Latest news with #NicolasMilanovic
BBC News
6 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Aberdeen's Milanovic eyeing Australia World Cup call
Nicolas Milanovic hopes a strong season with Aberdeen can help him force his way into the Australia team for next year's World 23-year-old winger made his competitive Dons debut in Monday's 2-0 league defeat at Hearts after joining from A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers earlier this display was one of the few positives for Aberdeen at Tynecastle, and he is intent on continuing to flourish in Jimmy Thelin's side with a view to being part of the 2026 World Cup in North America."I've yet to make my first cap for Australia," he said. "I've been around it, but just haven't made that cap yet. So that's a personal goal of mine, to thrive this year and hopefully it will get me there."And the World Cup, obviously, is a big, big ambition of mine. I think everyone dreams of being in the World Cup, so hopefully club success brings that."I just want to do well here and do as much as I can for the team, and hopefully that will get me there."Milanovic is relishing Aberdeen's upcoming European adventure after they learned on Monday they will face Romanian side FCSB or Kosovan outfit Drita in their Europa League play-off later this month."A kid from Australia, I didn't really expect two years ago to be playing in a Europa League play-off, so I'm excited," he said. "That's another thing, a personal achievement I've got coming my way."I think the team's going to be more than ready for that draw. I don't know if it's a favourable or unfavourable draw, but we'll just go in there wanting to win."
STV News
6 days ago
- Sport
- STV News
Aberdeen winger Milanovic targets World Cup call-up with Australia
Nicolas Milanovic hopes a strong season with Aberdeen can help him force his way into the Australia team ahead of next summer's World Cup. The 23-year-old winger made his competitive Dons debut in Monday's 2-0 Premiership defeat away to Hearts after joining from A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers earlier this summer. Milanovic's enterprising display was one of the few positives for Aberdeen at Tynecastle, and he is intent on continuing to flourish in Jimmy Thelin's side with a view to being part of next year's global showpiece in North America. 'I've yet to make my first cap for Australia, I've been around it, but just haven't made that cap yet,' he said. 'So that's a personal goal of mine, to thrive this year and hopefully it will get me there. 'And the World Cup, obviously, is a big, big ambition of mine. I think everyone dreams of being in the World Cup, so yeah, hopefully club success brings that. 'I just want to do well here and do as much as I can for the team. And hopefully that will get me there.' Milanovic is relishing Aberdeen's upcoming European adventure after they learned on Monday that they will face Romanian side FCSB or Kosovan outfit Drita in their Europa League play-off later this month. 'A kid from Australia, I didn't really expect two years ago to be playing in a Europa League play-off, so I'm excited,' he said. 'That's another thing, a personal achievement I've got coming my way. 'I think the team's going to be more than ready for that draw. I don't know if it's a favourable or unfavourable draw, but we'll just go in there wanting to win, of course.' Milanovic is adamant there is no need for any dejection in the wake of their defeat at Hearts. 'It's round one, we have plenty of time to improve and gel,' he said. 'The chemistry is just going to get better over the next few weeks. Now it's just on to Celtic next weekend.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Scotsman
7 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Aberdeen's ray of light on a dark night at Hearts - 'I thrive in those moments'
The new summer signing from Australia has a big year ahead of him at Pittodrie Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It was not the start Aberdeen wanted. Losing 2-0 at Hearts to kick off the 2025/26 Premiership campaign was a bit of a comedown from the Dons' last competitive match, the Scottish Cup final triumph against Celtic at the end of May. Events in Gorgie were a reminder of what they are up against this season. That heady day at Hampden made last term a rip-roaring success, but Aberdeen fans don't need told that they ended up sitting fifth in the league on the back of some dreadful form during the winter. At points earlier in the season, second place was being discussed. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Aberdeen finished behind Hibs and Dundee United but ahead of Hearts, who underperformed and slumped to seventh place. There appears little chance of the Jambos being as meek this time around. Tynecastle was back to its crackling and boisterous best, revitalised by the arrival of Derek McInnes as head coach and fresh investment from new shareholder Tony Bloom. Aberdeen's Nicolas Milanovic tries to take on Hearts' Harry Milne. | SNS Group The Dons are behind Hearts and other rivals due to their season commencing later. They lacked sharpness as Hearts tore into their visitors right from the off. 'We've only had two, three games up until this game and they've been playing some good football in the cup,' was the assessment of Aberdeen winger Nicolas Milanovic afterwards. 'So yeah, I think they're maybe a little bit sharper, a little bit game-ready.' It doesn't get any easier for Aberdeen this weekend. Celtic are in town for a high noon Sunday showdown. "I think we'll just work with the manager,' continued Milanovic for the week ahead. 'We trust him and he'll put a gameplan in place. And we'll just work on those little things that I felt weren't great today.' Milanovic, one of Aberdeen's summer signings, was a ray of light on a dark evening. The Australian right winger was their most dangerous outlet, running at the Hearts defence and cutting on to his left. The Dons paid in the region of £400,000 to Western Sydney Wanderers for the 23-year-old and he has a big year ahead of him. Not only will be made his European bow later this month against either FCSB or Drita, but he is gunning for a first Australia cap and a place at the World Cup next summer. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I'm looking forward to more games like that' 'Look, despite the result today, I really enjoyed it,' said Milanovic. 'I feel like I thrive in those moments, especially with the crowd. It's so hostile and I really enjoyed it. I'm just looking forward to more games like that. I'm sure it'll be like that at home next week. 'A kid from Australia, I didn't really expect two years ago to be playing in a Europa League play-off. So yeah, I'm excited. That's another thing, a personal achievement I've got coming my way. I think the team's going to be more than ready for that draw. I don't know if it's a favourable or unfavourable draw, but we'll just go in there wanting to win, of course.' Progress domestically and on the continent will help on the international front. 'I've still yet to make my first cap for Australia,' he added. 'You know, I've been around it, but just haven't made that cap yet.
