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Zelic: I want central Australian role [Thu Aug 25th, 2005]
Australian football's prodigal son Ned Zelic has declared he is ready to end his national team hiatus and play for the national team, placing the ball in the court of new coach Guus Hiddink and his staff.
In a revealing interview with SBS football website www.theworldgame.com.au, Zelic went closest ever to clarifying his status regarding the green-and-gold jersey he graced nearly six years ago.
At that time, following a fall-out with former coach Frank Farina, the man then considered Australia's best player quit the national team. And despite rumours he would return on several occasions, the ex-1860 Munich star remained on the outer.
With Farina now sacked, and replaced by Dutch mastermind Guus Hiddink for the run-in to Germany 2006, many expected Zelic's return to the national fold would be prompt. Not so, he admitted.
"There's no clear status at all," the Newcastle United Jets skipper in the new A-League competition said. "Things are the way they have been for the last five-and-a-half years since I left.
"I've just had one discussion with (national assistant coach) Graham Arnold and we talked about me making a comeback. Obviously a few things have to be worked out, and a few discussions have to take place.
"I never expected to come back into the fold with a click of the fingers when a coaching change occurred."
The 34-year-old defender expressed he was seeking reassurance from the national team's current staff that he would be an integral member of the team, rather than a simple "squad player".
"The important thing is for me to feel comfortable, and to know that I have the support there that I need," Zelic explained. "And if that's not there, then let's leave it as it is."
"I don't look for a guarantee to play," he added, refuting media speculation that suggested otherwise.
"In the past, when the late Eddie Thompson and Terry Venables were coaching, they never said to me 'you have a guarantee to play the next 10 games, five games or 16 games'."
"(But) every time I boarded a plane to go out and play for Australia, I knew that I would be playing without anybody telling me."
"I knew I would be playing," he repeated. "So it's that feeling (I need) that you know that you are a central figure in the coach's plans."
"What's the point of having Zelic in the squad as a squad player? That's not helping anyone. It's not helping me; it's not helping the team. So if there's going to be any doubts, let's just leave it."
However, the former Australian under-20 captain revealed his conversation with Arnold was promising.
"I know that Graham Arnold has always been a big supporter of me," he said. "I know that and I feel that. Having the conversation that I had with him a couple of weeks ago, it just justified my thinking about how he thinks of me as a player."
Zelic added that he feels if given the chance, he can represent to his previous high calibre.
"I'm not a 19-year-old trying to break into the side," he said. "I've shown in the past what I can do, and I'm confident that if I was to play again for Australia, I can still produce the goods just as good as in the past."
When asked if he was saying the ball was now in Australia's court to prove how much they wanted Ned Zelic, he said: "That's exactly right. I've been saying that ever since I left.
"That's the reason I left. Not because of captaincy issues, (rather) because I had the feeling the head man (Farina) didn't want me to play.
"That was the reason, it was the only reason I left and it was also the only reason I did not make a comeback, since I didn't have the genuine feeling that anything had changed.
"There's been a lot said that I don't want to play for Australia," Zelic noted. "I can't control what's said in the media, and I don't lose sleep over it. But it's wrong.
"I've always wanted to play for Australia."
AAP
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