So how did it get to this for a player who was arguably the most talked about sportsman in the world for a few memorable days in June, 2006?

It was Neill’s tackle on Italian Fabio Grosso that brought about the contentious penalty that led to Australia’s emotional exit from the World Cup.

It was a cruel end to what had been a fantastic tournament for the central defender from Sydney’s northern beaches.

Neill and Tim Cahill were the only two Australian players to return home and make themselves available to just about every media outlet in a country suddenly gone mad with World Cup fever, 32 years after our last visit to the planet’s biggest sporting event.

There was talk of major European clubs chasing his signature, while his good looks and articulate manner had companies back in Australian lining up to be associated with him.

As veteran football writer Ray Gatt, of The Australian, noted: “He had a statesman-like aura about him. Socceroos captains are always held in huge esteem. He had a presence about him and carried himself well.”