San Francisco: Aziz Behich is the ninth most capped Socceroo of all time and scored the goal that all but sealed Australia’s spot at this World Cup, which will be his third. And yet he could walk down any main street in the country and probably not get stopped.
It’s not that he’s craving the attention. But as a player who cares deeply for the game in Australia, and wants to see it grow, he wouldn’t hate it if that changed.
And he does get noticed elsewhere.
On a recent holiday in Japan, soon after the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying win against them in Perth last year, one of the waitresses in a restaurant recognised him and asked if he was the player who had scored against the Samurai Blue.
“It was just in a random place where it was raining – we just needed somewhere to take cover,” Behich said. “And then next minute, I had all the chefs and the waitresses coming over and taking photos – even though I was the one that scored against them. That was pretty cool.”
And then, of course, there’s Turkey – the country where Behich can trace his heritage, where he spent roughly half of his career, and against whom the Socceroos open their World Cup campaign on Sunday (AEST) at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada. Turkey is on another level.
Behich played for nine seasons in the Turkish Super Lig, mostly with Bursaspor, but was also part of the title-winning Istanbul Basaksehir team in 2019-20, which ended decades of dominance by the country’s “big four” clubs: Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Trabzonspor.
“It wasn’t easy going to restaurants with my wife,” he said.
“Even if I was to go there today … my sister was there a couple of years ago, [and] she was at the airport, and the guy saw her passport and saw the surname and straightaway asked if I was her brother. And at that point I was away for about four years.
“So yeah, I made a pretty good name for myself over there, just purely from my football.”
Behich grew up on Turkish football. His parents, Turkish Cypriots from Melbourne, woke up at all hours to watch games from the Super Lig when he was young; it is the league he says he wanted to play in more than any other. They were Galatasaray supporters, but they switched sides when Behich signed for Bursaspor – a club best known internationally for its distinctive stadium, which is designed to resemble a giant, resting crocodile, complete with an entrance through its mouth.
“I love that club,” Behich said. “They gave me a lot; six and a half years of my life was there. It’s always special to me. I still follow them to this day, even though they’re in the third division.”
Playing in Turkey, where the fanaticism of the supporters is often overwhelming, is as difficult as it looks, Behich confirmed.
“Hot blood, I can say that much,” he said.
“I always took the good with the bad, but I really enjoyed it. You want to play in full stadiums. Whether you’re getting abused or not, that’s why we play football. But, you know, my last season there, I won in Galatasaray away. I won in Besiktas. So I did enjoy those games the most, obviously.
“The football’s very, very different. It can get very transitional. You’ve got to hold your own. Maybe after 60, 70 minutes it becomes almost like a one-on-one game, battles all around the pitch – and a lot of quality players because they spend a lot of money. It’s a very tough league and that’s why I enjoyed it so much.”
Behich has crossed paths with a number of players who are now in Turkey’s national team, including goalkeeper Mert Günok and midfielder İrfan Can Kahveci, with whom he won the title at Basaksehir. Roma defender Zeki Celik was still an academy player training with the senior squad at Bursaspor when Behich first met him.
The 35-year-old follows the Turkish national team closely, and naturally has a soft spot for it. He was glad when they won the UEFA play-off to land in Group D alongside the Socceroos, United States and Paraguay.
“I’ve been around since 2012 with the national team and never had the opportunity to play against Turkey,” he said. “I’ve got mates in there still. They’re coming along really good now; they’ve got so much talent in the squad and a lot of players playing at big clubs.”
With the emergence of Jordan Bos as Australia’s first-choice left-back, however, Behich is highly unlikely to start, but he acquitted himself well in the 1-1 friendly draw against Switzerland, and Popovic knows the veteran will always deliver for the Socceroos if called upon.
Ranked No.22 in the world by FIFA, Turkey are playing at their first World Cup since 2002. They reached the quarter-finals of the Euros in 2024 and are strong favourites to not only win Sunday’s game, but also top the group.
Behich has heard it all before. In Qatar four years ago, the same things were said about Denmark and Tunisia, and nobody thought the Socceroos would push Argentina as far as they did in the round of 16.
“I back us against anybody; I’ve always said that,” he said.
“One thing I’ve learned playing for this national team, and even just growing up in this country: it’s right what they say, when our back’s against the wall is when we’re the most dangerous. They might have big names on the back of their shirt, but they’ve got two feet and two hands just like us as well.”
