Lucas Neill is keen for his taste of Asian Champions League football, especially if it means he will take on some fellow Socceroos.
Socceroos captain Lucas Neill keeps a busy schedule but with the AFC Asian Champions League on the horizon he is about to get a whole lot busier, not that he isn-t excited.
After all, not everybody gets to visit the cold of Uzbekistan that often, but Neill is starting to find himself to be a regular visitor to the region and he is looking forward to heading back there with his team, Al Jazira when the ACL kicks off.
Neill revealing the opportunity to play in the ACL was a major reason for him joining the club.
“It-s a first for me and it-s one of the main reasons that I joined Al Jazira that I may play in such a prestigious competition,” Neill said.
“We-ve got a very tough game first up when I get back, away to Uzbekistan, which will be cold, which will be a bigger change for the guys in my team than it is for me because I-m a little bit more used to the weather than them.”
“It-ll be a tough place to go. We-ve played the national team of Uzbekistan and we-ve played club teams from there and we know that technically they-re very good.”
While they may be technically sound, Neill feels his side can take advantage that their footballing mentality is vastly similar and hopes teams won-t get too creative as his team chases to make up the seven points necessary in their domestic league and also shoots for ACL glory.
“Before too long we-ve got some big games in the league and then we move onto a team from Iran, and a team from Qatar, so there-ll be no easy games, but a nice variation in styles of football but often a similar mentality.”
