Jedinak best man to lead Socceroos in Brazil, says Aloisi

Reuters/Melbourne

Cutting long-serving Australia captain Lucas Neill adrift before the World Cup was the right call and his replacement Mile Jedinak is the best man to lead the team into a harrowing draw in Brazil, according to former Socceroos striker John Aloisi.

Crystal Palace skipper Jedinak’s appointment last week was heavily backed after he was handed the captain’s armband for a warmup against Ecuador in March but some local pundits complained that the country’s most prolific scorer Tim Cahill was hard done by.

Twenty-nine-year-old midfielder Jedinak helped newly-promoted Palace exceeded expectations with an 11th placed finish in the Premier League and he could similarly inspire the 59th-ranked Socceroos to play above themselves against world champions Spain, Netherlands and Chile in Brazil, Aloisi said.

“I think Mile’s the perfect one to take over,” Aloisi said. “Anyone that can captain a Premier League side can certainly captain the Socceroos. He had a great year personally but also his team’s done well.”

The hard-tackling Jedinak, capped 43 times for Australia,     played every minute of every game for the Tony Pulis-coached Palace until being struck down with a groin injury in their final match against Fulham.

He was rested for the Socceroos’ tepid 1-1 draw in a warmup against South Africa on Monday, with Cahill taking the reins for the farewell match in Sydney, but is expected to be fit for the team’s World Cup opener against Chile on June 13.

Compared to central defender Neill, who handled journalists with the same panache as he would a pesky striker streaming into the area, the more low-key Jedinak has largely let his football do the talking in his international career.

“Mile’s an intelligent guy, he’s different to Lucas,” said 38-year-old Aloisi, who netted the decisive kick in a penalty shoot-out victory against Uruguay to put Australia into the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. “Every captain is different. I think Mile is more one that leads by example on the pitch. You can see that he’s got a presence.”