CAPTAIN of the Socceroos for the past five years, Lucas Neill has found that establishing himself in the Middle East has eased the burden of a gruelling Asian qualification process.

After a career of lengthy trips back from Europe, how are you enjoying being based in the Middle East ahead of playing for the Socceroos in Asia?
For me, it has been unbelievable. From a recovery point of view, I am feeling much fresher for both international and club games. Each time I see my team-mates come back from either club or international duty, some of them have been on two or three different flights to get back, and I have felt satisfied I did not have to do that. It gives me the opportunity to give 100 per cent and know there is no fear of fatigue. It also helps when you are trying to avoid those little injuries and knocks which can keep you out.

Your new club Al-Jazira have started well in the league – how are you enjoying playing in the UAE Pro-League?
We have started well in both the league and the cup, so we are in a good spot. We find ourselves at the top of the table after the opening fixtures and we are doing well in the cup too. We have a good team and at the weekend we are the team everyone wants to beat. That is a different mindset for me as I have been used to going into league games as more of the underdog. That adjustment has been good for me. All in all, it has been a great start.

Early days in the league, but you have even scored a goal!
Yeah, I got a goal in the cup a month ago. I was pleased with that and I’m looking to back that up with a couple in the league if I can. That said, as a defender, I always judge myself on clean sheets and we have had a few of those too, which is always a real boost. It is now a case of making sure we can produce even more clean sheets and keep our form going for the rest of the season.

You have held the Socceroos captain’s armband for over five years now – how have you seen the national team and your role within it evolve in that period?
I have seen the team go from strength-to-strength. Many of the players have stayed the same, but we have had to adapt the way we play. We have been challenged many times and always seem to come up with a solution. There is such a high level of professionalism and a lot of senior guys around me which has helped. At the start I wanted to set a certain standard and to make sure there is that distinct feeling of pride. It is all about the Socceroos when you come into camp, it is not about any individual. Over time I have focused less and less on that as all of the guys are so accepting of that approach. All the egos go out of the window and it becomes about winning for Australia. I have become very proud of the person I have become – a wiser person who knows how to analyse situations. I’ve learned a lot in these last five years, including knowing when to say something and when to lead via action. I have really enjoyed my time and hopefully I can get a few more years.      

What is it like seeing these young players coming into the squad now – how much does getting to Brazil 2014 drive these players?
These players definitely have the potential. We just need to keep pushing ourselves in training and keep performing. We can only be as good as the team we are playing against but if we keep going we will be in a good position. We still have two and a half years to become a better team – we are a work in progress. We have got all the right tools – experienced guys and young hungry guys. We also have strength in depth now which we did not have in the past five to 15 years. Every position is either covered or being challenged for – that is a great problem for the manager to have. It is just finding the right chemistry. 

We are through to the second stage of qualification now, how tough was the first stage on review? The likes of Oman and Thailand pushed us close. Closer than many of us expected...
The gap is so small in the world of football, so I am not shocked by any team or an individual player who shows ability. There is so much support for football across the world, so there are no easy games today. We did not think Thailand would be as strong as they were – they turned out to probably be the strongest team we faced in the first stage. That is a pleasant surprise though. I like getting pushed and taking on challenges. There are no easy games, which is better for us as we are not playing expecting to win easily. We got pushed hard in Oman, who went ahead through our fault rather than them doing something right and we had to try and bounce back from that. That was something we had to learn from and we are learning all of the time. We are constantly being pressured in all different areas of football – sometimes before the game, sometimes during it and sometimes after it when we have a two- or three-day turnaround before the next game. The games are only going to get harder from here. There are two and a half years until Brazil and we will have eight games in the second stage that will be even harder than the games we have played so far. The challenges and the tests we will receive are going to be even tougher. If we do get to Brazil in 2014, there is no doubt we deserve to be there.

This article appeared in the January 2012 issue of Australian FourFourTwo magazine. To buy back copies of this issue call 03-8317-8121 with a credit card to hand.

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