Damian Mori

Damian Mori

Personal information
Full name	Damian Mori
Date of birth	30 September 1970 (1970-09-30) (age 41)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Adelaide City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1989–1990	South Melbourne	33	(5)
1990–1991	Sunshine George Cross	24	(4)
1991	Bulleen	16	(7)
1991–1992	Melbourne Knights	29	(12)
1992–1997	Adelaide City Force	126	(75)
1997	Borussia Mönchengladbach	6	(0)
1997–2000	Adelaide City Force	91	(56)
2000–2004	Perth Glory	112	(78)
2004–2005	Adelaide City	44	(33)
2005–2006	Perth Glory	17	(6)
2006	Adelaide City	18	(13)
2006	Central Coast Mariners	8	(6)
2006–2007	Queensland Roar	8	(2)
2007	Adelaide City	17	(13)
2007	Central Coast Mariners	3	(0)
2008–2010	Adelaide City	37	(22)
2010	South Adelaide Panthers	4	(2)
2011—	Adelaide City	3	(0)
National team‡
1991–1992	Australia U-23	17	(4)
1992–2002	Australia	45	(29)
Teams managed
2007–	Adelaide City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 August 2011

Damian Mori (born 30 September 1970 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player who is (as of January 2011) the top scorer for the Socceroos. He is currently a player/manager at Adelaide City in the South Australian Super League.

He established a reputation as a pacy, poaching goalscorer, which is remarkable for a player who started his career as a defender. He has made his mark on both the domestic and international fronts.

Club career

Mori was successful at club level - mainly in the Australian domestic league. After developing into Adelaide City's most important and best player, he spent a single season (1996/97) overseas in Germany with Borussia Mönchengladbach. This move was characterised only by frustration. He appeared in only six games, and never played more than half a match. In those six games, he didn't score once. Mori returned home to become NSL Top Goalscorer the following season.

In 1996, Mori held the world record for the fastest goal after he scored for City in just 3.69 seconds in a 2-2 draw with Sydney United.

In 2000, Mori transferred to Perth Glory and enjoyed great success. The striking partnership with Bobby Despotovski was renowned as one of the most potent in the competition. Mori won the NSL championship in 2002-03, scoring in the Grand Final. He was also part of the 2003-04 Perth Glory championship side.

Following the end of the National Soccer League in 2004 he moved back to Adelaide City to play and coach in the South Australian Premier League. He was extremely successful here, winning the "Coach of the Year" award. However, many were surprised at the fact that the NSL all-time top goalscorer was not on the shortlist of any A-League club.

It later emerged that a major stumbling block was Mori's desire for a part-time contract to allow him to manage business interests in Adelaide. Prior to round 4 of the A-League season, it was announced that Perth Glory had signed Mori on a short term contract to replace injured defender David Tarka. Mori subsequently came on as a substitute in the Glory's 1 - 0 away win over the New Zealand Knights on 22 September 2005. After some excellent displays, particularly a brace against Newcastle United Jets and a hat-trick against Adelaide United, the club strongly desired a permanent deal. After some wrangling with Adelaide City chairman Bob D'Ottavi, Mori agreed to a 1 year deal.

On 9 December 2005, it was announced that Damian Mori would be appointed as Assistant Manager at Perth Glory. This appointment followed the elevation of Alan Vest to Manager after the departure of Steve McMahon. After the completion of the 2005-06 A-League Season, Mori returned to Adelaide City as player/manager.

On 27 September 2006 Mori signed with the Central Coast Mariners on a short term deal to cover the loss of Nik Mrdja which was extended once. After the short term contract with the Mariners had expired, the FFA did not allow Central Coast to resign him. On 21 November 2006, he was approached by new Queensland Roar manager Frank Farina and signed the following day on a short-term "until the end of the season" contract. After the Roar failed to make the playoffs, Mori returned to SA to be the player-coach once again of defending South Australian champions Adelaide City.

International career

Mori made his international debut against Solomon Islands on 4 September 1992. In an international career that spanned over the next ten years, he was capped 45 times and scored an impressive 29 goals. He is the all-time top goalscorer of the Australian national team.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 September 1992	Stade Pater, Papeete, Tahiti	Tahiti	0-1	0-3	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	24 September 1993	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul, South Korea	South Korea	1-1	1-1	Friendly
3	15 November 1995	Breakers Stadium, Newcastle, Australia	New Zealand	1-0	3-0	Trans-Tasman Cup
4	14 February 1996	Lakeside Stadium, Melbourne, Australia	Japan	1-0	3-0	Friendly
5	14 September 1996	Kings Park, Durban, South Africa	Ghana	0-1	0-2	Friendly
6	21 September 1996	Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa	Kenya	0-3	0-4	Friendly
7	11 June 1997	Parramatta Stadium, Sydney, Australia	Solomon Islands	1-0	13-0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
8				2-0
9				4-0
10				6-0
11				9-0
12	12 December 1997	King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Mexico	3-1	3-1	1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
13	25 September 1998	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia	Fiji	1-0	3-1	1998 OFC Nations Cup
14				2-0
15				3-0
16	28 September 1998	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia	Cook Islands	2-0	16-0	1998 OFC Nations Cup
17				4-0
18				6-0
19				7-0
20	2 October 1998	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia	Tahiti	1-0	4-1	1998 OFC Nations Cup
21				2-0
22				3-1
23	9 April 2001	BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, Australia	Tonga	2-0	22-0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
24				5-0
25				8-0
26				12-0
27	6 July 2002	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Vanuatu	0-1	0-2	2002 OFC Nations Cup
28	8 July 2002	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	New Caledonia	0-4	0-11	2002 OFC Nations Cup
29	14 July 2002	Ericsson Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Tahiti	1-2	1-2	2002 OFC Nations Cup

Honours

With Australia:

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 1997 (Runners-Up)
• OFC Nations Cup: 1996

With Perth Glory:

• NSL Championship: 2002-2003, 2003–2004

With Adelaide City:

• NSL Championship: 1993-1994

With South Melbourne:

• NSL Cup: 1989-1990

Personal Honours:

• Johnny Warren Medal: 1995-1996 with Adelaide City
• Johnny Warren Medal: 2002-2003 with Perth Glory
• NSL Top Scorer: 1995-1996 with Adelaide City - 31 goals
• NSL Top Scorer: 1997-1998 with Adelaide City - 19 goals
• NSL Top Scorer: 1999-2000 with Adelaide City - 22 goals
• NSL Top Scorer: 2001-2002 with Perth Glory - 17 goals
• NSL Top Scorer: 2002-2003 with Perth Glory - 24 goals
• 94th top goal scorer of all time

External links

• Oz Football profile
• Damian Mori at RSSSF
• Hat Trick against Adelaide United on World Football Register

Awards
Preceded by Mark Viduka	NSL Golden Boot 1995/96	Succeeded by David Zdrilic
Preceded by Mark Viduka	Johnny Warren Medallist 1995/96	Succeeded by Kresimir Marusic
Preceded by David Zdrilic	NSL Golden Boot 1997/98	Succeeded by Mile Sterjovski, Pablo Cardozo
Preceded by Mile Sterjovski, Pablo Cardozo	NSL Golden Boot 1999/00	Succeeded by Sasho Petrovski
Preceded by Sasho Petrovski	NSL Golden Boot 2001/02-2002/03	Succeeded by Ante Milicic
Preceded by Fernando Rech	Johnny Warren Medallist 2002/03	Succeeded by Ante Milicic

Persondata
Name	Mori, Damian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	30 September 1970
Place of birth	Melbourne, Australia
Date of death
Place of death