Tony Popovic

Tony Popović [ˈpɔːpɔʋitɕ] (born July 4, 1973 in Sydney, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player of Croatian descent who plays for Crystal Palace in The Championship. He wears the number 6 shirt and is a defender. He is also club captain, meaning that he is the captain when not on the field of play.

Tony Popovic signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima, a Japanese side. He began his career with Sydney United before moving to Japan for five years. He has become an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain.

Tony has also become an important member of the Australian side appearing 54 times for them over his career, scoring 7 goals (as of April 2006). He competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

He started for Australia in both matches of their 2006 World Cup Qualifying campaign against a determined Uruguay. He was taken off early in the second match by Guus Hiddink, after receving a yellow card for a challenge on Alvaro Recoba. Although he was taken off for Harry Kewell, his early efforts unsettled Recoba, thus helping take the pressure off the Australian's defence.

Tony has been named in Guus Hiddink's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Tony's Palace contract expires in June 2006, and the club has announced that they will decide in the next month whether to renew it or not.