Australia's exit from the AFC Nations Cup last night possibly showed a systematic case of the squad being full of prima donnas who don't really appreciate what wearing the national strip actually means.
Harry Kewell said before the tournament that he was "giving up training with Liverpool" so that he could come to play for Australia - this attitude is patently wrong. He didn't give up training or Liverpool but moreover donned the Gold of Australia which obviously is beneath him.
Players like Lucas Neill, Dave Carney and Mark Milligan showed what it is to play with pluck, heart and ticker, whereas Viduka who admittedly was marked out of the game and Aloisi just looked like a numpty head despite using his nut to head in a corner for Australia's only goal.
Against Japan they were under the pump from the get-go and for only 2 minutes they weren;t under pressure. Going down to 10 men for a dud challlenge and one that really makes me wonder whether there isn't a degree of racism against the English speaking nations generally at all levels in Australia, the only thing really holding out the blue tide was the big red man Mark Schwarzer.
Kewell's first penaly strike I think is about the last nail in the coffin for me. I'm claiming this in a long line of instances where he has disgraced the 10 of Australia, and whilst in can be said that one player can not be held responsible for the fate of a nation, it can very much be said that one player can very much be held responsible for his once shirt... which Kewell neither wants nor deserves any more.
Give it to Archie Thomson or Dave Carney. Even Nick Carle showed skil and vision and very nearly became a hero... if only he'd started.
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