WITH his only kick of the game, an Asian Cup-winning captain helped Aston Villa take a vital step towards a return to the Premier League.
Former Australia skipper Mile Jedinak, who guided his nation to the 2015 Asian Cup, converted one of the penalties as Villa beat West Bromwich Albion 4-3 in a shoot-out on Tuesday after their Championship play-off semi-final was level 1-1 on aggregate.
The Villans will now play Frank Lampard’s Derby County at Wembley on May 27 for a place in the Premier League for the 2019-20 season.
Jedinak, who has rarely featured this season for the second-tier English team, came on for Axel Tuanzebe deep into extra-time at The Hawthorns. He didn’t touch the ball before the whistle blew to signal a deciding penalty shoot-out.
The 34-year-old slotted home the second of his team’s spot kicks into the left bottom corner for a 2-0 lead. Crucially, goalkeeper Jed Steer had saved West Brom’s first two attempts, before Tammy Abraham would score Villa’s decisive penalty.
The former Crystal Palace captain made just four starts in the regular season. But his ice-cool effort lit up social media, as fans sang his praises.
“Jedinak took his penalty with a cigar in one hand and a pint in the other. What a guy!’’ said one post on Twitter.
Another one gushed: “Sorry, but does Jedinak even have emotion? Bloke rocks on the pitch, doesn’t touch the ball, and puts a pen in the side netting. Incredible. #TheJedi.”
With inspiration from Star Wars, ‘Jedi’ is the nickname for the bearded midfielder, who is now used primarily as centre-back, as he approaches his 35th birthday in August.
He retired from international football last year, but his incredible penalty-taking record – he had a perfect 16 for 16 from the spot for his country –- helped the Socceroos qualify for a fourth consecutive World Cup last year. In all, he scored a handy 20 goals in 79 international appearances between 2008 and 2018.
His penalties were Australia’s only two goals at Brazil 2018, in the 2-1 loss to France and 1-1 draw with Denmark. In the earlier 2018 World Cup playoff against Honduras, his unlikely hat-trick, including a deflected free-kick, gave his nation a 3-1 aggregate success.
I conducted a post-match television interview with Jedinak in November 2017 after his goal-scoring feats against the Hondurans at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, and was struck by his calmness and humility.
His 100 per cent penalty success rate at international level easily surpasses the records of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (65 per cent) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (75 per cent).
As Jedinak explained to Fox Sports Australia last year, there is no special secret behind why he’s never missed.
“If I’m honest, it’s making sure you know what you’re going to do when you go up there and keeping as calm as possible with all the screaming and shouting,” Jedinak said.
“The goalkeeper is going to do whatever he has to do to make him feel bigger than what he is. Just stay focused on the ball and make sure you get a nice contact.”
Jedinak will now hope to help Aston Villa avenge last season’s Wembley heartbreak when they lost 1-0 to Fulham in the 2018 play-off final. Former England captain John Terry retired from professional football after the defeat and is now assistant to Villa manager Dean Smith.
The play-off final has been described as the sport’s most lucrative one-off game, with an estimated value upwards of £200 million to the winning club.
And, with such fine margins between teams, there is a fair chance that the game on May 27th – a Bank Holiday Monday – will also be decided go to penalties.
After the nail-biting victory over local rivals West Brom, keeper Steer revealed that Aston Villa will always prepared if it comes down to battle over 12 yards.
“There’s obviously a lot of luck involved but, wow,” Steer said. “We practice penalties, so I think I must’ve faced a 100 a day over the last few days.”
Jedinak is again likely to be on the bench for the play-off final. But expect him to be injected into the game should it go to extra-time again. Even in the sunset years of his career, the veteran remains a leader – and a winner.
We could certainly see another Return of the Jedi.
Jason Dasey is the Singapore-based CEO of Cockatoo Media who’s available to host corporate events.