Full Transcript for EP 07: Daniel Georgievski - From Western Sydney to Dinamo Zagreb and Champions League vs Chelsea

but coach put me into play which was great. It was all part of developing. ⁓ but again I wasn't one that lived football. Like I used to go and watch rugby league. I never watched a soccer f soccer match on s I watched Super Saturdays, ⁓ rugby league back in the day. This is before Jani you came. I used to watch the footy show. I was more of a rugby league than I was a soccer fan. Jani Schmidt: Okay, yeah. Yeah. DG: And it was only because my father never let me play rugby league, 'cause you know, he came to Australia in the mid eighties and they only knew was football, soccer. So for him that was just a silly sport, which I loved. And I guess that's how I kind of played, very aggressive, very, you know, always ready. So I think from that Jani Schmidt: So then Danny on that one, take us back in time. What was then your first moment of football? Can you remember like what got you started to play football? Was it then your dad? Was it your brother? Was it like having always just football at home? DG: Well that's all we did. That's all it was. It was just a f we just had a soccer ball and we only had I would say four or five soccer balls at home and they're all flat. We never had a pump. So it was always soccer. ⁓ I think my dad bought me a cassette for my birthday. It was Pele. Like this is how old I am. A cassette player. And only one time he said, Why did I buy that for when you're not watching it? And it was just one of the just like a just Pele, like heading the ball, passing, just a very basic thing, but it was Pele. So idol was always Pele growing up, because that's all I ⁓ saw and that's all we were exposed to. So I would watch it, go in the backyard, repeat it. We had ⁓ five or six bricks, it was the garden bed. So I would always just try to aim for a brick, But mind you, I was not good technically. ⁓ I was ⁓ foot was non existent, right was okay, ⁓ but I guess wasn't my game, so ⁓ You know, I didn't I didn't practice as much as kids nowadays. I wasn't I was just good at it, but I guess, you know, I was never in that top tier of talented players. ⁓ the ones making it the AIS teams or the football New South Wales team. I was always I was never one of them. But mind you, I used to always play standard for Marconi and I was ⁓ fifteens and sixteens captain when another coach came in. So I was good, if you were to back you go, that kid's not gonna make it if anyone was talking like that and I was never exposed to it 'cause my parents they just come to the game, watch the game, leave. If I had to drive, my dad go come with me. If I had to drive in the car, he would just, say you didn't do these passes, you da da. He never talked tactic, he just focused on my game. He goes, You look lost half the time, you're sleeping. ⁓ And was it. There was no talk. It was a ⁓ ten minute drive. ⁓ That it. There was no football talk after that and then Jani Schmidt: ⁓ yeah. Okay. DG: to go off to work and that was it. There was never ⁓ you know, you have to make it, this is what you need to do to make it. We weren't exposed to it, but I was never raised in that way. Jani Schmidt: very interesting you say that because I feel like all the guests that I had so far on the podcast that all made it to the professional level, every single one so far, it said their parents were like super supportive, but none of them were like, you have to make it as a professional footballer living the dream through the kids. They're all like, we support you. You make sure that you give everything that you can. But then it was kind of like you said, going back in the car, maybe one or two times a bit of feedback, but overall it was just like, did you enjoy it? Did you give your best? done. And there was never that pressure of like, have to make it in football. There was always either have a plan B or see how far you can take it, but make sure that football is not your only option. ⁓ interesting part now, and I think why I wanted you to come onto the podcast is like, know parts of your story in terms of that you then after NPL in Australia, went a very different journey. in terms of how you ended up becoming a professional footballer. So maybe already let's get into that topic. you started to move over to Europe. How did that move come about and what happened to you in that time and what shifted in terms of your ⁓ journey? DG: I remember it was the end of year twelve. my mum ⁓ just started speaking to people and they said make a make a highlights reel ⁓ during the year my mum will have that, you know, the old school cameras, ⁓ the games, whatever you can, ⁓ know, get together, put it together, burn it on a CD We send it to my uncle overseas. My uncle just knew a guy that was in the national team of Macedonia in the under-21s reserves. And he forwarded it on to the 19s coach. And that was just going through the process. Again, never looked at it, never thought too much of it. I was playing the reserves and then I get called up for the couple of friendly games for the Macedonian under-nineteens national team. So they go, come take a look, pay your way. ⁓ Well I went, I did pretty well. ⁓ they pulled me at right back, which at the time we only played a back three, so it was one sweeper and two stoppers. Put me at right back. I did well. We played against Bulgaria and I think Temertana, which is a ⁓ first division ⁓ They called me back, they go we got a European qualify in ⁓ versus Croatia, Israel, and ⁓ Come ⁓ I went there, had a pretty good tournament, those three games, showed My dad flew over to watch the games. With my uncle and ⁓ an agent approached him, so he had brought one of the players, ⁓ Saško Pandev, into Dinamo Zagreb, and obviously his brother was his Goran Pandev, which is an Italian legend, Macedonian legend. So that all happened. I came back to Australia, just kept playing, no one recognized the fact that I represented Macedonia, and that was at the transition of NSL to the A-League. Jani Schmidt: Yeah DG: So that

was in that 2005 when NSL had stopped and then the A-League was starting. So then obviously they're scraping players and I was never one of them, I would think, playing for Macedonia, but I never got the call. I was never exposed to it, to be honest. My dad calls on a Friday and he says, ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Okay. DG: Pack your bags, we're flying out tomorrow or Sunday. we land in Croatia. The agent said it's between a club, two clubs potentially. I went okay. The two clubs were Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb. ⁓ again I wasn't Jani Schmidt: Very big clubs, very big clubs in Croatia. DG: They're big clubs but I had no idea. ⁓ I was not exposed to it. I didn't too many questions. I okay, fair enough. I was doing some ⁓ TAFE course. a TAFE course. Just so my parents know I'm doing something after school. ⁓ And then ⁓ across, had horrible trial I was jet lagged for the game. I fell asleep on the bus. We'll play there was a friendly game versus Division III side. I looked. bu very below average. And luckily enough the the club told the agent, the manager, and he just said, look, you can stay, we've got another game, in two weeks. You can stay, ⁓ train, ⁓ prepare for that game, him opportunity, or piss off back to Australia. ⁓ And that was a decision where remember I was at the front of the stadium with my dad, I was crying 'cause I was like, I'm eighteen and ⁓ half. In those six months I barely went out, didn't go out. I was watching Super Saturday rugby league, so I go, you know what, fair enough. I go, let's give it a shot. And let me, you know, figure this out. So I stayed. We played a game two weeks later. I scored two goals as a fullback. And they said stay. ⁓ which I did, and they just said, Look, we'll Train you. You'll be training every morning with the youth, sometimes with the first grade, because the connection was the first grade coach. And stay and train twice a day individually in afternoon with the coaches, in the morning with the team. I pretty much will call them my football education, my university. They taught me everything, left foot, right foot, every day, five days a week, morning and afternoon training. Dropped course that I was studying here. Just gave gave up my whole life in Australia ⁓ and go figure it out. And then luckily enough at the end of the year, well not lucky enough, the coach got the sack. ⁓ This is brutality of football. The coach went, think, 22 ⁓ games unbeaten. