Former Socceroo player and A-League coach John Kosmina has opened up on his incident with Kevin Muscat in a game between the Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United in 2006, an infamous moment that has gone down in Australian football folklore.
The incident, which occurred in a regular season game in October of the 2006-7 A-League season, saw the Victory captain push over Kosmina on the sidelines trying to pick up the ball that had rolled under Adelaide coach’s chair.
This saw the former NSL champion player violently react in return, grabbing Muscat, who now serves as Victory's coach, by the throat.
Kosmina recounted his own personal memory of the lead-up to the memorable game.
“That was season two of the A-League. The previous season and the inaugural season. Adelaide United had won the premiership and Melbourne Victory, we had played them three times and we had beaten them 1-0 three times as well,” he said on SEN’s This is Your Sporting Life.
“I think it had gone to the stage where we had played them in pre-season cups and we’d played them in a friendly game and in seven outings against us, the best they got was one draw.
“(Melbourne) came out of the blocks flying in season two and beat us in the second round at the old Olympic Park. The next game was transferred to Etihad and it was packed, it was sensational. They had gone seven or eight games undefeated and we were leading at that stage 1-0.
“Muscat was a very good player and is a great influence on the players around him. He ran the show on the field. But he was an annoying bugger. Sometimes I think he was a bit naughty, I know that’s a bit pot calling the kettle black because I wasn’t any angel either, but sometimes I think Muscat would take it a little bit too far for me.”
Kosmina says that he had had a few words for Muscat during the match itself, and that the seemingly friendly talk the two had walking off the pitch at half-time was anything but amicable.
“I remember having a crack at him in the first half. I did walk off with my arm around his shoulder but it wasn’t a pleasant conversation, let’s put it that way,” he said.
“In the second half we were leading and Muscat I think had a crack at Nathan Burns and I had a good go at him about and older bloke getting stuck in to young players who didn’t know how to kick him back. It was a bit of sledge and it went on from there”
Kosmina then described the moment itself in detail, and says he doesn’t regret how he reacted.
“The ball rolled out between my legs and I bent over to pick it up but Muscat rolled in and knocked me backside over,” he said.
“As soon as I got up I thought I could kill this bloke but I sort of want to make this a bit difficult so that’s why I grabbed him by the throat.
“It was initially that I wanted to really nail him… it was an impulsive thing and I don’t regret it because sometimes you just have to stand up for yourself.
“They were starting to get back into the game, the whole incident took a lot out of the sting out of that and we went on to win that game. It was a game we needed and a loss that Melbourne hadn’t had to that stage.”
However he says that his relationship with Muscat has improved since that day a decade ago, and that the pair now laugh about it.
“We went to the World Cup in South Africa together. I can tell you now it wasn’t any friendly exchanges for the rest of that year,” Kosmina said.
“We ended up coming second that season to Melbourne Victory and that was the same year they smacked us 6-0 in the grand final so there wasn’t any pleasant exchanges for the rest of that season but time heals all wounds.
“I let things go and it was a couple of years later we ended up in South Africa together and got on just fine.
“I don’t ring Muscat every day of the week, I’ll sometimes send a message about good or luck or well done or something but when we see each other we have a little bit of a laugh and a joke. Things need to be let go.”