Slater  wrote in one  Sydney newspaper last week: “No player will say it publicly but there was disharmony. And here's one story to put a new spin on the spin. It's an incident involving Harry and another player, whose privacy I will respect.

“It happened at Australia's farewell dinner after the Socceroos' exit in South Africa. Put simply, the player told Harry to f... off, saying he was of no value to the Socceroos any more.”

Slater also questioned Kewell’s future effectiveness as a national team player while also praising his contribution to the green and gold.

He added: "While Harry has been a wonderful player for a very long time, I believe that there's little point selecting him for future Australia teams.

"He's approaching 32 and has had a long history of injuries. At that age, it's surely not about to get better.

"So one of the first jobs for the man who takes over as Socceroos coach is to make the call. It has to be made. Until now, no one has been brave enough to tell Harry his time is up.

Kewell appeared on Fox Sports FC TV show tonight live from Turkey where he was given a right of reply.

A fuming Kewell said tonight that Slater’s comments were “lies” and that they were “disrespectful”.

“I was disappointed that an ex-teammate of mine could write something like that. When he writes, ‘a player told me to eff off and that I have no value to the Socceroos anymore, I find that a little bit harsh,” said Kewell.

“What gives you the right to you Robbie to make that kind of statement without knowing the actual facts?”

Slater then replied that he stood by his comments and claimed he’d spoken to more than one player who were allegedly at the incident where Kewell was allegedly told to eff off.

However Slater said he wouldn’t name any player involved.

“Robbie, I was actually there at the table," said Kewell. "Name the player. If you’re a man you’d name him. What are you going on about? You’re 100% behind that [comments]?

“Because I’ve spoken to all the players and none of them have said that. No player I have ever played with [in the Socceroos] has ever told me to do that. Even when I first started with the national team.

“You’re lying. I don’t know why you’re creating this kind of thing. Why are you? ”

Kewell said that the allegations of a circus surrounding him had nothing to do with himself.

“It’s the circus that you [Slater] run, you and your friends. You want to cause trouble and disrespect my name in the Australian team," he said.

“I want to know why. What have I ever done to you? I am ashamed by it. What, are you jealous of me? What have I done to you?”

Kewell also said he took orders from the FFA about speaking to the media and spoke when he was told to by FFA media at the World Cup - fueling, say some, the circus about his fitness.

Slater responded by saying the comments were “ridiculous”.

The Galatasaray striker added that he was mystified why he wasn’t picked by Pim Verbeek in the opening World Cup game against Germany, saying he was fit to play.

“You ask all the medical staff, ask Pim, ask your best mate Arnie. “Ask them all. Was that my fault? It was Pim’s decisision not to play me, not mine. I wanted to play.

“We were all sitting there going, ‘how come I’m not playing?’ But we weren’t going to sit there and bitch. We don’t do that. We get on and do our work and support our teammates and our country.

“We don’t sit there and bitch, like you.”

See the video here: