Mark Viduka has admitted he didn't enjoy the 'fame' which came with starring in the Premier League, and now lives a quiet life in Croatia.
The former Leeds United striker, who famously scored four goals in a 4-3 win over Liverpool in 2000, runs his own coffee shop in Zagreb, and sometimes even plays guitar in his son's band.
His tranquil life post-retirement is in stark contrast to the non-stop nature of the Premier League, and Viduka always intended it to be that way.
"I left Australia to sign for Croatia Zagreb aged 19 and fell in love with the lifestyle," Viduka told the Mail. "And we’d always wanted to run a cafe, for fun really, one where everyone was welcome. So here we are.
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"Listen, my missus does all the work, I just sit here and drink coffee! Other than drink coffee? I play the guitar. My son, Oliver, is a drummer in a band."
Viduka won three league titles in Croatia after trading Melbourne Knights in his native Australia for Dinamo Zagreb in 1995.
The Australia footballing legend moved to England via Scotland, where he scored 35 goals in 48 games for Celtic, and finished as the league's top goal scorer in his only full season in the Scottish Premier League.
Leeds came calling in the summer of 2000, and Viduka would go onto spend four years at Elland Road. He scored 72 times in 166 appearances for the Whites and his tally of 20 league goals in 2002/03 remains a Leeds' record for goals scored in a single Premier League season.
The forward joined Middlesbrough following Leeds' relegation to the Championship in 2004 and netted 42 goals in 101 appearances during his three seasons at the Riverside Stadium.
He then rounded off his career at Newcastle United, and hung up his boots after they suffered relegation from the Premier League in 2009. And Viduka has opened up on his refusal to conform and why it was always more important that he stayed trued to himself amidst the chaos of the footballing world.
"I wasn’t obsessed with fame, at all. I didn’t like it. I still don’t. I wasn’t obsessed with money, that came as a by-product.
"You’ve seen what football is like, a lot of a**e-lickers and climbers, dishonest people who try to shaft you. But I always tried to stay true to myself.
"Maybe that’s why there is this negative perception, because I didn’t conform. I was born and raised in Australia but my parents were Croatian. I have that Aussie tolerance but I also have my Croatian side, I’ll stand my ground if I believe in something. It’s about being honest with yourself.
"A lot of players suck up to fans, coaches, journalists, and everyone loves them. But what sort of people are they when you remove all the b******t? Are they good people or just playing the game?"
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