International Career
Kilkenny was born in England but having moved to Australia at a young age,where he grew up, he was eligible to play internationally for Australia, England and the Republic of Ireland. He previously played for England Under 20's, but shortly before the 2006 FIFA World Cup he committed to play for Australia. He was among a group of young players, selected by manager Guus Hiddink, who trained with the Australian squad in Holland and Germany prior to the tournament. Kilkenny made his international debut for Australia on 7 June 2006, coming on as a late substitute in their 3–1 victory in a World Cup warm-up game against Liechtenstein in Ulm, Germany.
In 2007 he was a part of the Australian Olyroos for the 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifying campaign. In June 2008 he was one of 33 players called up for a pre-Olympic training camp prior to selection of the final 18-man squad. He was included in the final 18-man squad and did manage to play one game in the olympics for Australia, who were knocked out in the group stages. After Leeds' win over Manchester United, Australia have sent scouts to watch Kilkenny with regards to Australia's World Cup Squad with the match providing to be a high profile game to put Kilkenny back on the World Cup radar, however Kilkenny wasn't selected by Pim Verbeek for the World Cup Squad.
On 16 December 2010 Kilkenny was selected in Australia's provisional squad for the Asian Cup tournament, before being named in the final 23 man squad for Australia's squad for the Asian Cup on 27 December. Kilkenny came on as a second half substitute against UAE in a warm up game for the Asian Cup. He played his first game in the Asian Cup when he came on as a second half substitute against Bahrain. In the quarter final match, against reigning champions Iraq, Kilkenny made an appearance in the 109th minute, during a 1–0 win. Kilkenny played in the Asian Cup Final, however Australia lost 1–0 to Japan after extra time.
June 2011, Kilkenny started for Australia in the 3–0 win over New Zealand.
Read more about this topic: Neil Kilkenny
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Each of the professions means a prejudice. The necessity for a career forces every one to take sides. We live in the age of the overworked, and the under-educated; the age in which people are so industrious that they become absolutely stupid.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)