1. Joshua Blake Kennedy was born on 20 August 1982 and is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a striker for the Australia national soccer team.
21 Facts About Joshua Kennedy
1. 2.
Joshua Kennedy's talents won a scholarship place in the Australian Institute of Sport program, leading to a professional contract at new National Soccer League club Carlton in 1999, alongside fellow AIS graduates Vince Grella and Mark Bresciano.
3.
At the start of the following season Joshua Kennedy was transferred to Regionalliga Sud side Stuttgarter Kickers, where he was a regular feature playing 23 games for the Swabian side.
4.
In July 2006, during his first training session with Nurnberg, Joshua Kennedy ruptured his right Achilles tendon.
5.
Joshua Kennedy went on to score four goals in his first five appearances and was widely praised for his performances.
6.
On 2 February 2009, Joshua Kennedy made negative headlines when he announced his intention to leave the club as soon as possible.
7.
Joshua Kennedy was named in the 2010 J League Best Eleven.
8.
Joshua Kennedy finished the season with 19 goals and the J-league golden boot.
9.
Joshua Kennedy debuted for City against Melbourne Victory, being substituted on the field for Safuwan Baharudin in the 60th minute.
10.
Joshua Kennedy added a second goal to his record with a composed finished against the Wellington Phoenix in their Finals eliminations clash.
11.
Joshua Kennedy announced his retirement from professional soccer on 26 June 2015 due to persistent injuries.
12.
Joshua Kennedy finished his career with a J-League Championship, two J-League Golden Boots, a DFB Pokal Cup and 17 international goals for the Socceroos across three World Cup campaigns.
13.
In 1999, Joshua Kennedy represented Australia at the U17 World cup and the Young Socceroos in 2001 at the U20 Youth World Cup in Argentina.
14.
Joshua Kennedy received his first international cap in a pre-2006 World Cup friendly against Liechtenstein and made his mark in this game with a headed goal.
15.
Joshua Kennedy was touted as Hiddink's secret weapon against the Japanese because he was taller than all of the Japanese defenders.
16.
Joshua Kennedy followed this up with a second appearance as a substitute in Australia's third Group Stage game against Croatia.
17.
Injury prevented Joshua Kennedy from participating in Australia's 2007 AFC Asian Cup campaign.
18.
Under new Socceroos coach Holger Oseick, Joshua Kennedy has flourished scoring eight goals in just five matches.
19.
Some publications chose to play on the fact that the statue of Christ The Redeemer statue is an iconic image of Rio and Joshua Kennedy's goal scoring celebrations were seen to mimic the pose of the statue.
20.
Joshua Kennedy was selected for the Brazil 2014 World Cup squad, after his goal qualified Australia for the tournament.
21.
On 4 June 2014, at the socceroos' training camp near Rio, Joshua Kennedy was cut from the team due to injury.