With his playing stocks thinning by the day, it was perhaps only a matter
of time before Pim Verbeek sent his own health scare through the Socceroos
camp.
The Australia coach was forced to cut short his pre-match press conference
ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against China after being struck
down by illness.
"I need a small break, I don't feel very well," the Dutchman
said before stepping away from reporters a little over three minutes into
his media address in the high-altitude Chinese city of Kunming.
Verbeek was still expected to guide the team through their final training
session later - and be on the sidelines next to assistant coaches Graham
Arnold and Henk Dutt for the game on Wednesday.
But the incident nevertheless provided another point of drama in what
has been a problematic build up to Australia's second game of their 2010
World Cup qualifying campaign.
While the thin air of Kunming - situated 1,900m above sea level - was
expected to be Australia's biggest stumbling block in trying to beat China,
just getting his players to the south-west Chinese city has proved a difficult
task.
European stars Scott McDonald (calf), Josh Kennedy (knee), Tim Cahill
(foot), Brett Emerton (groin) and Mile Sterjovski (groin) have all been
ruled out of the match in recent days.
While Adelaide United and Olyroos star Bruce Djite became the latest casualty
on Monday when he broke down with a hamstring injury during training.
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March 25, 2008
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
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