Some Golden Soft Sombrero Moments with Zeljko Kalac Kalac on Schwarzer's 'Sour Grapes'… Diegos: "Unfortunately your selection to the Soccecroo World Cup squad against Iran was sullied by Mark Schwarzer's media outburst this week alleging 'Socceroo plots and secret deals' between you and Terry Venables. How does it make you feel when you hear a fellow teammate come out so strongly against you?" Kalac: "It's a little bit disappointing of course. You don't expect fellow peers to go out and have sour grapes and attack players. What can you do? I don't select the side. Someone else selects it and I just play. That's all there is to it." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "The Diegos have a close relationship with El Tel and know for a fact that you will be second in line to Bosnich for the goalkeeping position. How do you see your role? Will you try and sabotage Bozza? Itching powder in the jock strap or short sheet the bed?" Kalac: "Gee you guys must speak to El Tel a fair bit if you know the team already. We're all mates. We're all in it together. If we can get to the World Cup we know what it means to a lot of players. If I'm second choice by any chance I'm here to help the lads get through this. My moral support will be there like every other reserve that is if I am second choice." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "Apparently the producers of the soap operas 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and 'The Days of Our Lives' are vying to shoot an episode titled 'Work Permit Blues'. They say it's going to be based on your true-life drama of trying to get that elusive UK work permit. Can you tell us a little about how frustrating this whole issue is?" Kalac: "Well I've had to knock back all these women that want to marry me over there in England but l suppose if the producers pay me enough money for this mini series it could compensate a little for the frustration I've experienced." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "It always amazes us how tall you really are. When did you first realize that you were so tall?" Kalac: "I think l shot up at the age of 15 or 16. I have this theory that my growth is due to an old Croatian trick where my dad used to grab me by the ears and pull me up into the air whenever l misbehaved as a kid. I obviously got a lot of that!" Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "It seems that if you are an offspring of a Croatian couple you are destined to be a baby giraffe elite sportsperson in many different sports. You, Ilja Grgic in the AFL footy and Goran Ivanisevic in the tennis are just some that fit into this category. Were you ever tempted to give any other sport a crack?" Kalac: "Now that you see that I've chosen to be a goalkeeper there's a simple answer to that - goalkeepers don't have to run. I just seem to be one of those lazy buggers who seem to be only good with my hands and that's in all departments to." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997
Diegos: "In 1994 you had a blinder in the Kirin Cup in Japan against a full strength France. In that game you actually saved a penalty from Jean Pierre Papin. Now he is not a French kickboxing champ he is in fact one of the world's greatest strikers. Can you tell us a little about that game? Kalac: "That was probably the start of my career in the national team because Zabica got injured in the first game against Japan and we were down one - nil when I came on. I went on to have a good game in a 1-1 draw. I then stayed in the team against a full strength French team that included Cantona and Ginola. They had one hell of a side. I was in awe playing on the same pitch as these guys. As you say, I saved Papin's penalty but that man Cantona scored against me and we lost one-nil." Soft Sombrero Moment 1997 |