Australian Turkish Cypriot Footballer Captains Team to Victory

Melbourne City beat fierce city rivals Melbourne Victory 1-0 in a closely-contested A League final to clinch the title on Saturday at the city’s Aami Park, with a Yonatan Cohen goal in the 10th minute the difference between the two sides.

Behich was involved in the goal, driving down the left flank and backheeling the ball into the path of Austrian Andreas Kuen, who in turn whipped in a low cross for Max Caputo. 

Caputo’s shot cannoned off the crossbar, with Cohen following in to give Melbourne City a lead to which they held on for the remainder of the game.

Speaking after the game, he described the emotions of captaining his side to a league title as “unreal”, adding, “I don’t have words other than to thank this group of players and staff, and the club”.

“We’ve worked hard for a long time. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but it feels great, that’s for sure. I’ve said it many times; this club means so much to me. They threw me a lifeline when I was pretty much dead and buried in professional football. When I came back last year, the only goal I had was to bring a trophy to this football club,” he said.

Born in Melbourne in 1990 to Cypriot immigrant parents, Behich began his football career at Melbourne Victory, before moving to his current club in 2010 under their previous name of Melbourne Heart.

He then spent the bulk of his career in Europe, playing for Bursaspor, Istanbul Basaksehir, Kayserispor, and Giresunspor in Turkey, while also turning out for Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven and Scottish outfit Dundee United, and taking in a brief spell at Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr.

He has played 75 times for the Australian national team, including being a part of the country’s 2015 Asian Cup winning squad and playing at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Source: Cyprus Mail