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| Credit: Adelaide United. |
Vidosic isn’t one to complain. He thrives on the pressure of being a leader on the pitch. As he approaches his 26th birthday, Vidosic says he’s ready to take on even more responsibility and looks forward to using his experience to help others around him.
Dario’s football story starts as many do in Australia, as a precocious youngster with talent to burn.
After shining bright in his debut A-League season with the Roar many predicted the Croatian-born playmaker wouldn’t grace Australian shores for very long.
They were right.
A month before his 20th birthday Dario headed to Europe where he began a four-year stint in Germany, his time as an FC Nuremberg player interspersed with trials at MSV Duisberg and Arminia Bielefeld.
“It was a great experience,” Vidosic declares.
“I look back and think maybe I went a little too early but all in all it was a positive experience.
“I learnt a lot and it was a little bit unfortunate at times as I had a few little injuries that maybe held me back,” he said.
Dario’s infrequent spells in the starting 11 and injury troubles eventually led him back to Australia in 2011 where he ended his European sojourn to take up a new challenge in Adelaide.
Vidosic became the club’s Australian marquee player, returning with the intent to play consecutively and continue his apprenticeship of the world game.
“Coming back here I understood the aspects of my game that I needed to improve,” he said.
“Not only did I have to just attack and try to score goals but it’s also very important I try and win the ball as quickly as possible.
“In modern-day football you start defending from the front so the striker does it first and if we can win the ball up there it gives us a greater chance of scoring goals,” Vidosic said.
Now he is ready to use his wealth of experience and step up to lead in any way he can.
“I’ve had a lot of experience and it’s something that I want to develop in my game, that on and off-field leadership. I want to lead from the front and set an example,” he said.
Vidosic has nothing but praise for current captain Eugene Galekovic but said he’d love the chance to take his role as an on-field leader to the next level.
“It would be an honour to captain a club and especially Adelaide United now that I’ve played two seasons here,” he said.
“Euge has been phenomenal as a captain but we’ve got 11 captains out there on the field.
“Euge does the coin toss and he’s our official captain but once we get out there we all need to be captains and control it and speak a lot and everyone has to help each other and talk a lot,” Vidosic said.
After taking his game to another level this season Dario feels he has matured enough that, when the time comes, he is prepared to face any challenge if he is given another opportunity overseas to show what he can do.
“I went over the first time and I think now that I’m a more complete footballer than when I was younger and now there are a lot more aspects of my game that I’ve worked on,” he said.
“I think I’d be better suited, I understand it more after being there the first time.
“You always want to push yourself to play at the highest level and if that opportunity came again I’d want to take it with both hands”.
With a growing number of Aussies plying their trade in a developing Asian market, Vidosic dispelled any thoughts that he’d leave for a lucrative deal in China just to increase his pay packet.
“If there’s any country in Asia I’d want to go to it would definitely be Japan,” Vidosic said.
“You want to play at the highest level. You don’t worry too much about the money it’s more to play at a high level with good crowds and where you can continue your learning.
“Money only gets you so far but playing good football and in front of a big crowd in big leagues is where you get your happiness from,” he said.
Vidosic’s commitment has corresponded with his best A-League season yet as he leads the way for United with eight strikes while also chipping in with six assists for his teammates.
The playmaker attributes his form to United’s extended preseason due to their participation in the Asian Champions League. Adelaide progressed well past the group stage to provide Vidosic with consistent playing time he was cruelly denied for much of the 2011/12 season.
“We played a lot of games and there were no interruptions and once you start hitting the back of the net it’s a confidence thing and you keep finding it,” he said.
Former coach John Kosmina challenged Dario to reach double figures in the scoring charts but the marquee man sets himself a greater challenge every time he steps out onto the park.
“He [Kossie] wanted me to score 10 goals and I’m two short of that but every game I always want to try score and set up goal-scoring opportunities to help us get the win,” he said.
Vidosic harbours an inextinguishable desire to push his team to victory. In a sport that so often focuses on individual performance, the sole focus of United’s marquee man is to ensure his team comes out on top. For Dario, a win for Adelaide is ecstasy.