Lucas Neill has barely raised an eyebrow for committing a sin which earned David Beckham condemnation from some of the biggest names in world football.
The Socceroos captain admitted deliberately getting a yellow card with a crude tackle on Qatar’s Sebastian Quintana late in last weekend’s goalless draw which ensured Australia’s passage to next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.
The card, his second yellow, has ruled him out of Wednesday’s dead qualifier against Bahrain in Sydney, and wipes his slate clean for the final match against Japan in Melbourne next week.
That gives him little likelihood, barring a red card, of earning a suspension which could carry over into the 2010 World Cup finals.
When Beckham staged a similar stunt in a World Cup qualifier for England on the road to Germany 2006, he earned the wrath of some of the sport’s heaviest hitters.
Sir Geoff Hurst, England’s 1966 World Cup hero, said: “It saddens me. You could argue, of course, that if FIFA have seen that, they might think it’s bringing the game into disrepute.
“I would argue that it brings the country into disrepute.”
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter said: “It’s disappointing because it is not the behaviour that befits an ambassador of football and fair play.
“Beckham is a role model for footballers everywhere.”
Blatter said he would be making his views known to England’s Football Association, but after that it was out of FIFA’s hands.
Socceroo coach Pim Verbeek said he did not like players deliberately seeking yellow cards, but admitted it was better for Neill to be cautioned now rather than later.
“It’s better to do it now than in the last game, isn’t it? Isn’t it?” he asked.
“Because when you are doing it in the last game, he is out of the World Cup’s first game.
“But I don’t like players taking yellow cards on purpose.
“We want to win every game, so I need all my best players.”
Verbeek said he was not aware of Neill’s ploy.
“I haven’t spoken to Lucas about that,” he said.
“I thought he was just taking a little bit of revenge on the (Qatar) striker because the striker elbowed (Australian defender) Chris Coyne.
“So I thought that was the purpose.”
Neill told Australian reporters after the match in Qatar his yellow card was “tactical”.
“Obviously the carry-over in the Japan game to the World Cup (was something to be considered),” he said.
“I left it as late as I could.
“It was probably a borderline orange, but I want to play the Japan game and the only way to do that was to make sure I miss the Bahrain game.”
When Beckham played for England against Wales at Old Trafford in 2004, he suffered a hairline rib fracture, then decided to get a yellow card because of his injury.
It was his second caution of England’s qualifying campaign, leading to an automatic one-match suspension from the next qualifier.
“I am sure some people think that I have not got the brains to be that clever, but I do have the brains,” Beckham said in a newspaper interview.
“I could feel the injury. So I fouled (Ben) Thatcher. It was deliberate. I knew straight away I had broken my ribs. I have done it before.
“I knew I will be out for a few weeks, so I thought: ‘Let’s get the yellow card out of the way’.”
Critics pointed out that if Beckham wanted to get booked, he could have done so by kicking the ball away at a free-kick or deliberately wasting time, rather than in a tackle.
The same could apply to Neill, whose actions have cost his home town fans their last chance to see the Australian captain in the 2010 qualifying campaign.
Possible Socceroos team for match against Bahrain: Mark Schwarzer (gk), Luke Wilkshire, Chris Coyne, Jade North, David Carney, Vince Grella, Jason Culina, Tim Cahill, Mile Sterjovski, Harry Kewell, Scott McDonald.
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