Viduka slams Neill
SOCCEROOS great Mark Viduka felt a “sulking” Lucas Neill tried to undermine him during Australia’s disastrous 2007 Asian Cup campaign.
Viduka captained the Socceroos in their first Asian Cup, which they entered with high expectations after the 2006 World Cup but exited meekly in the quarter-finals.
Viduka, who rarely speaks in the media, quit international football after the tournament and highlighted Neill’s “sulking” over missing out on the captaincy under Graham Arnold as a factor that disrupted Socceroos camp.
“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 because he wasn’t sure whether I was going to come to the Asian Cup or not,” Viduka told ESPN.
“Then once I was at the Asian Cup, either (Arnold) wasn’t brave enough to tell me that I wasn’t captain anymore or whatever, and I felt that Lucas Neill was sulking that whole Asian Cup – through the pre-season, through the preparations for it and through the Asian Cup, and it affected other players.
“I felt Lucas tried to undermine me. I think his priority was to be captain – more because of his other activities off the pitch rather actually than on the pitch stuff. That’s my opinion.”
Viduka said some of his younger teammates’ approach to national team football had left him disillusioned.
“I think some people came to that Asian Cup thinking more about themselves than they did about the national team,” Viduka said.