A former Premier League player has taken up an unusual job path following a 16-year professional footballing career.
The legendary goalscorer spent almost a decade in the English top flight and captained his national side, but now enjoys a low-key life running a coffee shop.
That man is Mark Viduka, who scored 92 Premier League goals in 240 appearances for Leeds, Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
Viduka is one of the Premier League’s great cult heroes, first moving to England when Leeds paid £6million to sign him from Celtic in the summer of 2000.
But his career was curtailed by injury, leading to his retirement at the age of 34 despite a World Cup in the horizon and being offered the chance to continue his top flight career in England.
Now, though, he admits he is happy living an ‘anonymous’ life in his ancestral home of Croatia – where he has found a new calling.
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Viduka is an Elland Road hero after a Leeds career that saw him plunder 72 goals and provide 16 assists 166 games – including a memorable quartet of strikes against Liverpool which sealed a 4-3 victory in front of home fans.
As a fan of AC Milan growing up, he attracted interest from the Italian side during his spell at Leeds, but the move didn’t materialise.
Viduka also attracted interest from Manchester United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, but again, the move didn’t go ahead as the Aussie star refused to join one of the White’s bitterest of rivals.
Injuries upset his spell with the Yorkshire, while Leeds’ financial situation and relegation from the top tier saw him sold to Middlesbrough in 2004 in a £4.5m deal.
He joined a team that had qualified for the UEFA Cup, having won the League Cup the previous campaign, and he settled in quickly with his stunning goalscoring form helping Boro to the League Cup quarter-final, FA Cup semi-final and UEFA Cup final that year.
Devastatingly that showpiece game ended in Steve McClaren’s side being thumped 4-0 by Sevilla, thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from a familiar face – current Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who scored two goals.
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Viduka stayed at the Riverside until the end of his three-year contract and, although then-boss Gareth Southgate insisted he wanted to keep hold of the No.9, he departed as a free agent with a record of 42 goals and eight assists in 101 games in a Boro shirt.
He didn’t go very far, though, as he made the 40 mile trip north to join Newcastle as Sam Allardyce’s first signing. In a twist of fate, he scored his first Magpies goal against his old Boro teammates.
His spell at St James’ Park was less prolific, though, with injuries restricting him to just 40 games, seven goals and four assists over two seasons.
Ultimately Newcastle were the final club of his career, as he decided to hang up his boots when his two-year contract ended in another relegation as the Magpies dropped to the Championship.
But not before he intervened in a dressing room spat between Joey Barton and Alan Shearer, telling Barton to ‘shut the f*** up and sit down’.
As he revealed years later, he had the chance to join Fulham and even spoke to then-Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson about the move, but decided not to because he didn’t want to ‘look like a f****** idiot’.
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“Roy Hodgson wanted me at Fulham,” Viduka told We met in the Chelsea Harbour Hotel,” Viduka told the Daily Mail in 2021.
“I said, “Roy, I would love to be that guy for you, mate. But I can’t do it’. In my head I was there, on the end of the cross. In reality, I was a split-second late.
“I thought, ‘If I keep playing, I’m gonna look like a f*cking idiot’. I had to be honest with myself, and Roy. I didn’t want people to remember me as someone sticking around just for the money.
“Everyone has their time. I’ve had mine. I’m fine with that. I enjoy the peace. I’m happy to be anonymous now.”
He was a hero at international level, too, competing in two Olympic Games and the 2006 World Cup, where he captained the Socceroos under Guus Hiddink and reached the last-16.
While he was a star back home, he struggled to really perform when it mattered for his country, scoring just 11 goals in 43 appearances with none in major competitions.
He was set to represent Australia at a World Cup again in 2010, but decided to retire instead.
He ended his career with an Australian top flight title and cup with Melbourne Knights, three Croatian league titles and three cups with Dinamo Zagreb and a Scottish League Cup with Celtic.
Rather than spend his retirement Down Under, though, he instead chose to lay down roots back in Croatia, the homeland of his father.
He now lives and runs a cafe in Zagreb, where he counts former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic among his regular customers.
He is also friends with Real Madrid star Luka Modric who has a house nearby but, despite rumours to the contrary, they are NOT cousins.
“Everyone says that,” Viduka has said when asked about the Croatia icon. “He’s related to my cousins through marriage. But we’re friends. A nice guy.”
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And it appears he’s enjoying his quiet life in his ancestral homeland.
Speaking recently to ESPN, Viduka said: “I was always in the spotlight. Lots of pressure. Now, my only pressure is making a good brew for customers.
“I left Australia to sign for Croatia Zagreb aged 19 and fell in love with the lifestyle. And we’d always wanted to run a cafe, for fun really, one where everyone was welcome. So here we are.
“Listen, my missus does all the work, I just sit here and drink coffee!
“Other than that I play the guitar. My son, Oliver, is a drummer in a band. When one of his mates can’t make it, I jump in.
“We use our basement. The neighbours aren’t very happy about it!”