Lucas Neill doesn't owe Australian football anything

Fussball, the difference here is that we are trying to build a league from scratch where as the Danes(Laudrup) andthe Dutch(Rijkaard, Gullit&vanBasten) were seeing their players move from established leagues to more powerful&presigious leagues. The Americans have been very forward in trying to bring back to MLS their USMNT first teamers to build up the star-factor and name recognition in thir league. The Socceroos are such a powerful brand in Australia that having a Socceroo in his prime such as Matt McKay playing in theHAL has been a massive boon for the perception of the league amongst the philistines of the Australian sports landscape. Obviously we accept that the best lpayers should be extending themselves in the best leagues to improve the mean stadard of the players in our national team, but I don't think it unrealistic to ask the players to help out in boosting the profile of our game domestically. We just need to choose the correct time in that lpayer's career to make the approach. Too early and the player wont reach his full potential. Too late and we risk turning the HAL into a league derided as a retirement home:( Neither of which helps in the long term aim of turning the HAL into a production line of Socceroo-ready players. while at the same time being an enjoyable& marketable product for the FFA & fans.

Amazing the directions some commenters take away from the main thrust of the original article.Lucas Neill & Mark Bresciano are 2 professional footballers who DID NOT go overseas just to make money,they went over to BETTER THEIR GAME & one must assume that ,after much hard work & effort,THEY SUCCEEDED, for they have both played with top clubs in 2 of Europe's top leagues.Now it may be beyond the memories of most readers but it is not so long ago (the 50's) that a player called Eastham had to take the FA to the High court in order that a professional players conditions could be changed.He won.Now back to our 2 players.As pros. they are entitled to do the best deals they can to extend their earning capacity as long as they possibly can.No argument. Now, if their "game" deteriorates in these competitions then Olger can take the necessary steps to keep HIS team performing at optimum performance. Lucas & Mark, being pros., will fully comprehend how the risks their moves can affect their careers at international level & both are long enough in the tooth to fully appreciate any outcome that occurs. jb

Casual racism is more than poking fun at others, and while it's not a 'great crime', I do think it is indefensible. If you want to poke fun at others, fine, but leave race out of it. As for what the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans get up to on their own interwebs, so? Just because others do it, it does not make it right for us to do it.

Perfectly said JAJI

People worry about casual racism as if it's some great crime to poke fun at others. Come on, look at what Chinese, Japanese and Koreans get up to on their own interwebs which we can't read unless you translate. It's kids play here I'll tell you.

Kewell has just signed for the Melbourne Victory for three years . (http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/harry-kewell-signs-three-year-deal-with-melbourne-victory/story-e6frexni-1226118523187 )

Banana . It's frightening to know your going to attend an A.F.L. game soon, you let your sporting community down terribly when you come to this website .Most of the A.F.L. people i know are decent human beings.

Matthew Leckie former Adelaide Utd player, got some game time again last night with Borussia Monchengladbach handing Wolfsburg a 4-1 hiding .

lol i reckon that SP film "works on a number of levels" as they say ... i don't know if all viewers are picking up on them making fun of xenophobia. Goes straight over the heads of some dimwits, they're laughing along rather than getting the point. :D

those Asian 'slaves' are actually doing very well for themselves compared to their incomes back home. But of course some folks can only see things from their own perspectives. Not to mention the hypocrisy of an Aussie talking about slave labour when much of our consumer goods benefit from rural peasant 'slave' labour in China.

Load of crock. If our best player is playing in the Tasmanian B-League, do you think he would still demand the respect of the players? If you say yes... well, the conversation need go no further. Obviously, where you play makes a difference. I can tell you from personal experience that I am better than players in higher graders in sports that I play but for me to assert my authority as captain would be ludicrous. Anyone who has actually played sport (which I often doubt is anyone on internet forums) would tell you that where you play does make a difference to the respect and authority you command. No one likes taking receiving commands from the reserve teams bench player.

Banaba, I have $100 that says that if the Australian national coach asks Lucas Neill to play for his country somewhere, he will be there, regardless of where he is earning his monthly pay cheque. Compared to that, your cheap an anonymous insults are nothing.

