West Ham defender and team captain Lucas Neill said he was delighted to be named skipper for tonight's friendly match against Argentina in Melbourne (according to Fox Sports and Australian Daily Telegraph). Neill will be trying to apply the clamps on former West Ham pal turned Manchester United foe in Carlos Tevez, who will tonight spearhead Argentina's world-class attack against the Socceroos at the MCG.
"It's a fantastic honour to lead the team in a game such as this, not that you need any extra incentives," Neill said. "It's a great responsibility and I hope I can lead the team to a great result."
With the captain's armband on his left arm, Neill regards tonight as the first chance to atone for the Asian Cup quarter finals exit (against Japan) and the red card he was shown in the loss against Iraq (the eventual Asia Champion).
Neill also revealed in Australia that West Ham tried to dissuade him from travelling half way round the world this week: "As always, there's pressure (not to play). I can understand the club's feelings but it's the ultimate goal to play for your country in games like this one."
As a West Ham supporter I hope all our players come home in good health and boosted by a good performance and a victory for their respective countries. Don't forget: Saturday the Hammers are hosting Middlesbrough!!! We need you for our first home victory of this season!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
![](<a href="http://twitpic.com/eznc2" title="Share photos on twitter with Twitpic"><img src="http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/eznc2.jpg" width="150" height="150" alt="Share photos on twitter with Twitpic"></a>)
Posts
3 comments:
I absolutley agree with you, Lucas and any other team member should as much as possible play for their country, By doing this, they will learn valuable international training, as well as playing against some big names in football, the whole reason Big clubs want to play Champions league football.
West Ham Fans.org reported that Curbishley said that he supported his captain's actions and when asked about the club v country question he said: "It is an honour to play for your country, it is what all top players want to do and we are proud that Lucas will be captaining his country against Argentina".
Great comments from Curbs - refreshingly old-fashioned. Puts some of those other big-shot managers to shame. A throwback to an era when it really meant something to play for your country and when the average supporter would not have dreamed of saying that it would matter more to them if their club won the league than if their country lifted the world cup!
Post a Comment