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yeah. DG: drew one game, they sacked him because the owner and the coach didn't get along. But at the time there were great players. It was the Luka Modric, Eduardo de Silva, Čorluka Pokrivac. Big big players. ⁓ that they got sold at the end of the year and luckily enough I got picked up by a smaller club in Croatia. That gave me the opportunity to sign professionally because I did come from the Dinamo Zagreb youth. And then that's when my professional career started, I guess. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, well... Before we jump to that topic, said there were other coaches there when you were training every day, they were kind of like your football education. What would you say, what was the biggest difference in terms of how they approach coaching and the way football was trained and played to then what you had experience here in Australia? DG: I know a lot of people won't like this, but I didn't see any parents on the sideline. I'll tell you that right now. I didn't even know these players where they lived. Wha whether they're from they weren't from Zagreb. They were from outside. It was just purely hard intense training in the mornings. In the afternoon I would do two days a week conditioning. I can't remember exactly what there was a gym. And it was actually the assistant coach for the first grade that would do three times a week. Technical. So I do I remember one little part where he'll go tuck in and curl it your left. So I would and he would show me like see the goal, the post, the lights are about ten meters to the left, aim for that because you're left foot you can curl. So I remember doing that relentlessly. Jani Schmidt: Thanks. And you are like, ⁓ my God, my left foot is no good. DG: Well no, I actually got better with my left foot only because I was injured. was ⁓ I was 17, I had a problem with my knee on my right side and it was ligaments, ligament damage. So I had to be braced for six weeks on my right foot. So me being a kid, I just kept kicking the ball with my left foot, even though I wasn't allowed to bend it for six weeks. So as I kept kicking with my left, the next year the coach saw I was pretty good on my left, so he played me left centre back, left stopper. And I was actually pretty good in my left, so that's how I learned that. But then when I went over there, Jani Schmidt: of Okay. DG: They just go Australians in technique, please these guys, he's got no idea, but we'll teach it. But I always wanted to learn. I was what I never complained snow, rain, hail, there's non-existent over there. Everyday training. Breakfast, training, lunch, nap, training, dinner, sleep. Jani Schmidt: Repeat. Yes. DG: That was on repeat for I would say a good ten months. My parents there wasn't iPhones out back then. ⁓ There was Skype. So unless they speak to me, they didn't know what was happening. I just said, just keep working hard and just, you know, living life. My mum a bit worried being a mum ⁓ by myself there, but I had to learn to clean my own undies. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. then, ⁓ you still like 18 and a half, 19 years old, right? DG: Eighteen and a half I moved to Croatia, yes. Jani Schmidt: Where I would say looking and especially in Australia, a lot of players and the way the system is when they're 18, 19, they finished school, they have lot more time on their hand, but then it goes down to instead of training three to four times a week, sometimes two to three times a week. And now we have the comparison like you just explaining in Europe where you say there you train twice a

day, five days a week plus match on the weekend. And then would you say in that timeframe of the 10 to 12 months that you were over there, That was maybe the biggest improvement you had seen in your whole football career Yeah. DG: Hundred percent. It was my my university of football. My dad says it like that. It's like you did your apprenticeship. kids nowadays ⁓ I say to them ⁓ eights and nines you have better technique than when I was 15. Right? But it was very differently exposed to what we were available to. But ⁓ never questioned ⁓ was always right. ⁓ you never complained. Well that was me. I never complained. My parents never complained. ⁓ I was sitting on the bench, they blame me, ⁓ harder. Jani Schmidt: So it's then when you said you were then offered the professional contract at the smaller club in Croatia, did they sign you then as a fullback? DG: And Yes, yes. And at the time it was the captain was the right back of the club. He had played ten years in Bundesliga, Obviously the most experienced player, the best player. ⁓ And I just went, okay, at least I'm professional. I'm at this ⁓ stage, I ⁓ How do I get bigger? So within six months, I knocked the captain off his starting lineup. I would get opportunities, come on 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, one half. He was getting a bit older. I was young and youthful, and I took his spot within six months. and I was a starter for that team. And unfortunately we got relegated at the end of the year. ⁓ and my contract had one plus one option. ⁓ But was in Croatian. I thought it was my option, but it was actually the clubs, so I had to stay in second division. ⁓ I I always said you go where you're gonna play. ⁓ I playing standard, ⁓ second is ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yes. DG: I think NPL has better facilities in that regard. we got luckily promoted the next year. I ended up being captain of the club by twenty-one. ⁓ and then towards the end ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Okay. DG: I was playing under twenty one's Macedonian national team, which I always said it kept me on a a pedestal 'cause you're playing international football, more exposure, where you're going to be seen. I was doing well. We played England from memory in the youth. where Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott were in there. I remember playing in Coventry. But you're always playing, you're always ⁓ you know, international break, I go play for Macedonia, you fly back. You do your three, four weeks and international break. So I was always football oriented, always being exposed and then ⁓ Jani Schmidt: So yeah. DG: 21, we get relegated again. I put in my contract. If we get relegated, I don't go back. Thank God for that. So they couldn't screw me contractually. Finances, I paid my way out of the club because the money that they owed me. So I managed to do that. And then I signed for another club in Croatia, which finished third that year. But then they just went through a financial crisis and I ended up staying there for two years. ⁓ And yeah. Jani Schmidt: And then what then lead to you coming back to Australia because that was then the next move, right? ⁓ DG: I still I still have one more journey. So the first year in the first year in Šibenik I I was too old for the under twenty ones, Macedonia national team. So I would say there is where you're like, what are you doing with yourself? the second year starts we just managed to stay first division, didn't get relegated, then I get called up for the Macedonian. national team which I went beautiful and back on the international stage more exposure more people to see playing senior football and then that from when I got called up for Macedonia that whole year from the club I never got paid once but I guess when I say to kids ⁓ and parents how much are you willing to I go I had no money to my name I was 23 years old I say kids ⁓ and parents how much are you willing to sacrifice I had no money to name I was years old It was football talking, just waiting for that opportunity. It wasn't the money. I was playing five years professional. It was football talking, just waiting for that opportunity. It wasn't the money. I was playing five years professional. It was always, you know, lucky I had supportive parents that were able to afford me living there. when I'll get paid, I'll s you know, you're learning ⁓ what you ⁓ Pancakes. You make pancakes, it's just flour, milk and an egg. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yes. DG: Things like this, you're always hungry, you're young, you're always hungry. I was always I was always chewing on chewing gum just so my tummy thought I was full. ⁓ Little things like that that I do remember, but you never made me ⁓ not want to play football or want to give up. So ⁓ because I got international stage, international exposure, had a from Ukraine that came knocking. ⁓ I was always chewing on chewing gum just so my tummy thought I was full. Jani Schmidt: Yes. Yes. DG: Didn't like the contract. Lucky I didn't go there. I got an offer from Steaua Bucharest in Romania. ⁓ club. ⁓ went there. Went there. I signed ⁓ it was a six-month ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Big, club, yeah. DG: With a potential for extension for 18 months, so a two-year contract, but if I didn't fulfill the requirements the first six months, they can get rid of me. And it was pretty much ⁓ had to start 10 of the first 20 games in that half of the season. And funny enough, ⁓ played Europa League, which was great. We were undefeated was a great first six And on that 10th game, ⁓ when my extended, I broke my leg. during the game, the last couple of minutes of the game. I fought back to get back. I came back from the doctors, what they say I should have been back in end of March. ⁓ Start of April, I came back, start of February. So within two, three months of hard work, I got myself back to playing. ⁓ we did pretty good in the Europa League. We finished first. We were in front of Stuttgart, were a big club. Copenhagen. So we did well. We knocked out Ajax in the next game, ⁓ then we lost in the

second half of the second game to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Jani Schmidt: ⁓ well, yeah. DG: But again, and Chelsea ended up winning Europa League. So, you know, that was great accomplishment, but I managed to get on the bench for that game. I played my first game back officially full game the week before. But the coach said, look, we're playing Chelsea. We won one nil at home. We're playing at Stamford Bridge. Just come, winning one nil on Stamford Bridge at halftime. And then Chelsea decided to be Chelsea and they scored three goals in the second half. Jani Schmidt: Fair enough. Yeah. See you. DG: But again, that's football and that was a great experience. And then funny enough, the next year we qualify for Champions League and we have Chelsea again in the groups. Which was again great, great exposure, great. You know, we had Schalke in the group. So Schalke Great Stadium. I think Draxler was there. then he went to PSG. So I think Prince Boateng was in that team as well. So ⁓ got to experience that well. It was great. And then ⁓ end of the year, Didn't go well the last five months of my contract there. The owner went to jail. So then all these things start to happen, didn't get paid, all that stuff. All the you know, the football stories. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, the football reality stories, right? Like a lot of these things kind of, yeah. DG: Football reality stories, you're on a high, yeah, you lose money, you lose bonuses, all that stuff. And then I just said to myself, I don't want the Eastern block anymore. I don't want to be there. Eight years took its toll, had to go to court to Switzerland to UEFA for money and contracts. So I focused on the West and I was very, very close to signing for Mainz. ⁓ which I literally rushed up Jani Schmidt: ⁓ Then we would be speaking German right now if that would have happened. I know every time we meet each other in person you always try to say some German words so I know you would have been prepared. DG: Yeah, I still talk, good enough, my schmetterling. ⁓ Yeah, I started learning it. I started learning. I think I got a little d DVD about like learning a few things. I learned Schmetterling, which why the hell would I know why butterfly is? Yeah. It's a stupidity. Jani Schmidt: Everyone in knows that. Okay, Mainz didn't work out. DG: Yeah, so I said I wanna go to Germany. There was Belgium, Club Brugges, and Anderlecht There are options, but options aren't reality. ⁓ contractually agents, ⁓ whatever is, ⁓ it what it was. Mainz ended up signing, it was in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. ⁓ They they signed the guy from Chile. ⁓ So seasons had started with most most leagues in Europe. ⁓ I ⁓ took a gamble wanting that, blocked everything else, and it didn't pay off. I wouldn't change it. But it was what it was. And then all the leagues started. I still got offers in Eastern Bloc clubs, Bulgaria, all that. And I said, no, I don't want to do it. So I just stayed in Macedonia, just training with the where my mum's

from, the first team And ⁓ Australia came out of the blue. ⁓ ⁓ I had no idea about the A League 'cause ⁓ I follow it. I didn't really follow football to that extreme. ⁓ I used to just watch Danny Alves play in Barcelona and all those things. So A League I just didn't know much. Got a phone call. So then when Australia came calling ⁓ From one agent, didn't like him, another agent, which ended up being my agent, Tony Rallis, got me in there, and then I only signed nine months, and was a great decision. We won all three titles. ⁓ came back, I was a different type of fullback, different than the league, I guess. There wasn't many doing all those overlapping runs but we had a great team, you know, Delpierre ⁓ Carl Fala, Valeri, Milligan, Berisha We had a great, great team. Jason Geria now representing Australia He was my roommate for three years. So it was a great team and you know the rest the rest continued. I was stayed in the A-League for seven years. Jani Schmidt: Yes, love it. Yeah, but then the first question on that, what was like the biggest difference in terms of the football from what you've had had experience like playing Europa League to then coming into the A League? Did you have to adjust much? Did a lot of things change? Did you maybe sometimes even struggle with that? DG: I was lucky. The reason why is from Europa League when you play, then you play Champions League, then you're playing international. So I'm I'm I'm not very ex I was very luckily exposed to the top top tier of football, the most elite. And then when I came to Australia, I saw a lot of unnecessary running, body positioning, hot, all that stuff. But I was lucky I say because I had a lot of players that Carl Valeri came from Italy, had played abroad, Fahid played in Bordeaux. Delpierre played in Germany, Stuttgart captain. So we a lot of ⁓ understanding the team, and it was easy for me to adapt because you always look at three, four passes ahead, ⁓ know the comfortability is. We wouldn't have to speak. It would just be flowing. So that's probably why we even won it as well. But again, was lucky. If I went to another club that didn't have that, then I would have been more aggressive and more ⁓ you know. