- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Lucas Neill has reportedly been told he has not been selected in the Socceroos’ 30 man World Cup squad, bound for Brazil.
Neill, who has been playing for the relegated Doncaster Rovers, had been hoping to give his World Cup chances a boost after he was dropped from the squad that took on Ecuador in London, in March.
However, coach Ange Postecoglou has informed Neill, who has been capped 96 times, that he won’t be selected.
Postecoglou told Football Federation Australia: “There just wasn’t enough evidence there for me to say he’d be able to hold up in a World Cup.”
“In the end I just had to make a decision not so much about the recent history but the last six months in terms of form and fitness,” he said of Neill, who made his international debut as an 18-year-old.
“It was both a combination of the lack of regular football and the little niggles he got that made the decision for me.
Neill broke the Socceroo record when he pulled on the captain’s armband for the 61st time in his last international against Costa Rica.
“I had a conversation with Lucas regarding the World Cup squad and obviously before I announced the 30-man squad next week I thought it was important for me to speak to him directly,” said Postecoglou.
“I informed him that he hasn’t made the 30, from my perspective paying due respect to the fact that he’s been the captain for six years and the captain of the World Cup campaign so far.
“It was difficult, he’s worked damn hard to get himself ready and available; he’s shown an enormous determination to go to this World Cup.
“You can see why he’s played for his country as many times as he has and why he was a leader, he’s gone down fighting.”
Postecoglou indicated that his decision was purely based on the World Cup.
“My discussions with him were purely about the World Cup and he has every intention of continuing to play on and play next year, probably in Europe,” he said.
More to come.
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.