Football: Australia keen on Kewell for play-off.Byline: BY DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. PRIOR HARRY KEWELL Harry Kewell (born September 22,1978 in Smithfield, Sydney), is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays for Liverpool F.C. in the English Premier League. appears destined for yet more time out of the Liverpool first team with Australia coach Guus Hiddink Guus Hiddink (born 8 November 1946 in Varsseveld) is a Dutch football manager. He managed PSV Eindhoven between 2002-2006. Throughout his entire managerial career, he is best recognised for winning the treble with PSV Eindhoven, leading South Korea to a 4th place finish in the to demand his "urgent" attendance at the Socceroos' World Cup play-off double-header in November. The Anfield winger hasn't played for the Merseysiders since going off injured early in the Champions League final in Istanbul, and is still chasing full fitness after a summer hernia operation. Australia's hopes of playing in Germany next year have come down to a two-legged play-off against as-yet undetermined opponents in November. Their manner of qualification for that stage was however unimpressive - after Australia's 7-0 win on home soil in the first leg, Oceania minnows the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, independent Commonwealth nation (2005 est. pop. 538,000), c.15,500 sq mi (40,150 sq km), SW Pacific, E of New Guinea. The islands that constitute the nation of the Solomon Islands—Guadalcanal, Malaita, New Georgia, the Santa Cruz Islands, managed to restrict Hiddink's side to a 2-1 in the return clash. And that has prompted Hiddink, also the coach of PSV Eindhoven “PSV” redirects here. For other uses, see PSV (disambiguation). Philips Sport Vereniging (English: Philips Sports Union), widely known either as PSV or PSV Eindhoven, is a sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. , to stress the importance of Kewell's availibility for the November games - and the Dutchman will put in a request with Rafael Benitez soon. "We need to get Harry Kewell fit and well as soon as possible," Hiddink said. "It's a matter of urgency. He is the sort of player who can give us what we need to reach Germany 2006. If we play again like we did against the Solomon Islands we will have no chance of qualifying." Hiddink is hoping to have Kewell and Newcastle's Craig Moore, fit and ready for a European training camp next month ahead of a friendly against Jamaica in London on October 9. He added: "We must get to a much higher level. Harry and Craig Moore are very important." Benitez, meanwhile, has denied claims of a rift with Djibril Cisse despite admitting the Frenchman was "angry" folllowing reports linking him with a transfer window departure. "I don't have any problem with Djibril," he said. "Cisse knows what he has to do for us, work hard, try to score goals and stay fit and not to let other things distract him. "I like players being angry when they're not playing." Benitez admitted his frustration at the club's thwarted attempts to bring in a centre-back and right-winger before the deadline. He added: "We couldn't find the right players, but because we're European champions, only certain players are good enough to play for us. "Clubs think because we've won the Champions League we've got a lot of money. They put a pounds 7m values on players who are no more than prospects CAPTION(S): Harry Kewell |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion