sport news How Ange Postecoglou inspired Socceroos Mathew Leckie ahead of match-winner at ... trends now

Socceroos hero Mathew Leckie's match-winning goal against Denmark was just the latest in his rollercoaster football ride and one man in particular was a huge part of that journey: Ange Postecoglou. 

The ex-Socceroos mentor and current boss of Scottish powerhouse Celtic, 'Aussie Ange' was the man who saw Leckie's brilliance before anyone else did.

And continued to believe in him when the football world was telling him he was no good. 

Before Leckie, who has scored 14 goals from 76 caps for Australia, sent Australia wild with his incredible individual goal in the 60th minute, he was an AFL-mad teenager growing up in Melbourne who wasn't exactly enamoured with the round ball game. 

But a switch in schools coupled with idolising the Socceroos so-called 'golden generation' play in the 2006 World Cup, saw Leckie switch his focus away from his beloved Essendon Bombers and towards football.

And the Melburnian has never looked back.

Leckie first met Arnold in his mid-teens, and it was clear it was love at first sight for Postecoglou. 

'I've known Ange (Postecoglou) since I was about 16 or 17 – because that was when he first tried to sign me,' Leckie told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2015. 

'I was coming through the ranks as a junior and he must have liked the look of me because he tried to get me to sign for Port Melbourne in the Victorian State League (VSL).

'He was going to become the manager there and he made a point of getting me to sign, but he ended up moving to a club in Greece [third-division side Panachaiki Patras], so I didn't go,' said Leckie.

But the seed was already sewn. Instead, he made his senior debut in the VPL during 2008 for the Bullen Lions, which spring boarded him into a move to A-League club Adelaide United the following year.

The speedy winger made his debut aged just 18, and impressed so much in his three-year stint at the Reds he secured a dream move to the German Bundesliga.

It was where he would spend the next decade - albeit with a fair few ups and downs - across four clubs, and begin to make his mark with the national side; thanks in huge part to Postecoglou. 

Leckie finally made his senior Socceroos starting debut under Postecoglou, and would go on to be a coaches pet under the Greek-born Aussie mentor - so far as he was actually the most selected player under his watch.

Known for his electric pace and relentless, gut-busting two-way running down the wing, Leckie has previously said it was Postecoglou who transformed him from a fringe first-team player in Germany to a dominant star who the Socceroos could always rely on. 

'My performances for the national team over the past couple of years since I've been with Ange, I've definitely built as a player,' he told AAP in 2016.

'The physical aspect of the way we play has definitely put my body in much better form.

'I feel very strong physically. The way we play, you need to be very athletic. There's a lot of running involved and a lot of hard work. That's what I guess Australia is known for -- that never-give-up attitude.'

When Leckie was criticised by Socceroos legends, pundits or fans for his lack of goals in green and gold; Postecoglou would always stoutly defend him and cite the huge work-rate in defence and attack the winger provided. 

Leckie has previously said it was 'really hard' to get involved with Holger Osieck

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