HC Raphael Wicky has gone deeper into the alphabet than his last name, not an easy task, in tabbing David Zdrillic for his staff.
Wicky informed "David has a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach and we're delighted to have him join the Fire. He's played at a high level, he can relate to the players and he will bring a winning mentality to this club."
From the city of Sydney in OZ, David was last an asst. with RB Leipzeg of the Bundesliga and their U-19's. FIrst arriving at RB in 2017 to asst. with the U-17's his great work got him moved up the next year. Prior to RB, he was with Sydney FC filling a few coaching spots, not limited to the HC of their U-20's.
His playing career is rather extensive with 395 games from Europe and Australia. The first pro deal for David was with the same city of Sydney but with United, a terrific time there led him to the Golden Boot in his last NSL year there, then it was off to Europe. FC Aarua had has services from 1997-'98, SSC Ulm from 1998-'00, then off to SpVgg Unterhacing for 2000-'02, a quick stint with Aberdeen 2003-'04 then Eintracht Trier in 2005-'08. Back to United and a player/coach position for a single season before retirement. At the international level for the Socceroos, he had 20 goals in 30 games, not too shabby at all.
Next up the broadcast booth where he built quite the career yet again, covering the World Cups in 2010, '14 & '18, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and many more more international games. He and his crew took home a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Sports Coverage due to their stellar coverages of the games from the 2014 World Cup broadcasts on SBS.
Wickey clearly knows David from his time with the USMNT U-17's, so there must be a great deal of mutual respect there.