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Verbeek rips in to local game

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23 January 2008 | 12:35 - AAP

Socceroos coach Pim Verbeek has delivered his most unflattering assessment yet of the A-League on the eve of the finals - adding that some players were simply not good enough to face Qatar.

 

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Verbeek, who has been open about his concerns about A-League players' ability to handle international football since coming into the job two months ago, compared the standard of the local competition as less than that of a training run for a struggling German club.

The Dutchman has named 20 A-League players in an extended 39-man squad for Australia's opening World Cup qualifier against Qatar in Melbourne on February 6.

But he all but admitted the bulk of that local talent was there in case any of the 19 overseas players selected could not be available for the match.

Two German-based players - World Cup squad members Josh Kennedy and Michael Beauchamp - have not played for their Bundesliga teams for several weeks due to the Christmas break.

But Verbeek said three weeks training with Karlsruhe (Kennedy's club) and third-bottom Nuremberg (Beauchamp) would have the duo better prepared for Qatar than if they were in the A-League.

"If you train for three weeks with Nuremberg or with Karlsruhe, I have to be very honest, I still think that's better than playing A-League games," Verbeek said at the announcement of his squad.

"I saw the important (A-League) games last weekend and you can see players under pressure that they didn't bring the same performance that I have seen before, so they are still not very consistent at the moment.

"(The A-League) players have to show me they can do a job against Qatar, that they are capable of winning the games.

"I am not here to please players, I'm not here to please anybody, I'm here to win the game.

"That's the responsibility I have to the Australian fans and Australian football.

"I like them all, as I've said already, but it is nothing to do with liking your players, I want to see them do the job.

"That's why I was here for five weeks. No one can tell me, that I didn't give them the chance and the possibility.

"I will do that again, and if they are good enough they can show me next week and I can select them.

"But I be honest to them, if they're not good enough at the moment I will tell them also."

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