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Viduka joins Olyroos
MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept 10 (AFP) - Aussie striker Mark Viduka joined his Olyroo teammates in training here Saturday adamant that there was never any doubt he would play in the Olympic soccer tournament despite the reluctance of Leeds United to release him. The striker said that playing with the national under-23 squad had always been a top priority for him despite his Premier League club's procrastinations. "(Coach) Raul Blanco came to see me about a year ago in Glasgow and asked me if he was to pick me would I come and play in the Olympics and I said definitely," Viduka said. "So I gave my word to Raul and I didn't want to go back on it." Two weeks ago Leeds chairman Peter Risdale had incensed Soccer Australia (SA) by making reference to FIFA's request of not considering over age players and requesting that they should consider withdrawing Viduka from the team. But SA refused to back down on the Viduka issue and he arrived in Melbourne only having missed friendlies against Kuwait and South Africa. Viduka was joined by another late call-up, midfielder Josip Skoko. Skoko, who replaced the injured Paul Okon, said he too was happy to be given a chance to play for his country. "I had to sit down and think it through but there was no way I was going to decide against playing in Melbourne in front of 90,000 in a game for Australia at the Olympics," said Skoko, who plays for Belgian club Genk. Saturday marked the first time the complete Olyroo squad had trained together, just four days away from their first Olympic match against the Italians.
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