Socceroos skipper Lucas Neill has slammed fans he claims booed him during Tuesday’s win over Costa Rica, saying it’s not just offensive to him but detrimental to the entire team.
The veteran defender was caught on camera gesturing and yelling an expletive towards supporters he felt were heckling him at Allianz Stadium late in Australia’s 1-0 victory.
The outburst drew widespread criticism from fans, commentators and former players – including Mark Bosnich – and slightly overshadowed what was an encouraging outing by the Socceroos in Ange Postecoglou’s first match at the helm.
But Neill on Wednesday defended his fiery exchange.
“I think some people had some courage juice and they started to boo me and only me when I was on the ball. I can’t tolerate that,” he said.
“I’m an Australian coming to Australia to play for Australia and to be booed by Australians is unacceptable.
“But what it is, and these guys don’t understand, is it’s detrimental to the team.
“There were a lot of young guys who put in an amazing performance last night.
“We’re wining the game 1-0 against a team that’s qualified for the World Cup and we’ve put on a display that’s worthy of plenty of cheers and to hear boos is unacceptable.”
Neill said while he was sorry he swore, he felt justified in reacting the way he did.
“I can apologise for swearing, but we have to stamp that kind of thing out now because this is an exciting time for Australia and unfortunately it’s tarnished what should have been an exciting and amazing night for Ange Postecoglou and the Socceroos and Australia,” he said.
“I’m passionate about Australia and I’m passionate about what happened last night so there will be no apology from me.
“It’s just silly and disrespectful.
“We’re all very proud Australians but we should all act the Australian way and that is to get behind each other and really support the green and gold.”
Neill on Tuesday became the Socceroos’ longest-serving skipper, his 61st match as captain eclipsing Peter Wilson’s 60 games as the 1970s leader.
There were calls for the 35-year-old to quit following the Socceroos’ 6-0 losses to Brazil and France last month which ultimately led to coach Holger Osieck’s sacking.
Neill was heavily criticised for his reaction after the back-to-back losses, calling himself a “victim” and largely blaming the team’s youngsters for the poor showing.
But while many expected Postecoglou to appoint the likes of Tim Cahill or Mark Bresciano as captain, Neill retained his role and rebounded with a strong performance in defence.
Postecoglou praised Neill’s resilience in dealing with the intense scrutiny and hoped his display would ease pressure on the underfire skipper.
“If nothing else, we can stop talking about Lucas Neill,” Postecoglou said.
“To be fair to Lucas, he’s handled this really well – I would have probably spat the dummy much earlier.”
Football Federation Australia on Wednesday condemned Neill’s outburst.
“The action of swearing and reacting like that to a section of the crowd was unacceptable,” FFA chief executive David Gallop said.
“While that kind of crowd behaviour is not what we want to see, Lucas should have let it slide.
“In the cool light of the next few days I expect he will realise that.”
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
