Grella was controversially sent off in Australia's final match against Japan after catching Naohiro Takahara with his elbow.

But Takahara's theatrics were just a symptom of the spiteful gamesmanship Australia faced in the tournament, according to Grella.

"I don't know what they all had against Australia but it was a joke," he told Sydney's Sun Herald today. "We respected all our opponents but they had no respect for us.

"There were guys rolling around all over the place every time we played and all our opponents went out of their way to goad us.

"They all had a bad attitude towards us. I've written the names of Oman, Iraq, Thailand and Japan down and I'll be tying that note to my little finger, so it will be payback time when we meet again."

Grella blames the competition's referees for falling for the play-acting and not protecting Australia from it.

"We were frustrated with the inconsistencies of the decision making," the newly-signed Torino midfielder told the newspaper.

"Players were getting away with all sorts of stuff. Thailand were unsporting, even harassing our players after we'd deliberately kicked the ball out of play while in a good attacking position because they had a player injured.

"But the referees let it all go. We need to remember these things and give these teams a hiding when they come to Australia in the future, but we're too nice. That's our mentality.

"The referees should have cracked down on all the diving and rolling around. It's a men's game not always played by men.

"There were guys who looked like they were dying, and then suddenly they'd jump back up again. That's not the way we play. If we get hit, we get back up and play the game."

And he claims the opposition teams Australia faced showed no respect for the Socceroos and went out their way to wind up players and fans.

"When Iraq scored against us, they were jumping around like kangaroos - that's taking the piss," he said.

"Oman scored a goal, then they go and celebrate in front of the green-and-gold army . . . that's taking the piss. Then Japan called us a bunch of wrestlers before the game.

"They were winding us up. As an honourable nation their people should be ashamed of the conduct of their team.

"It was totally unacceptable and disgraceful. What have we ever done to them except beat them at the World Cup?"

He added: "They drove me insane with their remarks - I [wanted to] kill them before the game even started. The way they acted wasn't in the spirit of football.

"We have players in the best leagues in the world and I don't even know the names of half their team. But I wouldn't have come out and said they were a bunch of nobodies."

Grella now wants the FFA to ensure there are no repeats of that behaviour in future Asian tournaments.

He said: "The Asians saw us as arrogant. But our organisation is humble and just wants to follow the rules of the sport.

"Our governing body needs to make sure they get the respect they show others because the AFC treated us like shit and that's not good enough."