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Les Murray reveals defiance of Lucas Neill towards Pim Verbeck in his new book

In the wake of broadcaster Les Murray’s shocking revelation, the Socceroos camp rallied around their beleaguered captain, Lucas Neill.

Neill and the Socceroos found themselves at the center of controversy after Les Murray shared an excerpt on national radio from his book, The World Game: The story of how football went global. In this excerpt, he claimed that Neill had directed the team to ignore coach Pim Verbeek’s instructions prior to their disheartening 4-0 defeat against Germany in the initial match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The camp surrounding Neill suggested that the seasoned defender was outraged and that his advisors were exploring potential legal avenues.

Several individuals close to the Socceroos camp in South Africa came to the captain’s defense and refuted Murray’s accusations.

Echoing the sentiments of retired player Craig Moore, who labeled the claims as “completely and totally false… 100 per cent,” many expressed their astonishment that Neill was singled out.

“Not a chance mate; it never happened,” declared one source anonymously via message.

“I’m uncertain where the story originated.”

Another asserted he had neither seen nor heard any such incident. “Are they serious? That’s news to me,” he stated.

“It is entirely incorrect. I saw Moorey’s (Craig Moore) comments this morning and he is absolutely right.”

The head of Football Federation Australia, Ben Buckley, rejected any notion of a mutiny.

“None of those involved with the Socceroos in South Africa can remember any incident even remotely resembling what has been described in the press today,” he remarked.

Nevertheless, Murray remained steadfast in his claims regarding the discord between Verbeek and the Socceroos.

“My sources are ones I trust,” Murray stated.

When asked if the leaks had originated from members of Verbeek’s Socceroos squad, he replied, “I can’t say, and I won’t disclose my sources.”

Questioned about the possibility of facing legal action from Neill and the book publisher Hardie Grant, Murray expressed, “I’m not concerned. I have complete confidence in my sources and what they told me. I stand by my statements and what I perceive to be the truth.”

“When I was writing the book, this emerged, and I dedicated part of that chapter to analyze what went awry in South Africa, particularly in that match against Germany.

“My aim was to illustrate the cultural disconnect between the coach and the players, and this (dressing room) incident epitomized that disconnect.”

by Buford Balony

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