Scott McDonald

Football player infobox
playername = Scott McDonald


fullname = Scott Douglas McDonald
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|8|21
cityofbirth = Melbourne, Victoria
countryofbirth = Australia
height = height|ft=5|in=8
currentclub = Celtic
clubnumber = 7
position = Striker
youthyears = 1997-1998
youthclubs = Gippsland Falcons
years = 1998-1999
2000-2002
2002
2003
2003
2004-2007
2007–
clubs = Morwell Falcons
Southampton
→ Huddersfield (loan)
→ Bournemouth (loan)
Wimbledon
Motherwell
Celtic
caps(goals) = 003 0(0)
002 0(0)
013 0(1)
007 0(1)
002 0(0)
108 (42)
041 (28)
nationalyears = 1999
2001-2003
2003-2004
2006–
nationalteam = Australia U-17s
Australia U-20s
Australia U-23s
Australia
nationalcaps(goals) = 017 (13)
024 (16)
003 0(0)
009 0(0)
pcupdate = 5 October 2008
ntupdate = 28 September, 2008

Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian professional football player who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League side Celtic.

Club career

Early career

McDonald began his career at outer suburb club, Doveton, before joining Casey Comets. He made three appearances on loan from his Victorian State League club, Cranbourne Comets, with Gippsland Falcons in the Australian National Soccer League, where he became the club's youngest ever NSL player, making his first team debut, aged just fourteen.

McDonald started off as a trainee with Southampton in 2001 where he only managed one first team start and two appearances as a substitute, being loaned to Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth where again he had chances to play first team football. Upon reaching the end of his contract with Southampton he signed for the MK Dons (at that time Wimbledon F.C.) on a rolling monthly contract.

Motherwell

After joining Motherwell he had a slow start, scoring only 2 goals during the second half of the 2003-04 season despite impressive performances. The following season he proceeded to score 15 goals. McDonald famously scored two late goals against Celtic at the end of season 2004-05 to deny them the Scottish Premier League championship which was instead won by their arch-rivals Rangers. His goal against Falkirk on the 25 November 2006 was the 5000th goal in the SPL since its formation in 1998.

After a £400,000 bid from Rangers was rejected in January 2007,cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/motherwell/6309275.stm|title=Rangers miss out on McDonald bid|date=February 1 2007|publisher=BBC Sport website] McDonald's former club Motherwell accepted a £700,000 offer from boyhood favouritescite news|url=http://www.celticfc.net/home/players/playerInfo/smcdonald.aspx|title=Scott McDonald Profile|publisher=Celtic FC website] Celtic in March 2007, with McDonald moving to Celtic Park at the start of the 2007–08 season.cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/motherwell/6495029.stm|date=March 28 2007|title=Celtic agree terms for McDonald|publisher=BBC Sport website]

In December 2007, McDonald was named BBC Sportsound Player of the Year for his eight man-of-the-match performances throughout the 2006-07 season. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/6931419.stm|title=Sportsound Player of the Year|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=January 6|accessyear=2008]

Celtic

McDonald made his competitive debut for Celtic in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying Round match against Spartak Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium. His first goal for the club came in the second leg of the of the tie at Celtic Park. A mistake by Spartak defender Roman Shishkin allowed McDonald to slip in and hit the ball first time past Stipe Pletikosa.

Just days later away to St. Mirren, McDonald latched onto a long Gary Caldwell pass to lob over the keeper from a very tight angle and score his first SPL goal for Celtic. Impressive performances, most notably a hat-trick against Dundee United in the SPL have seen McDonald claim his place as first choice striker alongside Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink in the Celtic attack. He has since followed that up with the winning goal against A.C. Milan in the final minute of their UEFA Champions League clash. McDonald scored a double in Celtic's vital 3-2 victory over rivals Rangers in April 2008 and won a penalty for the winning goal.

McDonald was rewarded with a new five-year deal in June 2008 [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/7458530.stm|title= McDonald extends Celtic contract|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=June 18|accessyear=2008] and was nominated for SPL player of the year.

Scott wore the number 27 in his first season but from season 08/09 he was given the no.7 jersey. McDonald said he was delighted to wear the same number shirt as Henrik Larsson and Jimmy Johnstone.

International career

McDonald made his international debut for Australia against Bahrain on February 22 2006 in an Asian Cup qualifier and has also represented Australia at U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. He played in 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Until this point, Scott had also been eligible to play for Scotland, as both of his parents are of Scottish heritage. He was a starter in the Australia squad that started off qualification for World Cup 2010 with a 3-0 over Qatar, setting up a goal for Mark Bresciano.

Honours

With Celtic F.C.:
* SPL Championship: 2007–2008

Club career statistics

:"(correct as of October 5 2008)"

References

External links

*
* [http://www.celticfc.net/home/players/playerInfo/smcdonald.aspx Celtic profile]
* [http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/Socceroos/default.aspx?s=soc_player_profile&pid=226&tid=23 FFA - Socceroos profile]