06 Apr “Tried to undermine me”: Viduka calls out “sulking” Socceroos teammate

Socceroos great Mark Viduka says former teammate Lucas Neill “sulked” and “tried to undermine” him during the failed 2007 Asian Cup campaign.

Australia, in their first AFC tournament since leaving Oceania, limped through the group stages before being eliminated by Japan at the quarter-final stage having made the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup a year earlier.

"I think some people came to that Asian Cup thinking more about themselves more than the national team," an honest Viduka told ESPN.

"I think Lucas Neill came to that Asian Cup at that stage not in a good state of mind because of the fact that Graham Arnold had offered him the captaincy because he wasn't sure I was coming to the Asian Cup or not.

"Once I was at the Asian Cup, either he (Arnold) wasn't brave enough to tell me that I wasn't captain anymore, and I felt Lucas Neill was sulking the whole Asian Cup through the preparations for it and through the Asian Cup, and it affected other players.

"I think Lucas tried to undermine me. His priority was to be captain – more because of his other activities off the pitch rather than on the pitch stuff.”

Viduka explained why the attitudes of the “new generation" of players led to him calling time on his international career.

"My problem was that my generation of players that I grew up with were a different breed to the new generation, and to be the honest – I wasn’t a big fan of the new generation of players," the former striker said.

“A lot of them were more interested in how many deals they were doing on the side, through sponsorship and getting their heads on the television, than actually playing for the national team.”

Viduka, now 44, scored 11 times in 43 appearances for the Socceroos.