Frank Farina

Australian football legend Frank Farina was born in Darwin on Sept 8, 1964.

Farina began his playing career in 1981 aged just 16 as a striker with Mareeba in Cairns.

He was invited to the Australian Institute of Sport, later joining Canberra and then Sydney City and Marconi after winning selection in the 1983 national Under 19 team for the World Youth titles.

In 1988, Farina switched to Club Brugge in Belgium to become the leading goal scorer in a successful European season.

Farina made his international debut for Australia as a substitute against China in Beijing in 1984 and went on to make 86 appearances for Australia, including 37 'A' internationals and a total of 20 goals.

He played in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was signed by Bari in the Italian Serie A.

Farina returned to Australia in 1995 after three seasons in France.

Farina took the Brisbane Strikers to the National League championship and ended an outstanding playing career with his appointment as the Australian national coach for the 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign.

He won the OFC Nations Cup with the Socceroos before departing in 2005. 

Since then he went on to coach Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC in the A-League, and then Papua New Guinea and Fiji.