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Bye. DG: I'll be more frustrated ⁓ but I was lucky that Victory team was a top team. I came in there. my personal life I met my girlfriend ended up being my wife so that became a big part of my decision to stay. I had options in my MLS, didn't go, I stayed in Australia ⁓ and it was an easy transition mainly because of that. Jani Schmidt: ⁓ Yeah, that would have been my next question. Did ever through that time playing in the A-League, the thought come like, one more time Europe would be great? Or were you like, okay, I've done that part and I'm now focusing on, partner, maybe building a family, settling down, ⁓ being to family. DG: I never I never thought too far ahead. Like I when I came to Australia I still played for Macedonia and funny enough my last game for the Macedonia national team was against the Socceroos We played them in Scorpio. So I never wanted to go back. I think I was unless it was a Club different ball game, but No, eight years took its toll. ⁓ in positive ⁓ and ⁓ bad and good, guess. no, I never really had the ambition. There was Asia available. I just say, you know what, I'm ⁓ I'm comfortable here. Not that a bad thing, like, you know, you're gonna live here at the end of the day, create a name here, play your football, enjoy Australia, enjoy, you know, you've done your ⁓ your part in Europe. It's It's finished. If you go back to it ⁓ It wasn't that, So for me I was content ⁓ with that. Jani Schmidt: it's very fair one to say when you arrived back here that you were comfortable because I feel like you already had done like you said that part, big sacrifice over so many years ⁓ going at a time when you very young where you had to go and overcome a lot of challenges. ⁓ Where I would say, yes, you can say it was comfortable to be here, but also would say probably well deserved after all the grind that you had to do to then be like, okay, I'm an established player. can enjoy playing football, making sure that actually at the end of the month, the pay is going to come rather than having to think again, I don't know how I'm going to make pancakes again for seven days straight. DG: That was a big one as well. Yeah, you know. I think that's right. when I was overseas, my ⁓ my dad will call and he said, you know, some guy said he can get you into this club in the A League. I was like, ⁓ I'm not ready for it. I didn't want to come to here ⁓ to go back overseas. So I never came to Australia to play, ⁓ to go back over there. My mentality was if I'm there, I don't care that one knows who I am in Australia. No one knew when I was here anyway. So it wasn't to see my family. Yes, they sacrificed and they suffered for me not being there, but again, was me trying to live out a dream or trying to figure out this football ⁓ 'cause it only lasts ⁓ your mid thirties or whatever it may thirty if if his injury is even worse. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yeah. So, so, so then if we're not looking far ahead, but if you look back, if you think back about your beginnings, your youth, um, going overseas, if there would be something that you could change from around that time, you know, 14 to maybe 19, 20, is there something you would do differently that you would approach differently, change about your routines? Is there something that comes to mind? DG: No, because I didn't have an idea what was happening. ⁓ I can look back at it now and say, ⁓ maybe this but the times were very different. This is the early two thousands where the league went into a transition, the Australian league. So for me was no, I was happy to play. I kept playing, I had the coaches' confidence to play me all the time. I I earned the spot, I wasn't rewarded the spot, I was earning the spot. I wouldn't change a thing because that's what got me

to where I got to. The only thing I would say is I was Unlike today where they come back and then they go back overseas to give another crack. You stay there. If you have to go in second division, I went there because I sat to stay and play. I was still young. I was 19, 21. ⁓ Played one, division two, go back into division one, create your name. ⁓ Yes, sucked. Yes, it wasn't always positive, but you're still playing. With games, you'll get seen. I think that was my mentality. If you're not playing, then you're not gonna get seen. Or no one's gonna see that he's playing because there's always going to be excuses. I've I've I've found one hilarious where with agents especially ⁓ when I was playing in Croatia, I was playing for the Juniors Macedonia. ⁓ Macedonia's not that good. You're only playing juniors. Then you play the first division, yeah, but you guys are below mid-table. Then I'll go play this in Romania. ⁓ you know, it's Romanian League is not too strong. Mind you, it was a very strong league at the time. But you're playing for Macedonia, ⁓ they're not that good in the groups. You go play Europa League. That's any time they actually said, ⁓ you're pretty good because you finished first. Champions League, yeah, but you finished last. So there was always an excuse of I couldn't control what people were gonna look at it as. I couldn't control that. And that's when I went, you know what? Stuff ya. ⁓ you're here, you're there. They're always trying to find excuses of where you should where it's not that good. Jani Schmidt: That's yes. No. DG: I said, but that's me. This is my football. This is where my journey is taking me. I'm gonna keep persisting it. If you don't like it, I don't wanna listen to you. And that was a lot of agents because they would deflect because they couldn't get me the offer or they didn't have enough relationships in the club to get me there. That was their excuse. And I used to say, Well, maybe you're not good enough. And I'll just hang up the phone and go Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Well, on that point then, because in previous episodes, like the topic of agents has come up sometimes, if there's just one advice that you would give to players and parents that maybe come around the topic of like having an agent, getting approached by an agent, what would be your advice? What would you look for in the person and for them to be aware of? DG: The honest ones. The honest ones. At the end of the day. Jani Schmidt: that tell you straight away that you what your problem is, what maybe your game is still lacking and what the options are or how would you define it? DG: No, the honest agents. The ones that say you're not good enough for this, not, you're good, I'll get you there, and then they don't pick up your phone call. I think they're big red flags of and our agents they have a lot of plays, they're on the phones all the time. Like my agent's got about 60 players in the A-League. It bloke doesn't get off the phone, I don't even know when he sleeps, to be honest. So I understand that, but that I was at towards the end of my career understanding. For the youth one, people are going to say, You needed this, you need this person to go there. Your football, at the end of the day, the club come and reach out to you. My agent was in Australia But the clubs approached me in the A-League. Overseas, it's different. ⁓ we need a player like this. Who do you have? And that's the more you know, the more depressing football can be for you. The less you know, the more oblivious you are, is better. Now I was lucky because Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah. DG: