Michael Valkanis

Mihalis "Michael" Valkanis (Greek: Μιχάλης "Μάικλ" Βαλκάνης, pronounced [miˈxalis valˈkanis]; born 23 August 1974) is an Australian association football coach and former player who is the current head coach of Brisbane Roar in the A-League.

Valkanis began his career at South Melbourne at age six and rose through the ranks as a talented junior at South Melbourne to the senior team.

At South Melbourne, Valkanis made 50 league appearances for his boyhood club. His performances in defence for the club earned him a regular position for the Australia under 23 side and attracting the attention of overseas clubs.

Valkanis would later state in an interview with Four Four Two that pulling on the South Melbourne kit for his debut was the proudest moment of his footballing career.

Valkanis then played in the Greek League with Iraklis and most notably with AEL where he played for five seasons and won 102 caps, and Agios Nikolaos. He played 110 games in the now-defunct National Soccer League, scoring four goals with South Melbourne, Adelaide City and Adelaide United.

In mid-2007, Valkanis was named captain of his club side, Adelaide United, replacing Angelo Costanzo (who had been appointed as interim captain after the resignation and departure of Ross Aloisi).

Valkanis announced his intention to retire at the end of the 2008-09 A-League season in December 2008. The former captain and 100 game veteran was given a testimonial match against Newcastle Jets on 9 January 2009 where he replaced Daniel Mullen in the second half and saw Adelaide through to a 2–0 win.

Valkanis' international debut, and only game for Australia, was for the Socceroos in an Asian Cup qualifier versus Kuwait at Sydney Football Stadium on 16 August 2006. At the time of his debut he was the second oldest debutant for Australia, behind Tommy Stankovic who debuted as a 33 year old in a friendly game against FC Torpedo Moscow. Danny Vukovic's debut later pushed Valkanis down to 3rd place on the oldest debutant list.