On this day 4 July we celebrate our Wanderers coach Tony Popovic’s 41st birthday. Find out who Popa shares a birthday with.
NRMA Insurance Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic celebrates his 41st birthday today. Check out our list of other footballers who share their birthday with Popa including two of his Socceroo teammates from the mid 1990s.
Tony Vidmar: One of Popa-s Socceroo teammates Vidmar made it into Australian Football history when he slotted home the third penalty in Australia-s 2006 World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.
Domestically Vidmar-s greatest triumphs came during his 150 games for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League where he won two SPL titles, two Scottish League Cups and three Scottish Cups.
Ned Zelic: Another former international teammate of our Western Sydney Wanderers coach Zelic is most known for his feisty defending and successful spell in Germany and as a Socceroo.
The defender also had an eye for goal scoring 25 goals in his 413-game professional career with nine of those on the national stage.
Zelic’s most renowned success in Europe came with Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga where he appeared in the UEFA Cup final in his first season and won the -94-95 Bundesliga title.
Alfredo Di Stéfano: An Argentinian great Alfredo Di Stéfano was twice European Player of the Year and also managed to lead Real Madrid to a record five straight European Cup championships and eight league titles over all during his 282 apps (and 216 goals) for the Spanish giants.
Following an incredibly successful playing career Di Stefano began a coaching career managing clubs for two decades before being named honorary president of Real Madrid in 2000.
Giampiero Boniperti: ‘Mr Juve- played his entire career at Juventus between 1946 and 1961 where he was became the Italian side-s highest ever goals scorer with 182 goals and managed to hold the title for over 40 years before Alessandro Del Piero tipped his record.
After his retirement Boniperti was honoured with the position of president of Juventus and although no longer sitting at the head of his beloved Juve he is arguably the side-s most important player to have ever donned the black and white stripes.
Notably after over 50 years Boniperti remains the eleventh-highest goal scorer of all-time in Serie A.