Not that iPhones went around, technology wasn't as big as what it was now. I was very uneducated, unknown, and I wanted it like that, which put me more down to ground of expectation. So I had that philosophy of I have no expectations, so I can't be disappointed. Mind you in football, you're disappointed most of the time of what it is because you got your contract and then we want to get rid of you or you're not playing or whatever it is. That's the reality of football. But that's when you get to that top of tier level. Jani Schmidt: Yes. Yeah. DG: When you're in the juniors, it's all about development. And that's what people, that's pretty much 80% of what I say when it comes to academy space or youth space. It's about the development. Not about looking too far ahead. Today, tomorrow. That's it. And I think that's one of the conversations you want to have as well. Jani Schmidt: And as you said, Nah, think the important part, like you said, is with that, that in the end, the agent can only talk about the product, like you said. So if a player is not good enough, they can't create magic either because they can't lose their reputation. You as a player, you have to think about what you can control. And I believe that's like how good you can be and how you perform. You can have an agent in your bag that's great, it has amazing connections. But if you can't stay on the pitch for 10 games in a row and actually deliver something, whatever position you're playing. Not much is gonna come out of it. Yeah. DG: what you can control which is your own football, your own ment your own character. If you're an arrogant personality and they say you're an arrogant personality, if you want to keep at that, fair enough. But they judge your own personalities as well and characteristics. Is this player going to be a problem for me? Are they consistent? So you can control that. Any player, whether they're good or bad, you can control that. But if that's your personality, then understand that's what's going to happen. Some coaches will like it, some coaches won't. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. DG: You only need one to say yes and you might go through ninety-nine that said no. But you have to be persistent and not give up. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, then let's close up that chapter of your professional career as a player. If you think back around all the experiences you had as a player,

is there one moment that always comes to mind that was like the best moment of your career? DG: The Champions League song my friend. The Champions League song. I didn't know I was playing it. I knew all qualifying. We had a game in Poland. It was the last qualifying game. But when you're in the bubble of it, you don't really understand it. And the Champions League song came, that you you go walk out on the field fair enough and you still qualifying. We qualified, which was great. I couldn't enjoy it because I had to do doping tests, so I was stuck in a room had to pee in a Cup. So we go back and even the first game against Schalke in Schalke really click to me. ⁓ clicked to me the day before the Chelsea game, our second game at home, when I had to do an interview for and they asked, What is ⁓ this tournament mean to you? And I remember sitting on the couch in the club doing this interview and it just like had a a lightning flash and it went, I got I'm a kid from Australia where I used to wake up 4, 4.30 in the morning to watch this game. The fact that I get to play it, wow. And I think then it hit me, holy crap, you are playing in the Champions League. And the worst part of it is the next game I had the the next day the worst game in my career. Jani Schmidt: Bye. It's sick. DG: ⁓ The worst game, but that there I remember like not tearing up but like the shivers hit me like holy crap, you're living something that I didn't even think I was going to do because a year, two years before that, man, I was playing getting relegated, not getting paid. All these things where you would think you'd give up. I'm here now. ⁓ wow. And that woke me up of ⁓ look. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. DG: Yeah now, right? and the next day we go on the field and the song is playing in front of ⁓ fifty-five, sixty thousand at home, and I went, ⁓ I love this song. Like it used to be my ringtone for my alarm to wake me up in the morning. Jani Schmidt: Yes. Man, honestly, amazing, like you said, that little boy from Australia, from Western Sydney that never thought, he's actually gonna get there, that got cut on the way, that like was never seen, was maybe never even called up for selection teams, ends up being the player that plays on that big stage that every young player dreams of. So then last question on that, that young boy, think back, you're that young boy, 10, 11, 12 years old. What would that young boy say to you now at the end of your professional career as a player of like what you've achieved? Would that young boy be proud? Would he be like, man, how did we get here? What would that young boy say to you? DG: That boy would say, is this a fictional book? It's not real. It's everything, that whole journey, my football journey as a 10-year-old, be like, that's not gonna happen. You're living in fantasy land. But it became a reality. So I wouldn't believe it. Like I obviously as a 10-year-old kid, I wish I played, I wish I played there, I wish I played there. It's all wishes. But reality hits in and it's like there's no chance. Jani Schmidt: So then let's shift into that next phase of your life. You are retired from playing professional, you're a coach now. We already, over the last years, we already had like a lot of conversations around football, the problems of football, the problems of youth development, especially you being in Australia, me being in Australia. initial question, what made you say, okay, I'm done playing? I wanna start coaching. DG: My son was born. ⁓ COVID had finished the second cycle. ⁓ I did it was hard, A-League was hard. My wife gave birth, which is the most the best thing in the world. I'd have a kid. we're Melbourne in a lockdown and I think I just had enough. ⁓ My agent calling me, ⁓ through this process, knockback, blah blah. when I said I'd not doing it anymore, try to go for a run. I try to keep fit. ⁓ I just wanted to stay with my kid. So I went, I'm done. Funny enough, the second I said I'm done, channel 10 called for Paramount Plus to be commentating and whatnot. My business partner now he called me, he goes, I got an academy, Covid let's let's do it. I always enjoyed coaching, I always I always felt like I was a kid. And I still am a kid, you know, in in reality, I'm a kid. Coaching is fun. When you see a kid have fun, we used to always do clinics when we played professional. I enjoyed that aspect. Let me give this a crack. I don't want to play football anymore. And funny, when I put that mindset, that was it, I got offered a contract the following week to play professional and I just said, No, thank you. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Well, yeah. DG: I appreciate it because I'm leaving wanted, not leaving because I've got no options. I had the option, I said thank you, I don't want to play football anymore. And then I but I had to move to Sydney or in Melbourne. And then going to that transition, obviously Paramount Plus, learning that ⁓ that world of media, which is fun, ⁓ but it was very ⁓ fickle. And then the academy it. And now me ⁓ lowering my expectations. Of what kids know, I didn't know what they knew. I just had an expectation of me. So the sessions I used to put out, which were we can laugh at it, like little sections of with a board, with this, with that. ⁓ then kids are kicking it. And I'm like, what are you kicking like the hurdles for? And then that I had to kind of go get my wrap my head around that kids have a different mentality. So I say, you what? I've got to learn this. I've got to learn the expectation. I know what I can give. Jani Schmidt: Mm. DG: But I've got to have my lower my expectation to say what they actually need to be able to get to that. So me going through that took about a year, I would say, a bit over a year. Jani Schmidt: I you've played in Europe, you've played in Australia, you've played under some quality Are there coaches that, ⁓ when you back on your playing career, ⁓ gave you that one advice or that one feedback or the way they were approaching players

