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Australia's Mark Schwarzer applauds the crowd after the Socceroos 2-0 win over Uzbekistan. AAP Image/Paul Miller
So Harry Kewell forgoes huge money in the Middle East with almost no tax liability to return to the A-League and he’s a “greedy bastard”.
Meanwhile Mark Schwarzer responds honestly to a question on whether he’d consider playing in the A-League and is roundly panned for it.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
From Tim Cahill back in June 2009 through to Schwarzer earlier this month, one of the nicest and most intelligent guys in football, it seems there isn’t a Socceroo the Australian public and media aren’t willing to turn on with little to no reason.
Good on Socceroos captain Lucas Neill then for not even considering coming back to the A-League and instead taking as much money as he can get from U.A.E. club Al Jazira.
The man’s been a great servant of Australian football and deserves every cent he can muster before his short career wraps up. I’d willingly do the exact same thing.
For the sake of perspective lets consider the behaviour of some of the players who represent their country elsewhere around the world starting with the eight Mexican national team players who were recently caught with prostitutes in their hotel rooms during the Copa America.
Or how about Frank Lampard who once called up a former Chelsea player turned pundit to complain that he’d “only” given him a 9/10 for his performance in an English international.
Then there’s Francesco Totti who, while playing for the Azzurri at Euro 2004, felt the need to spit in an opponent’s face.
But hey, Kewell took two months to sign a contract with the Victory, and Schwarzer isn’t particularly interested in playing here. Now that’s villainous behaviour.
What I find most galling is that there were genuinely important questions to be asked during the Kewell and Schwarzer issues that were left to the side as the faux anger went into overdrive.
For example, how will the Victory and FFA leverage Kewell’s star status to not just boost attendances this season but to ensure a brighter future for the A-League in general?
Meanwhile Schwarzer’s comments were an opportunity for us to debate the merits of Socceroos returning at the tail ends of their careers, and question why it is that some national team players succeed in Australia when others crash and burn.
But that was all left on the shelf. And we wonder why Australia’s most capped Socceroo doesn’t want to return home.
As a six-month off-season labors on, I’m starting to think we need some football as soon as possible to help save us from ourselves.
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