997, 2001 and 2005. Muscat captained the national team five times from April 2001 and scored a critical penalty in the 1–0 home leg of Australia's unsuccessful play-off against Uruguay for a place in the finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Muscat was dropped from the squad when coach Guus Hiddink took over in 2005 and played no part in Australia's subsequent qualification for the 2006 World Cup, but was recalled later in 2006 by Graham Arnold and captained Australia in its 2–0 Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait. In 2008, newly appointed coach Pim Verbeek selected Muscat in a squad of 22 A-League based players to prepare for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, but he did not play in any subsequent fixtures.

Early life

Born in Crawley, West Sussex, in England from Maltese descent, Muscat began his career as a junior at Australian National Soccer League (NSL) club Sunshine George Cross, making his first senior appearances for the club in the 1989–90 season at 16 years old. He moved from Sunshine to the Australian Institute of Sport in 1990 and was awarded the Weinstein Medal as the Victorian Junior Player of the year.

South Melbourne FC

He continued playing in the NSL for Heidelberg United in the 1991–92 season before earning a move to Australian powerhouse South Melbourne Hellas. Mostly deployed as a left-back, Muscat's aggressiveness and defensive awareness made him a standout performer in the league which attracted international attention. During his time at South, he was called up to the Olyroos. In 1995–96 he trialled at Sheffield United under manager Dave Bassett but decided to stay at South Melbourne. After further impressive performances with South Melbourne and the Olyroos, he attracted the interest of many overseas clubs. His performances for South culminated in a senior international call-up by Eddie Thompson for the Australian National Team. By August 1996 Bassett had taken the helm at Crystal Palace and signed Muscat for the south London club for £35,000 from South Melbourne Hellas. In his departure Muscat thanked the South Melbourne fans for their support towards him.

Crystal Palace

Muscat was part of the Palace team that subsequently won…

Melbourne Victory

For the final two years of his playing career, Muscat served as a playing assistant coach under Ernie Merrick. Due to a clause in his contract with Melbourne Victory, which made him an assistant coach at Melbourne Victory for the next two years after his retirement, Muscat began serving as an assistant coach at Melbourne Victory shortly after his retirement from football. After Mehmet Durakovic was sacked after a poor run of results, Muscat was appointed as the caretaker coach of Melbourne Victory until he was succeeded by former Ipswich Town and Queens Park Rangers manager Jim Magilton. In his only game as Victory manager, Melbourne Victory defeated the Newcastle Jets 2–1, with two own goals from defender Byun Sung-Hwan. After an underwhelming tenure as Melbourne Victory manager, in which he recorded just two wins in 12 matches, Magilton left the Victory at the conclusion of the 2011–12 A-League with Brisbane Roar manager Ange Postecoglou taking the reins at Victory for the beginning of the 2012–13 A-League season, signing a three-year contract. After a relatively successful first season in charge of the Victory, in which the Victory finished 3rd on the A-League ladder, and made it to the semi-finals of the A-League finals, Postecoglou was appointed the new manager of Australia, with Postecoglou departing the Victory after their Round 3 win against Postecoglou's former club, Brisbane Roar. Having served under four managers since his appointment as…

Club

International

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