that you always remember and that maybe you took a part from them? DG: I remember the first coach that brought me into the national team. His name was John Toshak. He ⁓ was Welsh, which I found bizarre what's he doing coaching the national team, but I didn't complain because he called me up. He was a Real Madrid coach and a Liverpool legend. And his approach was very managerial, if that makes sense. It wasn't about the tactic, it was it was about how much you're gonna give. Jani Schmidt: Cheers. DG: And he was very calm, very relaxed. I was used to crazy Croatian coaches. Like my first three years in Croatia as a professional, we had nine coaches. So you get some nutters, you get some ⁓ funny you get ones that you can relate to, you get ones that just don't like you. You get a lot of them. And ⁓ coaches I ⁓ had a rapport with were the ones that were calmer The ones that ⁓ very headed that you want to play for them. And now that ⁓ me those coaches in my mind, I had some crazy coaches as well in my youth, which was great because you get to learn from every coach. That youth different types of coaching ⁓ helped overseas because overseas was it's not it's okay little. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Even crazier, yeah. DG: It's it's different, but you have to have very, very thick skin and don't take offense to every little thing, right? So you have to have thick skin on it. So I did have thick skin, I nothing really bothered me, which helped me, that was just my personality. And then, all of coaches and experiences and memories ⁓ into the youth And now when I came into ⁓ doing this ⁓ academy, I at what was out there. And you hear the the craziness of coaches, the swearing, the all those things that I looked at it and I go, I didn't have this. That that's not what it is to make it if everyone's looking to make it. That's not how you can get a kid to do what you want to do. So how do I learn from everybody else? Even though I was professional and all that, what are they doing that I can do differently that'll get the process or the development there? Right? I learned. good from bad, how do we develop my own style from my coaches and this youth, the way that they think, the way that they're, you know, it's a different type of generation, How can we do it it works for us and works for the kids? ⁓ And that's how we always try to better ourselves. And the style that we have ⁓ and that we've implemented, me my business partner with our coaches, ⁓ that's the way it is that's how I learn. So if that's how I learned and I got there, that's what I'm gonna give to the kids. I'm not gonna do the opposite because I'm contradicting what I've experienced in my career. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I feel like you made a very good point that you said, life has changed, whole different generations. I think nowadays if you would take a little kid from Western Sydney that doesn't have thick skin and you would send it to an academy in Eastern Europe and make them through the same kind of journey

that you had, I don't think many would persist because that part would, I don't think many can do it. Would you say when you are comparing Also working with players here, that it is important to give them the reality check. You can obviously tell them the true stories that you experienced going overseas, telling them, hey, yes, there's an environment here in Australia, but the environment in Europe is completely different. Like, what do you give them? What do you tell them? ⁓ And maybe do you have one or two points that you set them? Like, this is what you have to be ready for. DG: Well it's funny enough, we last year got into a relationship with a club in Serie B in Italy, ⁓ we did a tour, ⁓ the answer to your question is the kids will always do it. I educate the parents. The parents have to be realistic with what it is. And ⁓ me being very close with my father my whole career, I say this is what my dad did. This is what the reality is. ⁓ Lower your expectation, lower you thinking that you're somebody. Over there, you're just a number. That number, unfortunately, is your kid, which you will die for. But parents, calm down. Reality check, down. You know, we're the NPL You know, overseas, I don't even know what the A-League is. So you here thinking that they don't know what the hell the NPL is, it's just three syllables. Jani Schmidt: This DG: Right? So lower your expectation. The kid's got something. Just give be positive and say keep pushing harder. Keep pushing harder. Don't give them your two cents because you're not an agent. You're not a coach. Even me with my kid, I won't be pushing it because it's the coach over there. I'm not the coach. What they want. You have to listen to it. And funny enough, me giving advice to one kid that went overseas, it helped him out because happened was one of the kids in the team was being cheeky and the coach saw him be a cheeky, not him, one of the other kids. They made him do doggies (shuttle runs) for 45 minutes. But if this kid didn't have thick skin and had a good mentality, he would have complained, like they would in Australia. Or the parents gonna come and say, Why is my son doing doggies? It's because of somebody else. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah. DG: Over there, it doesn't work like that. But the kid had a great mentality, worked his butt off, did it, was cooked at the end, ⁓ the coach looked at it and said, This kid didn't complain. That's why they've invited him back. But that's what I'd educate the parent on the kid. Keep your head down, ⁓ your mouth, you can't complain over there because all they'll do is ⁓ rid of you. And that's a perfect example of when I was in Dinamo Zagreb from memory. ⁓ the coach, ⁓ when we training with the team, ⁓ he was hard, very firm, 'cause he's a youth. He used to do this. ⁓ Kid will complain, yep, he used to go, and go. ⁓ You complain, your opportunity is finished. You, who are you from the street? Go and play. That means your opportunity is finished just because of something that you could have controlled, which is your temper, your character. You're always going to learn. If you think you know it, ⁓ Stay in Australia. Don't go out, ⁓ lower your expectation. Change your characteristic, change your mentality. If you think you're arrogant, they start looking at Instagram and who you are, what you are. If you're arrogant on Instagram, they see it all over there. And that's their goal. Even here in Australia, they start to do it. This kid's gonna be a problem because they're Partying or whatever it may be, exposing yourself to ⁓ person that probably you're not like that because of the photo that they show. So little details like that, I always say you're Messi and Ronaldo, because there's only two in the whole world, in the whole generation, ever. You're just a normal player trying to this football a crack. By doing it, don't give them excuse to make the decision about it. Let your football do the talking. That you're hard. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yes. DG: Whatever type of player, if your technique, if the coach asks you to kick it in the air, you say how high. Or you say nothing at all. Why? Because the coach wants to know. They put you through, they put you through the ringer of what they want. Not what you think that they want, no, no, what they want. They'll fix it up on that regard. Parents, ⁓ be quiet. Jani Schmidt: Yes. Yeah DG: Because you want them to go there. The club's not coming and asking for you. you want that. So it's a lot of it is educating parents. But I just say, go and speak to my dad. Ask him what he knew and what he did. He just said if Danny doesn't want to do it, ⁓ him in the head and come back home. That was it. There was no ⁓ advice. Whatever the coach says you do. Even if he's got no idea, ⁓ still there. ⁓ and do it. And I think that's Jani Schmidt: Yeah. And like you said, you're gonna learn something and you're always gonna learn something from the good ones, but you also gotta learn something from the bad ones that either shows you how to not do it or teaches you that resilience as a player to be like, I hate this right now. I don't know why we're doing it, but I gotta keep doing it because it's not just you, it's a team. feel like you're... DG: No one hundred percent. And I'll tell you one example of one coach that I didn't like, at The Wanderers, right? did mention one thing, so even a guy I didn't like, I didn't respect, he said, ⁓ when you're a player, you've got it too good. When you're a it's different because you have to go set everything up. And I remember that and now when I go set up my sessions, I'm an hour and a half beforehand, getting everything perfect and right. And I remember him saying that. So even the one I didn't like, I still learned something from him. And I remember it. So you're always learning. Jani Schmidt: It's Yeah. So you are obviously like you're in and around the game in Australia. You're seeing a lot. You're also like in media, you're seeing the

level of the A-League. What would you say for players that are in Australia, how realistic is the dream of playing football in Europe? And obviously there's a lot of different levels to what playing in Europe means, as you also elaborated during this conversation. But what would you say, how realistic is it? One, and two, What do these players in Australia have to do to eventually be able to go overseas and maybe make a career? Whether that's Champions League, Europa League, playing second division in Germany, first division in Macedonia. When you are signing a professional contract and when you're getting fully paid to just play football, you're professional footballer. DG: Never be embarrassed. Because when you're embarrassed, you start questioning things. Your football journey doesn't ⁓ start with club and doesn't end with one club. You know, they I don't like when players come back to Australia for six months just so they can play and go back overseas. Stay where you are. Fight for your spot. It's too easy. it's easy to find another option. So stay where you are. Earn your spot. and if someone says something back, I go, my first contract, I told you, the captain was the right back. ⁓ I knocked off his pedestal. I could have come to Australia and it's easier for me, because I'm Australian, no? ⁓ Fight for spot. but the coach, the coach gets changed. I had nine coaches three years. The coach gets changed. But one wants to fight, wanna find the easy way out. No one cares ⁓ in Australia. only your family. people don't know me. Who cares? At the end of the day, when you retire, no one knows you. Because at the end of the day you are just a human being that was lucky enough to play a sport that they loved. So stop looking outside. Just look at inside and mate, I've had times where not that I didn't want to go to training, I was upset. All those things. Don't give up. Giving up is easy. ⁓ I'm gonna just go into the A-League to do what? You wanna stay there? ⁓ Fight for spot. You haven't played in six months? I was iced out for six months after playing Champions League. Fight for your spot. And he had nothing to do with my football. It could do with contractual reasons and agents. Fight for your spot. It's too easy. Everyone's easy to give up. And one thing I do want to, I know you had a question on it that I remember about a player. And funny, you sent that text yesterday, and I remember one player, I won't name who he is. ⁓ He was in my youth. An gun player. Technically unbelievable. Tall, it was a head and a half taller Youth in Australia, but I'll explain why I'm bringing him up. Cause I was trying to think of one moment of someone. And now it starts from there. Very gifted. Mentally not a hundred percent committed, but very gifted. Most gifted player I've seen. ⁓ probably out in my youth. I funny enough, when I came back to Jani Schmidt: Like we're talking youth here in Australia. Yeah. DG: Sydney, to Wanderers, I got to see a lot of people that

I never saw from back Marconi days, Blacktown days, right? And this one guy resonates with me because I saw him at a christening and he just looked not depressed but just sad. Now, married, kids, job, everything on paper's perfect. And when I had a chat with him, he still couldn't let go because he He felt like I gave it up. I didn't give it a crack. I let other things interfere with me pursuing this journey, right? Now, mind you, on paper, beautiful life. But him giving up still hurts him. And I see that a lot with ex-players and they hit their 30s. I was this, could have been there. And especially my generation, I'm like, yeah, you guys are all better than me. What happened? Because they gave up too easy. It got a little bit tough, they gave up too easy. They didn't have the backing. Or even if they needed, even if they had all the backing, they had to be mentally strong. They something so simple had nothing to do with the ball. Something so simple made them give up the game. And you know what? They still hold that for the rest of their life. And I saw that in that person. I went, Well, I really can affect you. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. DG: If you you know you had the talent, you were the best in the 14s, 15s, 16s, 18s, talked about the best, the best. And nothing came from it from a simple decision of just not giving up everything. I've gave up, I've sacrificed. He obviously didn't because you're still holding that grudge. And that that that one I felt and I went, wow, I didn't know it would affect someone to that extreme. And it's very, very, very common. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, I think that's a And in saying that and telling this story, I think it's an advice to ⁓ the that are maybe, you know, in under 16s, 18s, ⁓ 20s, maybe already breaking into first grade, ⁓ that they are seen as like the top talent, right? They're selection teams, they're maybe youth national teams, under 17s, under 19s, under ⁓ 20s, they still haven't signed a professional contract. And like what you just said, sometimes, unfortunately, what happens to these players, They are hyped, they're being spoken about. Last week's chat with Alex who played in Nuremberg and he spoke about his youth team and they played against big players, against Dortmund. They were already professional players training with the first team. So many of them, nothing happened to their career. They stopped playing after two years. Some of them probably still have that same feeling of, didn't give it a crack. I didn't do the whole thing because I believed too early that I was already there. And then that's the other question of like, what does it mean to be there? But would you say that's one advice you would give to players on their journey in terms of what you've