A quarter of a century from his starring role in a 4-3 win over Liverpool, the Australian reminisces on playing in Croatia during civil war and opening a coffee shop after retirement
I
t started how it finished: with a delicate chip. Twenty‑five years ago, Mark Viduka scored all four goals in Leeds’s 4-3 victory against Liverpool at Elland Road. While those around furiously pedalled, Viduka remained Buddha‑esque, bookending his efforts with deft wedges over Sander Westerveld.
“I had to learn it over time,” Viduka says when asked whether his serenity was a superpower. “I played a lot of games where I was very nervous. When I was younger, I might just have belted it and hoped for the best.”
Viduka chuckles as he recalls a game early in his time at Croatia Zagreb, now called Dinamo Zagreb. He joined in 1995 and in the Eternal derby against Hajduk Split he was one-on-one with Tonci Gabric. He admits he panicked. “There was huge expectation, and a roar from the crowd. Somehow, I hit it with the outside of my foot and it went through the keeper’s legs. All the commentators thought I did it on purpose and I’m thinking: ‘Thank God that went in.’”
