How Kosta Barbarouses became New Zealand's top A-League Men scorer
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Kosta Barbarouses has overtaken Shane Smeltz as the highest scoring New Zealand player in A-League history.
The experienced forward took his career tally to 93 when he scored in Wellington Phoenix’s 3-0 win over Macarthur.
Barbarouses is ranked fourth overall on the all-time list.
Kosta Barbarouses wrote his name into the record books when he scored in Wellington Phoenix’s big win over Macarthur at Sky Stadium on Saturday night.
Barbarouses’s 22nd minute goal was the 93rd of his A-League Men career, taking him past All Whites legend Shane Smeltz as the highest scoring New Zealand player in league history.
The Phoenix were seeking a win to give them the best shot at winning the Premiers Plate and Barbarouses led them on their way he raced onto a long ball from Nicholas Pennington and slotted the ball past Macarthur goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
The goal was Barbarouses’s 13th of the season, making this the second most prolific spell of his decorated career.
Only when he scored 15 goals for Melbourne Victory in 2018-19 has Barbarouses scored more in a single season.
The 34-year-old will have at least two more opportunities to add to his tally with the semifinals looming in two weeks’ time.
Barbarouses said he never thought he would ever catch Smeltz, having spent most of his career out on the wing.
“Even this year I’ve probably only played as a No 9 for half of the games. When I was on the wing I would always set out a goal of double digits and I think that’s a good goal to set,” he said.
“I got it a few times and a year at Victory I played up front and did well but it wasn’t in my sights to be known as a goal-scorer because I was out wide for 10-13 years.
“To do it after mostly playing out wide it’s really good and I’m really proud of that but touch wood there’s still a lot of football to keep going.”
Barbarouses has has played for four different clubs, the Phoenix, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC and he scored at least one goal in 14 of the 15 seasons he has spent in the A-League.
The only season he failed to score in was his first, when he played 109 minutes across three appearances with the Phoenix.
After winning championships with Brisbane, Victory and Sydney, Barbarouses came home to Wellington last season to try and help the Phoenix win their first title.
But Barbarouses endured a difficult season.
He was in and out of the starting XI and only managed two goals.
His most memorable moment was one he would rather forget: A miss of the season contender against Adelaide United.
Barbarouses pinched the ball off Adelaide’s goalkeeper but could not capitalise, hitting the post with an open goal at his mercy.
After scoring just one goal for Sydney FC in the previous season, it looked like Barbarouses’ days of being a key contributor in the A-League were numbered.
But Barbarouses has experienced a rebirth under new coach Giancarlo Italiano and is now back to his best.
Barbarouses has picked up the slack in Oskar Zawada’s injury-forced absence, carrying the Phoenix to their highest-ever finish by contributing 13 of their 42 goals.
“He deserves every accolade he gets,” Italiano said.
“He’s a winner by nature, very good on and off the park and he’s been great, especially after the season he had last year.
“He was in and out with us last year and couldn’t find his feet but this year he had something to prove and once Oz got injured and he took that main striking role, if it wasn't for him we wouldn’t be in this position.”
The first goal
His name was spelled Costa Barbarouses on the scoresheet when he opened his A-League account as an 18-year-old by scoring a 31st minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Adelaide in round 20 of the 2008-09 season – his second season with the Phoenix. A clever back heel from Shane Smeltz found the run of Leo Bertos who delivered a ball across the face of goal for Barbarouses to head home. Born Konstantinos Barbarouses, Barbarouses spelled his first name with a C back then as his mum preferred the spelling. Accurate statistics are hard to find but Barbarouses has not scored too many with his head since.
The big goal
The most important goal of Barbarouses’ career should not have actually counted. Barbarouses was credited with the winning goal in the 2018 grand final after leading Melbourne Victory to a dramatic 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets. VAR failed in the 30 seconds leading up to the ninth-minute goal and was unable to detect an offside in the lead-up. James Donachie got the jump on the last defender at a free-kick and headed the ball back for Barbarouses to shoot and score. Although replays showed Donachie was standing in an offside position, the goal stood, much to Newcastle’s dismay. “We are extremely disappointed at this failure of the VAR technology and we understand the disappointment and frustration of the Newcastle Jets, their fans and indeed all football fans,” A-League boss Greg O’Rourke said at the time. Barbarouses has played in five grand finals and scored in three of them. He also scored the second goal in Victory’s 3-0 win over Sydney FC in the 2014-15 final and Sydney’s only goal in a 3-1 defeat to Melbourne City in 2020-21.
The next ‘goal’
As Barbarouses has no plans to hang up his boots any time soon, he could become just the fourth player in A-League Men history to reach the 100-goal milestone. The Phoenix only have semifinals and a potential grand final to come, which does not leave him with much time to score the seven goals he needs to hit the mark this season. However, it is realistic to think Barbarouses could crack the ton next season, especially if he can add to his tally in the upcoming matches. The big question though is which team will Barbarouses score his 100th goal for? Is contract is up at the end of the season and while both he and the Phoenix have expressed a desire to extend his stay, a deal is yet to be finalised.
A-League Men all-time leading scorers
Jamie Maclaren 153
Besart Berisha 142
Bruno Fornaroli 107
Kosta Barbarouses 93
Shane Smeltz 92