Opinion

Viduka bombshell overshadows real reason behind Socceroos flop

Mark Viduka's explosive claim that fellow Socceroos star Lucas Neill tried to undermine him during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup overshadows the main reason Australia performed very poorly in the tournament.

A year after they captured the imagination of mainstream Australia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup by reaching the last 16, the Socceroos bowed out of the tournament in south-east Asia when they lost on penalties to Japan in the quarter-finals.

However, coach Graham Arnold's biggest problem in the Asian Cup was not the simmering relationship between the two high-profile players but that most of the players did not want to be at the event in the first place.

Many were yearning for an overdue holiday with their families during the European off-season and Arnold was prepared to take a weakened team to the Asian Cup.
However the playing group that included Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano and Mark Schwarzer were urged to play by then FFA chairman Frank Lowy who clearly wanted Australia to do the right thing by the Asian Football Confederation and send its best team to the continent's blue riband event.

It was the first time the Socceroos would play in the tournament after joining the AFC in 2006.

Viduka, who skippered the Socceroos at the World Cup and Asian Cup, told ESPN that Neill cut a sulking figure during the tournament after being promised the captaincy by Arnold.

"I think Lucas Neill, at that stage, came to that Asian Cup not in a good state of mind because of the fact that Graham Arnold had offered him the captaincy and he wasn't sure whether I was going to come to the Asian Cup or not," said Viduka, who now lives in Zagreb where he owns a cafe.

"I think Lucas tried to undermine me."
Viduka had played only once for Australia in the year between the World Cup in Germany and the final Asian Cup warm-up in Singapore and made himself available for the tournament at the very last minute. Neill was captain during that period.
The striker also said Neill's attitude in the Asian Cup, where he got sent off in the game against Iraq which Australia lost 1-3, affected the players' morale.

A Socceroos insider confirmed Viduka's allegations were "100 per cent spot-on" yet it was the attitude of many players and the relative inexperience of Arnold that were the key factor behind the team's failure.

Arnold, who is in charge of the Socceroos' bid to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after A-League championship-winning stints with Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC, has said publicly that he was not fully prepared for the national team job in 2007.

Arnold is a more accomplished man-manager these days - many players swear by him - and he probably also would admit that he was not experienced enough then to deal with the unfortunate Viduka-Neill situation and that he would handle it much better now.

Arnold was heavily criticised for Australia's performance in south-east Asia 13 years ago but you feel he would be a rather happy man after today's revelations. 


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3 min read
Published 6 April 2020 2:31pm
Updated 6 April 2020 2:59pm
By Philip Micallef

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