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Lucas Neill In

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T IS the eve o Australias n

against Serbia, and Lucas N

grumpy, please-let-me-be-a

coach Pim Verbeek as anot

commitment creaks to an en

The team has been battered or the

Germany, Harry Kewell has raged at c

youse are meant to be supporting us

according to some reporters although

as a nation, weve never been given

The red cards to Cahill and Kewell,

Socceroos acing likely elimination an

the increasingly erratic boss, they are

Chairman Frank Lowy gives them a n

the w word on the table. Weve got

whinging is not a trait we should ollow

Morning Herald. I dont believe we ar

we just get on with it.

As the media conerence winds up

pointed comment: Do you think the

Verbeek looks away. Neill meets m

which is the alpha o these males.

Can I answer that? Neill jumps in.

on the chin because there is nothing

Australia has never been a team o whwe went down to 10 men [in the 1-1 d

stood up, took it on the chin and prob

game. A team o whingers would hav

then complained to the reeree.

Australias World Cup campaign ne

and bad tactics saw to that. Disappoi

Neill stood out or his leadership. He s

nonsense, no backward steps. There

South Arica, despite the win over Se

raw and real. Yet every time, he ronte

teams leader, staring down camera b

He may not be our most talented p

The Roc

Ive always

tried to leadwith actions. . . Ill lead theline, take theblows. I believeso much in myteam and I feelits my job toprotect them.

Im happy tobe a shield

mg Ryan PieRse / GeTTy iMaGes

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16 FOOTBALL+

questioned at club level, but when it comes to leading

Australia, ew i any can match Neills passion.

SIX MONTHS ater Nelspruit, and a victory that let

him sobbing, its a more content Lucas Neill on

the phone rom Turkey, as he talks to Football+ about

the Socceroos Asian Cup campaign, his leadership

and what makes the team special. Because

the tournament alls during the regular

European season, several Socceroos have

understandably been non-committal

about their presence in Qatar or the

January 7-29 tournament. Neill

says he has no such issues. His

club Galatasaray will play cup

matches but only one league

game in the period.

He is eager to get back on a

stage which proved disappointing

last time. Leading the team in 2007,

ater becoming the Socceroos 50th

captain in late 2006, he received a red

card in a group loss to Iraq and missed a

penalty in the shootout deeat by Japan. The

side, under Graham Arnold, was criticised or perceived

arrogance; rom the outside there was a sense the

Socceroos had gone in expecting it to be a procession.

I wouldnt call it arrogance, says Neill. On

rankings were supposed to be one o the superior

teams in the tournament so we should be going there

believing we can win it. And I dont think we were

arrogant last time. We did go in a bit underdone we

just didnt prepare right.

Neill has made his ortune rom the game and is

content in lie, his two-year-old twins Toby and Paige,

make me laugh out loud every day. Yet there is a desireto ll a hole; to lead his country to a tournament victory,

an exclamation point the members o the Socceroos

golden generation believe they owe themselves.

The Asian Cup gives us a genuine opportunity to

challenge or a title and gives us another opportunity

in a tournament situation, says Neill. The more times

we have those opportunities, it gives us a better

chance o perorming at a high level at the World Cup.

We keep being named as the number one team in

Asia and we really want to live up to that.

Neill, 32, has spent 15 years

his whole adult lie on

the road playing ootball.

He went rom the sunny

northern beaches

o Sydney to the

Australian Institute o

Sport in Canberra

and on to Millwall

or six seasons.

Ater more than 150

appearances he got his

Premier League break with

Blackburn and stayed six

more. He rejected Liverpool or

a leadership role at West Ham

and had a brie stint with Cahill at Everton beore

joining Kewell at Galatasaray. It has been a career o

tough grat and ew baubles. Neill knows a scrap when

hes in one, and likes being out ront. The players headmires most are not the fash natural talents, but the

hard men paid to stop them.

When Neill made his national team debut, in 1996

against Saudi Arabia, he looked up to Tony Popovic,

now an assistant coach at Sydney FC. He will go

on to be a great manager, Neill says. I learned so

much rom him: he was always ully committed to

training, pushed himsel and always played the game

in the right manner.

Others to make an impression include ormer

Manchester United tough guy Roy Keane, and

Chelsea captain John Terry. Theyre great leaders on

the eld, says Neill. They play with their chests stuck

out, they really care about their teams and wont let

anyone near their teammates.

As a member o the pack, Neill was always

interested in how leaders went about the task, took

note o their worthiness. Ive been lucky enough to

play with some great captains and leaders in my time

in senior ootball, he says. Ive picked up a lot o

things good and bad.

He takes his sport, and his role, seriously. Im o the

mentality that Ive come a long, long way and sacriced

a lot to play my ootball proessionally, he says.

Its a theme talent is nothing without

proessionalism that he warms to as he contrasts

his early days in the game with the latest generation

o Australian pros.