BBC News
05-08-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'The alarm bells are ringing already'
We asked for your views on Aberdeen's 2-0 defeat against what some of you said: Roddy: We looked unprepared and well off the pace. Definitely need a recognised striker. I would love to see Fletcher Boyd given more game time. I thought Adil Aouchiche and Nicolas Milanovic looked decent Still playing the same way, too slow, all over the park passing, still don't see any improvement on last season, very I fear that we have signed the wrong type of players to confront the physical and combative style of play in the Premiership. Against Hearts, Kusini Yengi was a point in case! Totally bullied and Woeful first half from the Dons, the lack of games clearly showed. We need to get a goal scoring number nine in as soon as possible or it could be a long Where are the goals coming from? Nobody in the front line could claim to be a goal scorer. Hearts were prepared to battle and took no prisoners and it worked. Aberdeen played some good football but you need to score to get results. It could be a long The concerns about the lack of investment in a proven striker pre-season were laid bare. Completely toothless, often disjointed and quite chaotic at the back. It was obvious which side was better prepared for the new league season. The alarm bells are ringing already with the important Europa League qualifier, League Cup and more difficult league games coming thick and fast.
The Australian
05-08-2025
- Sport
- The Australian
Former A-League attacker Milanovic tastes defeat with Aberdeen
Former A-League star Nicolas Milanovic's first Scottish Premiership appearance has ended in disappointment, with his Aberdeen team losing 2-0 to Hearts. Milanovic, who won last season's Johnny Warren Medal following a memorable campaign with the Western Sydney Wanderers, started at Tynecastle on Tuesday morning (AEST) in a Dons side that also included Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi, who also joined the club in the off-season after a two-year sting with English outfit Portsmouth. However, neither of the attacking weapons were able to have an influence on the contest. Yengi was replaced in the 63rd minute by Fletcher Boyd, while Milanovic's shift ended in the 81st minute when he made way for Ester Sokler. ''Mila' did some good things, and Yengi arrived at the chances, but we need to keep arriving at the chances and try to get those scoring chances,' Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin said after us side's loss to a Hearts outfit that included Australian midfielder Cameron Devlin. 'We have some good chances there but they were better … and that's why they won the game. 'We have to take it game by game, keep growing and try to be better all the time so we can get the results. We need to take a step as a team and grow in the future.' The Dons face an even tougher task this Sunday night when they host champions Celtic at Pittodrie. 'We will be ready for that game but we need to improve some parts this week,' Thelin said. Milanovic's former Wanderers teammate Zac Sapsford was part of a Dundee United team that drew 2-2 with Falkirk on Sunday night (AEST). Meanwhile, Socceroos right-back Lewis Miller has left Scottish Premiership club Hibernian to join English Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a three-year deal. 'I'm buzzing and I've been able to soak in everything since I drove through the entrance and saw the building,' former Central Coast Mariners star Miller told his new club's website. 'It fills me with confidence that we can get to the play-offs and then hopefully get promoted (to the Premier League) because that's what we're all playing football for.' Miller will join five other Socceroos – Brett Emerton, Lucas Neill, Vince Grella, Robbie Slater and John Filan – to have played for Blackburn, while former Melbourne Victory striker Rudy Gestede is the club's head of football operations. 'I've been speaking with Rudy, and he's emphasised that this is the right place to be,' Miller said. "I really like where this club is planning on going and I'm so excited to be here now.' Marco Monteverde Sports reporter Marco Monteverde is a Brisbane-based sports reporter for NCA Newswire. He worked in a similar role for The Courier-Mail from 2007 to 2020. During a journalism career of more than 25 years, he has also worked for The Queensland Times, The Sunshine Coast Daily, The Fraser Coast Chronicle and The North West Star. He has covered three FIFA World Cups and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as well as a host of other major sporting events in Australia and around the world. Breaking News Two men have been seriously injured in an incident involving concrete equipment at a worksite in Sydney's northwest. NewsWire A teenage girl is dead and another has been arrested after a shocking stabbing in NSW.
