Neill to lead Australia against Costa Rica

Lucas Neill will lead Australia into Tuesday's friendly international against Costa Rica.

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou confirmed Monday that Neill would continue to captain the 'Socceroos' in the friendly at the Allianz Stadium here. But Postecoglou has not guaranteed Neill will keep the leadership beyond the match, reports Xinhua.

"Lucas will be starting and will skipper the side tomorrow night," Postecoglou said.

The new coach said his focus is to get the whole group up and running.

"With Lucas starting tomorrow night, it was pretty logical. There wasn't a decision to be made as far as I was concerned."

Neill, who will captain the side for the 61st time, says they are determined to start the Postecoglou era in a very positive manner.

 

"This is not about an individual. It's about the country. I will be honoured to lead the team out tomorrow night. Right now, there is nothing else I want to concentrate on other than tomorrow night because it's vital for the manager to get off to a good start and it's vital for me."