learned for your career, the resilience? would be that part that you said to a player that's listening to us, that's like on the way to the senior football? What is that one advice you give them to follow through with the journey? DG: Don't give up. ⁓ If club doesn't like you, there's always another club. There's no such thing as I need to be here to make it. No such But this is no such thing. give up because ⁓ if you give because of one coach, why don't you go to another place? There's always another place, there's always another club. There's no such thing as making it. What is making it, Jani? Five years I was professional, had no money to my name. Did I make it? Jani Schmidt: Yes. it. DG: I persisted to go and make it. So what is it to make it? I got there as a professional, but doesn't mean that I made it. It got even harder. So when I'm talking about youth, don't give up. ⁓ but I have to be here. This is, they promise me this. No one promises you anything in football. You don't even you're not no one can even promise you tomorrow waking up and you wanting to love football. No such thing. What you're gonna give to it. But don't give up. If this coach doesn't like you, there's always another coach. If this club is doing this, move on. Move on. Don't use excuses for you having to give up. You give up because you wanted to give up. I went 14 years, not bad. I likely got to say that. Kids now, man, was a gun growing They were this, they were that, he's in the NPL is this? I go, yeah. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. DG: That's the height of what he could have done. He could have gotten higher or she could have gotten higher, 100%. But you gave up. Too comfortable. I came comfortable at 26 after I did what I needed to do. People getting comfortable at 19. Why? Persist, man. Because at the end of the day, you can still come back to this great country of ours and still have a career in whatever you want to do. Because we're privileged in this country to do so. But don't take advantage of the privilege. 'Cause it's always going to be here. You can always go and work and figure that out after. Football doesn't last too long 'cause you're gonna hold that resentment for the rest of your life. And you don't want that for a simple decision of I gave up. Jani Schmidt: Yeah, Danny, honestly, that's probably the key message for especially players in Australia that are on that journey. I think you summarized it very well. I know there's so many more topics we could get into. There's so many more football related stuff. We could take apart the whole football up here in Australia. We won't. ⁓ like to finish the episode a few more relaxed questions for you. can just fire out the answer. What ⁓ is the unexpected place football took you? DG: Let's not, let's not. Yemen. Jani Schmidt: national team or trial for a team that's searching for a contract. DG: Yeah. No. Yemen, we we had a tournament there, but it was for the first grade, but they sent us under twenty-one there, and it was just a whole different the compound was amazing that we stayed in. It was some Austrian compound. But there were tanks and machine guns as protection everywhere. It was a great it was I wanted to fight back. I said, I go, I'm not staying

here. We're there for ten days. I go, this is horrendous. We played Yemen, Burkina Faso and one other c an Oman, right? What an experience. they I was and you know me, I took one of the soldiers' helmets off and put on my head. You don't you're not supposed to touch a soldier. ⁓ they had machine guns everywhere. It was so wow. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yes, eye-opening. DG: And funny enough, because of that, every time I go to the States, they interview me on why I went to Yemen fifteen years ago, twenty years ago. But it was a great it was a big eye opener. It was great. Jani Schmidt: and ssss Yeah, love it. Next question. Who is the best player you ever played against? DG: The most recognizable, the the hardest. I got to play, played Portugal, so Ronaldo was there, but I didn't defend him. ⁓ I came on, I mean later he came off or something like that. So I can't really say him. He's the most famous person in the world, and I absolutely idolise him. Hazard, 100 million hazard, ⁓ Chelsea Key, Schürrle German. ⁓ Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. DG: He ripped into me, but ⁓ I would say ⁓ was ⁓ player that I had to concentrate the most in ninety minutes and I probably did my whole life. Because what a player and ⁓ was like, yeah, he's his he's he's special. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he's maybe one that if you would ask him, if you would have a conversation with him, maybe he would say, ⁓ maybe I could have done a bit more if I would have been a little bit. Yeah, you spoke into him. DG: No, he's fine, man. He's fine. He ⁓ He he's fine because he was just he says it, you know, my when I went to Real Madrid the training was harder, etcetera, etc. But he was that point zero zero zero one percent of players that will be talked around for for generations of what he was and that's ⁓ he won't be remembering me, I'll tell you that right now. What a player. Jani Schmidt: Okay, last question because like you said at the beginning, we are able to watch the World Cup. We are enjoying it. When the episode comes out, there's still games to go. Who do you put your bets on? Who's going to win the World Cup? DG: Every World Cup I go for Brazil. Ever since the 90s. Brazil made me love football. Even till today, and you see, like that's how I am. Fun. I know I speak to Leo and Lee. They ask me, I go, Brazil? They go, but we're not that good. I go, no, no, no. They made me love football. The the way they're passionate, the the freedom. Life outside of the game is hard. Third world. Jani Schmidt: and DG: The favelas, they just live with freedom in football and they that I I wanted to live in Brazil because of them, because of that. So for me, no matter if the the worst on paper, I get upset if Brazil don't make it further. Not anyone else. Brazil arch no no. Brazil. ⁓ I always for Brazil ⁓ and I'll upset for a whole day if they get knocked out like they did ⁓ last World So always Brazil. Jani Schmidt: Yeah. Okay. Let's see what ⁓ Brazil can do. Let's see what Australians can do. Danny, amazing episode. I feel like a lot of valuable points for players and parents that actually want to listen to it, that actually want to hear these thoughts and take them on board and not say, yeah, maybe this random guy that played overseas in Europe and made it to the Champions League, maybe has a clue. Maybe he's saying some things. Maybe they should listen to you. Hopefully they will. I'm sure we will chat in the future around football anyway. Maybe I'll get you on board one more time where we shift from playing career to only talk about your coaching career and whatever will happen in the future. I know we stay in touch and thanks a lot for this episode. Anyone that wants to find Danny, he's running Stellar Football Academy. You will also find him again, probably next year again when the A-League season starts. Talking in the media again. We will see you out there. DG: Who knows? Jani Schmidt: If you miss this beautiful face, you will find them on social media and everywhere else. DG: I'm usually shaven. I'm on holidays. Leave me alone. Thank you for having me on, Jani. It's a pleasure, man. And we speak outside as well, you and I. So it's good what you're doing here, man. And hopefully people listen and that's it. You're just doing it for people to listen and for the next generation to hear it from real people, not from a marketing campaign. So thank you. Thanks for having me on, man. Jani Schmidt: Well, yes. Thank you, Danny Ciao.