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Socceroos captain Lucas Neill is naturally disappointed Australia came last with its bid for the 2022 FIFA Wold Cup. From the 22 votes on offer, Australia only received a single ballot, knocking us out of the first round of voting in Zurich.
The tiny nation of Qatar won the rights to host the tournament.
“To say we’re disappointed is an understatement – we live and learn,” Lucas Neill told Macquarie Radio from Zurich.
He thought Australia had a solid chance of winning against fellow contenders Japan, South Korea, the United States and Qatar.
“Hand on heart, I honestly thought we ticked all the boxes for our bid,” Neill said.
“Let’s be honest, it’s incredible to think that we can only get one vote up against the likes of the countries we were up against. But we accept it and we move on.”
Neill expects the tiny Arab nation to capitalise on its victory but not without a hiccup or two along the way.
“Now that they’ve got it, I think any problem they come up against they’re going to solve,” he said.
“They’ve got the resources, they’ve got the ambition.
“But don’t be surprised if they try to move the date of the tournament. That’s probably something that’s going to come up soon.”
Like others, he believes it will be a number of years before Australia gets another chance to bid for the World Cup.
“It’s unfortunate it’s going to be a long time before we get another opportunity to bid but we have really done Australia proud,” he said.
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