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Determined ... Lucas Neill's eyes are set firmly on Brazil. Source: William West / AFP
Socceroos captain Lucas Neill has thrown down the challenge to Australia's next generation of players to demand selection in Australia's first-XI and declared: "I'm playing for my country as long as I can".
Neill, who described his recent stint at Sydney FC as "anti-climactic", was asked by Mark Bosnich on Fox Sports' Sunday Shootout program if Australia's 'golden generation' of stars had stayed on for too long, stunting the progress of our next batch of players.
The centre-back, who said his focus for the next year is solely driven by being ready for Brazil, said it is not up to him, or the other veterans, to step aside, but for the new brigade to prove their worth.
"My response to that is – when I was a young guy … I never got my chance handed to me," Neill said.
"I had to fight for everything … prove myself, make news all over the world, in Europe, and really be consistently playing well for my club to even get a sniff in the squad.
"I think I trained 15 times in the Terry Venables era before I got a look.
"Once I got that look I got a chance and I was going to take it
"I think the onus is on the player themselves. Not whether they play or who they play with; a big club or small club, but if they get their chance, they're playing for Australia.
"Once you play for Australia, it's not a job, it's an honour. No one is going to tell me I'm retiring from Australia. I'm playing for my country and I'll play for as long as I can.
| Group B | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 13 |
| 2 | Jordan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -6 | 7 |
| 3 | Australia | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Oman | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -3 | 6 |
| 5 | Iraq | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 5 |
"It's up to somebody else to come and say: right, I'm better than you now; a better leader and a better defender.
"And I'll step aside."
Indeed, Neill pointed to the Socceroos' recent draw with Oman in Sydney as an example of the important role he believes the older players play in Holger Osieck's squad.
"(In the) old v young debate at the moment – if it wasn't for an older player, Timmy Cahill, we would've lost that game," Neill added.
His next 12 months - and his choice of club - is focused on being in peak condition for Brazil.
"I'm confident we'll make Brazil and next year is arguably the biggest of my career because I need to be at my best to make sure Australia has the best chance in Brazil," he added.
Whether Moore Park remains the place to achieve those goals is yet to be determined.
"My thought was: let's get Sydney into the finals. Let's play really competitive football. Then focus all my energy on getting Australia to Brazil. My focus now is purely on getting Australia to Brazil and getting as fit as I can be for the three massive games we have coming up," he said.
"Sure, I'd love to consider staying in Sydney.
"But the situation is a little bit out of my hands. There's marquee players, different situations, certain amount of people on the roster, and other options … a lot of clubs are starting to focus on next year. Also in Europe, and other places around the world … and I'll look at everything."
Neill, who talked about his disappointment at not being able to "stamp my authority" on a Sydney FC game during his stint, described Sydney FC's seventh-place finish as not acceptable for a club of the Sky Blues' stature.
"The squad we had is fantastic – the envy of a lot of clubs in the league.
"But if I'm being extremely honest: this squad, this whole club, should never be in this situation.
"Finishing seventh in the league. A huge club, type of team that want to be in the finals every year."
To watch the full interview with Lucas Neill on Sydney FC, the Socceroos, and his future, watch the video at the top of the page.
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