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Lucas Neill is considering legal action over Les Murray's claims (file photo). (Getty Images: Robert Cianflone)
Socceroos captain Lucas Neill is considering legal action over claims he led a player revolt against former coach Pim Verbeek during the World Cup in South Africa.
Respected football commentator Les Murray claims in his new book The World Game that Neill told the team to ignore Verbeek's game plan just before taking the field in the opening 4-0 loss to Germany in Durban.
But Neill, who is holidaying in the United States, has hit back, angrily describing the allegations as "scandalous" and insisting he did not even deliver the pre-match team talk.
The 33-year-old, who is hunting for a new club next season, also declared he was weighing up legal action in a bid to protect his reputation.
"The allegations made about me prior to the Germany game in Durban last year are completely false," Neill said in a statement.
"I was angered to hear such claims in the media at home ... they don't even make sense when you consider them as they have been alleged.
"I have always had a great working relationship with the national team manager and supported them to the best of my ability and Pim Verbeek was no exception.
"If a divide such as the one being claimed existed, it is highly unlikely we would have been able to perform as we did in the next two games."
The loss to Germany proved the downfall of the Socceroos' campaign after they went on to draw with Ghana and defeat Serbia but narrowly miss out on the knockout stages.
Murray claimed Neill had ordered Verbeek to leave the dressing room in Durban before erasing the Dutchman's scribbles and telling the players to "ignore this bullshit and play like we normally play."
But Neill said it was goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, not he, who delivered the pre-match speech.
"The irony in all of this and what really highlights how absurd these claims are, is that Mark Schwarzer, as a senior player and member of our leadership group, gave the team talk just prior to taking the pitch for that particular game," Neill said.
"The team is always left to themselves moments before going onto the pitch to generate some final motivational and inspirational words of encouragement."
Neill called on Murray to reveal his sources and pointed towards possible legal action.
"My aim now is to ensure that my reputation remains intact, as I have worked very hard over many years to maintain a good and positive image within the sporting landscape and I will fight to the fullest extent of the law to clear my name of this scandalous accusation," he said.
"I will be discussing the matter with my management and lawyers over the coming days.
"Those who are claiming that they have this information provided to them by 'sources' should reveal who those sources are, as I am sure that this information will come to light during the course of due legal process."
Murray has stood by his claims in recent days and said he had not meant to paint Neill in a bad light, rather to highlight how Verbeek's defensive tactics had hindered Australia's prospects.
Several Socceroos players, including Craig Moore, Luke Wilkshire and Mile Jedinak, as well Football Federation Australia chief Ben Buckley, deny the incident happened.
Paddy Dominguez, from Neill's management company Inspire Sports, questioned the "convenient timing of the revelations" around a book launch and said he was disappointed his client had not been given a chance to respond to the claims before the book was published.
-AAP
First posted
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/24/3252896.htm
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