Shockeroos may be dumped

[Rocky10]

Shockeroos may be dumped

A DIVIDED Socceroos team is on the verge of being dumped from the Asian Cup amid allegations of infighting and a split between the coach and players.

And one senior player said some players were more interested in their pay rather than the health of the game in Australia.
The team, which 12 months ago won the hearts of Australians during its World Cup run in Germany, now must beat hosts Thailand in Bangkok tomorrow to avoid a humiliating first-round exit.

But to do so Australia must find the cohesion, both on and off the field, that was missing in Friday's embarrassing 3-1 loss to Iraq in Bangkok.

The team also would have to rise above coach Graham Arnold's damning post-match allegation on Fox Sports that "some of the players looked like they just did not want to be here".

In developments yesterday:

THE senior player lashed out at several teammates suggesting growing egos were compromising the Socceroos' Asian Cup hopes.

A SECOND source, close to the team, said Arnold's tactics were more to blame than poor attitudes among the highly paid players.

Coming in the wake of angry declarations by Arnold and Harry Kewell that some players didn't want to be in Bangkok and needed to pull their finger out, the senior player made the extraordinary assessment in the wake of the shambolic loss to Iraq.

Much of the ire appears to have been directed at Lucas Neill, whose ordinary match was capped off by a red card after mouthing off at the referee.

Neill has been accused of sulking over missing out on the captaincy, with Mark Viduka retaining the job.

"When you have players whose priority is to lobby to be captain, then the team suffers and that's what happened against Iraq," the senior player said.

It didn't require much reading between the lines to come up with Neill as his unnamed target.

The player went on: "Too many of our players are living on what was written about them during the World Cup.

"No player is bigger than the team but too many are acting as if they are. Graham Arnold is the manager and Mark Viduka is the captain, end of story, and there is nothing wrong with the manager or the captain.

"Tactically what Graham Arnold told the team to do was perfect."

The player also attacked elements within the team who he said were more interested in boosting their own incomes than the health of the game in Australia. "Players are more concerned with getting a few more dollars from the FFA than doing their best for Australia," he said.

"We are football players who should be proud to play for Australia for nothing if that's what it's going to take to grow the game.

"That's what being a well-paid, famous footballer gives us the privilege of doing and we owe it to the Australian game."

However, in a further indication the players and management were miles apart the second source blamed Arnold for much of the problems so far.

He branded Arnold's cutting comments after the game as "offensive", and revealed Arnold's tactics and game plan should be questioned, rather than the embattled coach pointing the finger at his squad.

Some Socceroos appeared confused by the team's tactics, especially in comparison to the clear guidance given by Guus Hiddink at last year's World Cup.

He also said each player was out to do his best for Australia and Arnold should single out the players he had targeted in his post-match comments and send them home.

Despite his withering criticism, the senior Socceroo said Australia could still make an impact at the Asian Cup – but only with some searing self-honesty.

"It's time to cut the crap and play football," he said.

"Players need to have a good, hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask if this is the best they can do.

"It clearly isn't the best, because we have all done much better, and we can do so again if we are honest with ourselves and get our priorities right."