My only ear with the young players is that they

dont adopt the attitude that they have to train every

day, work very hard and keep pushing themselves,

Neill says. Sometimes it can come too easy or

players now anything they want they can have

and everythings put on a plate or them. They must

maintain their hunger and desire.

Neill talks o a Socceroos bond that goes way

beyond the club teams he has represented. Part o the

role o elder statesman seems to be that o an ego cop.

Making sure dues are paid, respect is given.

We are conscious as senior pros that younger

players coming into the squad realise the signicance

o playing or this national team and how lucky they are

to be proessional ootballers, Neill says. I think the

young guys can sometimes lose that eeling. T hey have

abundant talent but its about channelling their energy.

It goes beyond the rare days when the Socceroos

meet up to prepare or their next assignment.

Its important that they choose the right clubs and

play regular rst team oo

the best players they can

Neill is well spoken but

important in leadership.

strongest point, he says

with actions. That means

always pushing yoursel a

200 per cent. That inectio

relaxed manner, but with

comes rom my amily.

Neill says his private p

proessional approach. T

occasions in lie where Iv

backwards stance and tu

decided not to get involve

My fear with the young players is that they donattitude that they have to work very hard and kee

themselves. It can come too easy for pla

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His western Sydney A-League

franchise bid being rejected

I ronted a bid that I thought was a very

technically-sound bid and a lot o hard work went

into it. The process was disappointing and a little

baing. As a Socceroo I only ever wanted to see

what I could do to help the A-League.

For all sorts o reasons that didnt happen,

but whats even more disappointing now, ater

a process I thought was questionable, the

licence that was handpicked [Sydney Rovers]

has struggled to get up. With another year to

get it together, they couldnt do it so ar. I think

the A-League need a team out there in western

Sydney but someone needs to back it. I thought

our bid would have got the money, but thats a

story or another day . . .

Ill always give back to Australian ootball,

Ill still look at coming back and playing in

the A-League and always support it. But i an

opportunity presents itsel to get involved in

another team [as an investor] Ill tread a lot more

careully next time because my heart, my spirit,

has been a little . . . dampened.

His plans for the 2022 World Cup I will be 42 and Ill be there as the proudest

supporter possible. I Im lucky enough to be

coaching at the time I would love to be coaching

at the level that I could be part o the Socceroos.Being in the World Cup would be the dream or

anyone with aspirations o being a ootball coach

or manager. I always said I want to give something

back; I guess whats to be decided is what level

thats going to be at. I dont know yet. Do I want

to work with kids, which would be very rewarding,

or do I want to test mysel at the higher level o

man management, coaching at the elite level? Im

interested in exploring that avenue.

Catching up with ex-Socceroos

coach Guus Hiddink in Turkey

Weve been trying to but every man and his

dog wants some time with Guus in Turkey! Westill exchange occasional text messages and

best wishes every now and again. Theres still a

connection there, a small eeling o achievement,

LUCAS NEILL ON...The Socceroos skipper talks A-League, coaching and his lasting love o ootball

comes to ootball Im just so passionate about it. Ill

lead the line, take the blows. I believe so much in my

team and I eel its my job to protect them. Im happy to

be a shield i thats whats needed.

Guus Hiddink tells Football+ later in this edition that

he was shocked by the level o intensity at training

when he rst took over the team or the 2006 World

Cup campaign. They kicked each other, Hiddink told

us, and the attitude is no worries.

Neill laughs at the truth in this. In training, the

Socceroos, with their battles to the pain, are perhaps

the hardest team you will nd on the planet.

Guus is right, he says. Thats a unique thing about

our team. We dont hurt each other but we play a s

physically as we can. Everyone will tell you it doesnt

happen in other training sessions anywhere else in the

world. England is probably the closest it comes to being

as physical. I think its that we all sacriced so much to

get to where we are that whatever happens, were not

going to complain about it.

In between the lines o Neills answers, its obvious

he has rustrations with aspects o proessional ootball.

He wont point the nger at players who slack o or

cruise, but cherishes his time with the national team.

Its a unique position with the Socceroos to go in

as captain and know that you dont have to demand

commitment, that it comes naturally, he says.

People might think its weird that a proessional

ootballer wouldnt have that attitude every day but

some only want to perorm on weekends and take it

easy during the week. We are not like that. We have

a squad who turn up every day and ocus and push

themselves as hard as possible. To have that team

spirit naturally and not have to create it is something

you wont get in many teams in the world, i any. Its

why weve gotten results, produced things people

might not have thought possible.

Hiddink eels Australia must match their intensity

with improved skill. Neill concurs. We need to raise

the level o skill and technique and perormance to

match that attitude and spirit and hopeully become a

ormidable orce in the game, he says.

His immediate uture is to stand beside a new

coach, Holger Osieck, in Qatar. Win or lose, he will

pick up the trophy or take his place rst in the ring

line. A born leader, he wont go missing.

a common link. There

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18 FOOTBALL+

We dont hurt each other but we play as physicallyas we can. Everyone will tell you that it doesnt happen

in other training sessions anywhere else in the world