SOUTH Melbourne has announced a massive signing for the 2009 VPL season with Vaughan Coveny set to return to Lakeside. The 37 year-old ex-New Zealand international recently announced his intention to retire from football, but the lure of representing South Melbourne during the club’s 50th Anniversary season appears to have altered his decision.
The sweeping goal scorer has spent the previous four season playing in the A-League with both the Newcastle Jets and then Wellington Phoenix, and has scored 14 A-League goals despite being one of the eldest players in the league.
He joins South for what will be his second stint at South, having already played 247 games and having scored a respectable 88 goals between 1995 and 2006. The ‘Horse’, as he is known, has won two national championships with South Melbourne, and also represented the club at the FIFA World Club Championship in Brazil, where he was a starter against Manchester United, Vasco Da Gama and Mexico’s Necaxa.
Coveny began is New Zealand All Whites debut in 1992, but had been previously named New Zealand’s young player of the year that same year. He went to achieve many honours for his country, having played against football powers such as Brazil in FIFA’s Confederations Cup and playing in 64 A-international fixtures in total.
Coveny became New Zealand’s greatest ever goal scorer on May 27, 2006, when he scored twice in the All Whites 3-1 victory over Georgia, bringing his total A-international goal tally to 28.
In other South Melbourne news, Nathan Caldwell scored South’s only goal of the game as the four time national champions defeated Kingston City 1-0 in the South section of the Hellenic Cup. South’s next match was against Moorabin in the same section of the draw, but the result was not available at the time of print.