Aussie Football fans are racist if they make comments such as those mentioned in the article. Acknowledging that he has gone to the UAE because of money isn't racist, and in fact I personally see nothing wrong with a professional sportsman making a financial-based decision, however making comments about terrorism and Al-Qaeda regarding the UAE is definitely racist. As for "ply his trade in places where women are banned from driving and Asian slave labour is prominent," (although women can actually drive there) if you have such a problem with the UAE, don't go there. Do not however expect other people to protest on behalf of you. There are a few Western nations, which for personal moral reasons, I have no desire to travel to any time soon, but I do not expect other people to participate in a boycott on behalf of me. I think it's pretty arrogant to expect a person whom you've never met, and who may have completely different views, to not work in the UAE because you have a moral problem with the place. Plus, would you express the same views about any other professional (but non-sportsman) who decides to work in the UAE?

lucas and harry - p*ss oFF to your new adopted country (whoever offers the most $$$$$) !!, Good Luck to you - BUT please don't you dare EVER wear the Green and Gold !! (you both might not know what that means - AUSTRALIA!!)

Professionals of any given field of expertise look for promotions. Money, new experiences and challenges are all deemed socially acceptable reasons to do so. There is a certain whiff of hypocrisy when a footballer going to Dubai attracts bile from certain quarters whilst an engineer less so. To exhibit bitterness over a professional player's movements suggests a certain amount of selfishness on behalf of the observer. One cannot help but ponder as to what Freud would have made of it all.

And as for the subject at hand, I have a lot of respect for Football in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, their skill level is above Australia and they are really exciting to watch with passionate crowds. They are somewhat under rated by the ignorant people. Iraq won the 2007 Asian cup not with just skill or luck, but their sheer hunger to succeed and the adversity that they have faced in every day life. However what I don't like is when you have the small nations such as Qatar, Bahrain and UAE etc who don't have such talent in their population, and they buy their talented players that have passports from other nations such as North Africa or Brazil with just sheer money, that is corrupt and unsportsmanlike. I can't have any respect for corruption and the money god (some people call it Satan) that comes with it or their leagues that are made from it.

The only thing I hope Neil is doing this ... is not return to play in the A-League when are well past your use by date... The problem for Aloisi was two fold ... he was on his last legs and he choose the wrong club... by club I mean playing style... at the Mariners Aloisi went reasonably well ... no did very well .... BUT & a big BUT is the Mariners side he played for suited his playing style ... lots of quality balls into the box from Tommy P & Grumpy with a hardworking knock em down Matty Simon playing along side him ... add Viddy at the back who knew his play quite well from their Socceroo days together.... Viddy was able to pass this on to the rest of the team... The SFC side he joined did not suit his playing style and after having a very successful half season with the Mariners ... the mob wanted more than he could give because of the different playing styles of the teams... meaning this was partly JA fault in joining the wrong team... and why H has joined the right team for his style of play... LN has been an excellent leader and is the best Socceroo captain with the media we have ever had... the media like him and respect him in a way no former Socceroo has ever had... he has done all the media after matches ... like all people he is entitled to earn the best he can and see the world... My hope is he never plays in the A-League and will respect him more for that decision... but would love to see him involved in Australian football when he returns...

I saw who said those remarks by the way, they were just joking. Durka Durka FC is a reference from Team America World Police, who are making fun of xenophobia and Americanism and their attitude towards the Arab stereotype, Al-Qaeda FC again is doing the same thing and making fun of the Arab stereotype and the fact that nearly every club or name in the Middle East starts with Al-Something. Including Al-Ahli, Al-Shabab, Al-Nasr, Al-Wehda and Al-Jazira that have all been mentioned in this article. The joke wasn't politically correct but you shouldn't have taken it so seriously.

I think the socceroo players kind of have a point with the Aloisi thing. there was a completely unrealistic expectation placed on him at sydney by the club and the public. he was a 6 yard poacher (a very good one in his day, clearly, having played in spain), who lets face it - commanded the marque status and salary at sydney as a result of being famous among the lay fans SFC were clearly trying to attract, just for that one penalty in Nov2005. his game was never going to be suited to that you might expect a marque to produce. and I think generally, there is a sense that too much is expected of NT players who come back to austalia, eg culina, skoko. they are but one individual in a team, that is the nature of the game. I think the players are not so much sensitive to the criticism (I mean come on, do you think they don't subject themselves to it week in week out in europe), but wary of an australian public who are in large sections not well educated when it comes to the game, and the risk of being criticised by people who don't know what they're talking about but whose opinions are still considered valid, is one not worth taking.

I do kind of agree. The Australian players are our ambassadors when they play overseas. If they perform well and behaved professionally then they are giving a good name for Australia as a country and as a footballing nation as well. If they want to play overseas until they retire then that's their perogative and they are doing Australia proud whether they are overseas or playing in the A-league