Football: Managers moaning before kick-off; WORLD CUP GERMANY 2006 AUSTRALIA v JAPAN Group F, today 2pm, ITV.
AUSTRALIA coach Guus Hiddink and Japan counterpart Zico are already getting their excuses in early for today's Group F opener in Kaiserslautern.Hiddink has accused Japanese officials of unfairly trying to influence the refereeing after his Socceroos were labelled a 'dirty' team, while Zico has voiced his concerns about the length of the grass at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.
Hiddink believes the reaction to his team's approach in last Sunday's friendly against Holland had also been blown out of all proportion.
The furore comes after Luke Wilkshire was sent off for a tackle from behind on Giovanni Van Bronckhorst against the Dutch, while Phillip Cocu and Wesley Sneijder were both injured in the 1-1 draw.
Japanese Football Association chief Saburo Kawabuchi told the Japanese sport daily Hochi that Japan had to be wary of the Socceroos' hard tackling, accusing Australia of being guilty of committing 'dirty fouls'.
"Australia are guilty of a lot of dirty fouls," Kawabuchi said. "They target ankles in particular. They are too terrible."
"Japan must stand up to them."
However an angry Hiddink described the comments as "ridiculous" before returning fire.
"People who make those comments are trying to create an atmosphere that puts a condition on referees and that is not fair," he said.
On the grass issue, Zico said: "It is cut a little bit high so there a lot of speed changes. Most of the Japanese players are more used to a shorter cut pitch."
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
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| Publication: | Daily Post (Liverpool, England) |
| Date: | Jun 12, 2006 |
| Words: | 244 |
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