Michael Beauchamp life and biography

Michael Beauchamp (born 8 March 1981 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player. He currently plays for Melbourne Heart. He was a member of the Australian 2006 World Cup squad.

Beauchamp was one of the few members of Australia's 2006 World Cup squad who made the cut for Guus Hiddink's final travelling party even though he was plying his trade in the domestic championship with Central Coast Mariners.

He failed to make an impact four years ago, but his five appearances in the 2010 World Cup qualifying push suggests Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has plenty of faith in his abilities. Beauchamp's use to the squad is enhanced as he offers versatility, with his ability to play in central defence or at full back a useful string to his bow.

Beauchamp has some experience of European club football having represented Nurnberg in Germany and Aalborg in Denmark, but he has settled on a career in Abu Dhabi after joining Al Jazira last year. Hard working and reliable, he is a useful back-up to the first picks in the squad.

Beauchamp was called up into the Australian national 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. 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.

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 World Cup qualification tie against the Solomon Islands. 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 during qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup. This was followed by Beauchamp's selection as one of only two A-League players in the Australian squad 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, 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 2007 Asian Cup against Thailand. 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.

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