Michael Beauchamp

Michael Beauchamp (born 8 March 1981 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He currently plays for Danish Superliga team AaB Football, and was a member of the Australia national football (soccer) team 2006 FIFA World Cup squad.

Club career

Beauchamp grew up in Wakeley, New South Wales in Sydney's south-west, and attended Westfields Sports High School until year 8, aged 14. After leaving the widely accepted system of progression in Australian youth football, Beauchamp started his career as a part-time professional sport at age 20 with the Marconi Stallions. Beauchamp appeared just once for the Stallions in his first season, fighting for a spot ahead of Australian representative Mark Babic. In 2001–02, Beauchamp became a regular in the team, making 24 appearances, including 19 starts as Marconi finished ninth in the league. Upon signing with Parramatta Power for 2002–03 and beyond, Beauchamp was able to quit his vinyl-laying job to play football full-time, and became a permanent member of the Parramatta starting line-up. Beauchamp played 33 matches for Parramatta in 2002–03, with the Power finishing the regular season third before coming fourth in the finals series "round-robin". Beauchamp made a further 24 appearances in 2003–04, including the last National Soccer League Grand Final after the western Sydney club finished second in the league. The collapse of the NSL forced Beauchamp to move back to the New South Wales Premier League, where he played for Sydney Olympic FC during the 2004–05 season before signing with A-League club Central Coast Mariners FC.

Beauchamp was a key player for the Mariners in the inaugural A-League season, starting 22 times in central defence. The Mariners finished third and progressed to the Grand Final, with Beauchamp playing the full 90 minutes in the decider. Beauchamp received numerous accolades from the press and fans for his impressive season, chosen as "Player of the Year" by Australian football magazine FourFourTwo (Australia), and was the most popular selection in the A-League "Fans' Team of the Year", although he was ineligible for the Johnny Warren Medal after receiving a Misconduct (football) in a round 11 clash with Sydney FC. Beauchamp also collected the inaugural "Mariners Medal" after being voted as the most outstanding Central Coast player by his teammates. At the end of the season Beauchamp travelled to Germany to trial with 1. FC Nuremberg alongside Mariners teammate Dean Heffernan, with both players signing one-year loan (football) contracts with the Bundesliga club. Beauchamp began training with Nuremberg shortly after the end of the World Cup, and scored a goal in his first match for the club, a 3-2 win over FSV Erlangen-Bruck. Beauchamp made his first Bundesliga start for Nuremberg on 4 November 2006 in a 2-1 loss away to Hertha Berlin. He has since become a regular of the starting first team, occasionally coming off the bench. He scored his first goal against Energie Cottbus on 18 February 2007. At the end of the 2006/7 season 1. FCN elected to sign Beauchamp on a full contract.

In the Summer of 2008, Beauchamp moved to Danish champions AaB_Football. On 17 August, in his first match in the Danish league, he was shown a straight red card 18 minutes into the game. Precisely one month later he was sent off once more in a UEFA Champions League match against Celtic F.C. in Glasgow, though on this occasion it was actually his team-mate Michael Jakobsen who should have received the red card as Beauchamp was not involved in the foul that led to the decision.

International career

Beauchamp was called up into the Australia national football (soccer) team under-23 squad (the "Olyroos") in January 2004 for the 2004 Summer Olympics qualifying tournament under Frank Farina. He made his international debut as a substitute, playing the final 34 minutes of Australia's 9-0 victory over Papua New Guinea national football team. That appearance became Beauchamp's only game for the Olyroos, as he missed selection for the Olympic Games themselves, where the team made the quarter finals before being eliminated by Iraq national football team.

In 2005, Beauchamp got his first taste at the senior level as he was twice called into the Socceroos training camp in the Netherlands under Guus Hiddink. The first occasion was in place of injured captain Craig Moore, but Beauchamp was called up again in the lead-up to Australia's 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) tie against the Solomon Islands national football team. Although he did not play a part in the qualification campaign, Beauchamp's impressive A-League season earned him his first full international cap by playing the full 90 minutes in Australia's 3-1 win over Bahrain national football team during Asian Cup 2007 (qualification) for the Asian Cup 2007. This was followed by Beauchamp's selection as one of only two A-League players in the 2006 FIFA World Cup squads Australia for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Beauchamp did not make an appearance during the finals tournament, but picked up his second international cap in a warm-up game against Liechtenstein national football team, playing 12 minutes as a substitute for Craig Moore.

On 7 October 2006, Beauchamp scored the own goal that gave Australia a 1-1 draw in a friendly against Paraguay. He came on late in the game, replacing Tony Popović (who was one of four senior Australian players retiring from international duty). With his first touch, after contact was made by Albirroja striker Oscar Cardozo, Beauchamp headed the ball into his own net.

On 16 July 2007, in something of a redemption for the above incident, Beauchamp scored the opening goal in Australia's must-win match in the group stage (Group A) of the Asian Cup 2007 against Thailand national football team. Australia's form leading up to the game had been indifferent and the side faced embarrassing elimination from the tournament if they did not win the match. After Beauchamp's opener (a header home from a Luke Wilkshire free kick), Australia went on to win comfortably 4-0.

Honours

With 1. FC Nuremberg:
- DFB-Pokal: DFB Cup 2006-07
Personal Honours:
- Central Coast Mariners Mariners Medal: Central Coast Mariners season 2005-06