The second in our tribute to Australia's 2022 World Cup goalscorers with this exclusive extract from Andrew Howe's Encyclopedia of Socceroos Centenary Edition 1922 to 2022.
Craig Goodwin scored first in the 4-1 loss to France in the opening group game. It was his second goal in his 11th game for the Socceroos.
It looked as if he scored again in the Round of 16 match against Argentina, but the goal was credited as an own goal to Enzo Fernandez in the 77th minute to take the score to 2-1 in Argentina's favour which is how the game ended.
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Born and raised in Adelaide, Craig Goodwin played with Munno Para City youth and at state league level with Adelaide’s Raiders (2009–2010) and Oakleigh in Melbourne (2011). His national league career initially took him to Melbourne City (2011–2012), and Newcastle Jets (2012–2014), before several stints with Adelaide United (2014–2016, 2018–2019 and 2021–2022), two seasons with Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam (2016–2018), and Al Wahda (2019–2020) and Abha 2020–2021) in Saudi Arabia.
With Adelaide he was voted the club’s player of the year in its premiership and championship-winning season in 2015–2016, and he won a national cup medal in 2018 after scoring twice in the final (W2-1 v Sydney FC). At mid-2022 he stood as Adelaide United’s leading league scorer with 38 goals.
Goodwin made a one-off appearance for the national Under-23 side in an Olympic Games qualifier in 2012.
For the Socceroos he initially played in two East Asian Cup matches in South Korea in July 2013, and next appeared against England in Sunderland in May 2016 (L1-2). More regular appearances throughout 2022 included as a late substitute against Peru in Doha (D0-0, won on penalties) where he scored in Australia’s memorable shootout victory to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
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For profiles and more of the 953 other men who have played for Australia, buy the Encyclopedia of Socceroos Centenary Edition at all good bookstores or online here for $66.
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