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Football Federation Australia boss John O'Neill has been listening
way too much to Adam Gilchrist. O'Neill came up with a beauty
this week when he warned that the Socceroos will storm off the
field in Montevideo during the first leg of the World Cup qualifier
if Uruguay is treated to the same ``dirty tricks'' campaign it
endured on the same pitch four years previous. That'd be great,
eh? Walking away from the World Cup.
He clearly misses rugby union, the game he presided over before
taking on the biggest gig in Australian sport: making the round-ball
code in this country work. He cited the example of captain John
Eales and his threat to the whistleblower in the 1999 Rugby World
Cup final to pull his team if the dirty tactics of the French
side did not stop. FFA has also been Eales to pump the World Cup
qualifiers. That will be going down well with long-time soccer
fans. Using a Wallaby to talk up the biggest games in Australian
soccer history. Nice one.
But back to the point at hand. O'Neill was clearly trying to play
a mind game with um, we're assuming FIFA and Uruguay. He has been
talking up vendettas and ``orchestrated campaigns'' and the Socceroos
being victims. It is a battle that need not be fought. Just sort
out the details about security and what not behind closed doors.
Playing it out in the media has created a siege mentality already.
You can bet there will be double the amount of seething Uruguay
fans with double the amount of cocked saliva than what was at
the airport four years ago.
If anything, O'Neill's comments this week reek of a federation
boss making excuses before a ball has been kicked in the two-legged
play-off for a spot in the World Cup finals. Australia is up against
it already, with player availability and the lack of lead-up matches
a major concern. We wrote it in this space a few weeks ago: we
don't like the look of this whole thing already. O'Neill's moves
this week have not eased our minds one bit.
What d'ya reckon?
Click your way to our Comebacks
page and tell us.
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