June 24 2014

Mile Jedinak

Crystal Palace's MILE JEDINAK says it was an honour to captain Australia at the 2014 World Cup.

The Socceroos lost their final fixture of the tournament 3-0 to world champions Spain and returned home having lost all their group games.

But they were unlucky not to get anything out of their match against the Netherlands – where JEDINAK scored a penalty to become Palace's first scorer at a World Cup – while the impressive Chile proved to be too strong and won 3-1.

Although JEDINAK was disappointed with his country's early exit, he was chuffed to have led his country for this global extravaganza.

"I've been honoured to lead this bunch of boys in the heat of battle at the World Cup on the biggest stage, it’s been an absolute honour and a pleasure," he said.

"I've had some great support from my teammates and the senior players in the group. Not only that but we just bonded together and you can see out there we don’t want to let each other down.

"Obviously scoring the goal that went ahead against the Netherlands [was the highlight].

"What happened after that, it’s hard to say I’m not disappointed, because I am disappointed considering how we’ve played.

"The team has grown, we know that, and we know some of the stuff we play [is competitive].

"It’s about now taking the next step and turning those positives into results and points. We’ve been challenged to get better, not only individually but collectively and that starts now."