As Ante Milicic steps down from his role as head coach of the Westfield Matildas and ends his seven-year association with Football Federation Australia (FFA), we pay tribute to his time within the Socceroos coaching setup.
The former Australia U-20, U-23's and Socceroos assistant coach leaves the Australian women's team to take up a post with incoming Hyundai A-League expansion club Macarthur FC.
After impressing in the NSW Premier League as head coach of Sydney United, Milicic honed his craft in the A-League as assistant coach of Melbourne City and Western Sydney Wanderers before he was handpicked by former Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou to become his assistant.
He was chosen to help overhaul the squad and create an attractive style of play that had been lacking in previous years.
Milicic assisted with implementing a combination of silk and steel that was displayed on the world stage for the first time at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Despite being unable to progress from the difficult group in Brazil, the Socceroos performances were lauded by the nation.
And the change of style paid off in 2015 when the Green and Gold lifted the AFC Asian Cup trophy for the first time.
James Troisi’s extra-time winner in the final against Korea Republic will live long in the memory of every Socceroos fan.
In between assisting Postecoglou with the national team, Milicic coached his own Australian U-20 and U-23's teams before going to another FIFA World Cup in 2018.
He was even sent on a 12-month scouting mission by Postecoglou to unearth new talent ahead of the tournament.
Despite Postecoglou stepping down from his role as head coach of the Socceroos before the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Milicic remained in his role as assistant.
This time around, he had the opportunity to learn from Bert van Marwijk who led the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final.
Whilst the national team performed admirably in Russia, they were unable to progress from their group and the attention turned to the defence of their Asian Cup title in 2019.
And for that tournament, Milicic showed his tactical versatility and assumed a new role as Socceroos chief scout.
Milicic’s many contributions to the national team setup in both women’s and men's football will not be forgotten.
He must also be credited for assisting Postecoglou to use and bring through 59 different players, a large number of whom play a prominent part in the Socceroos squad today.