Neal, Lucas

Nile grew up on the northern beaches of Sydney . He attended Wakeharst Primary School in Belrose and St Augustine College in Brookvale. Then he entered the Australian Institute of Sports, where he trained in the football section in 1994-1995 ^[1] .

Millwall

Neil transferred to Millwall as a free agent in November 1995. He made his debut on February 17, 1996 in a match against Luton Town . ^[2] For almost six years at Millwall he played 174 matches in all tournaments, in which he scored 13 goals ^[3] . In September 2001, Neal was bought by the Blackburn Rovers Club for a record £ 600,000 for Mill. His former club could receive up to 400,000 depending on the performance of Neil in the new team ^[4] .

Blackburn Rovers

Neil played the first game for Blackburn in September 2001 against Sunderland , and scored his first goal that month against Bolton . Neal was a universal defender. He could play in all defensive positions, which he repeatedly proved in games for the club and the national team.

Neil was criticized for his aggressive playing style in the 2003/04 season . In the fifth game of the season, which was held at Yewood Park , Neal broke his leg to Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher , leaving him out of the game for six months. The incident sparked a verbal skirmish between Gerard Houlier and Graham Sunness .

Johan Neskens , who became Frank Rykard 's assistant at Barcelona in the 2006/07 season , said that Neal can play for any of the best clubs ^[5] . On August 4, 2006, Neal announced that he would not sign a new four-year contract with Blackburn Rovers. Player’s agent Peter Harrison said that “he enjoyed playing for Blackburn, he loves the club and the fans, he just feels that the time has come for a change” ^[6] . On August 30 of the same year, it was reported that Liverpool offered £ 2 million for the Nile, but Blackburn declined that amount. The club wanted to get Stephen Warnock at a surcharge for the Nile, but Liverpool did not like this option ^[7] . At the end of November, rumors appeared that Chelsea ^[8] or even Barcelona ^{[9] were} interested in Neal's services. The departure of the Nile caused a storm of indignation among Blackburn fans who booed him upon his return to Ewood Park in March 2007 ^[10] .

West Ham United

In January 2007, Neal rejected Liverpool's offer in favor of West Ham United . ^[11] Neil was accused of deciding to change teams because of money. He later denied these allegations, saying that he decided to move due to football reasons ^[12] . Neil later stated that at Liverpool he could not count on a place in the first team, and that he did not even speak with the Merseyside coach Rafael Benitez . In a debut match in February 2007 against Watford , Neal suffered a knee injury ^[13] . He first wore the captain's armband the following month in a game with Tottenham Hotspur . He became a permanent captain after Nigel Reo-Cocker moved to Aston Villa ^[14] . Neal led the team as captain in a draw against Wigan on August 25, 2007 (1: 1) ^[15] . He scored his only goal for West Ham in a guest match against West Bromwich Albion in September 2008, which ended in a 3–2 win for the hosts ^[16] . At the end of the 2008/09 season, Neil rejected the offer for another year to extend the contract with West Ham, becoming a free agent. ^[17]

Everton

September 17, 2009, thanks to his close friend Tim Cahill ^[18] Neil, as a free agent, signed a one-year contract with Everton ^[19] . He first entered the field in a Europa League match against Greek AEK (4: 0). In that match at Goodison Park , Neal played one half.

On September 23, 2009, Neal played his first game for Everton in the League Cup against Hull City (4-0), replacing in the second half instead of Leighton Baines ^[20] . Neil's debut for Everton in the Premier League took place on October 25, 2009. He played against Bolton and took part in two goals scored. In total, Neil for the club from Liverpool spent 15 matches in all tournaments.

Galatasaray

On January 13, 2010, Neil signed a one and a half year contract with the Turkish Galatasaray ^{[21] [22] [23]} . In Turkey, he played with his former teammate and team-mate Harry Kewell . Neil made his debut for Galatasaray in the Turkish Super League on January 24, 2010 in a winning match at Ali Sami Yong stadium against Gaziantepspor (1-0) ^[24] .

Al Jazeera

On August 19, 2011, Neil signed a one-year contract with the Al Jazeera club from the UAE ^{[25] [26]} .

In October 1996, Neil became the second youngest player after Harry Kewell to make his Australian debut. ^[27] The debut took place in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh , at that time he was 18 years old and 7 months old ^[28] . Neil also participated in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney .

On November 16, 2005, at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, the Nile helped Australia qualify for the 2006 World Cup . Against Uruguay, he played the whole match, ended with a score of 1: 1, and scored the second of the penalty shoot-outs. Neil was named the best player of that meeting ^[29] .

Neil had all four meetings on the field at the 2006 World Cup. In the last minutes of the 1/8 finals with Italy, the referee Luis Medina Cantalejo saw a violation in the penalty area by the Nile against flank defender Fabio Grosso . Francesco Totti scored a penalty, and the Italians won 1-0, while the Australians left the mundial ^[30] .

After the World Cup, Neal expressed his desire to become captain of the national team, and on October 6, 2006 he was named the 50th captain of the Australian national team. On October 7, 2006, he made his debut in this role in a friendly match against Paraguay in Brisbane (1: 1). Four days later, in Sydney, he was captain of Australia in the qualifying match of the Asian Football Cup with Bahrain (2: 0) ^[31] . On June 2, 2007, Neil, as captain, led the national team to a friendly match with the Uruguayan national team at Telstra Stadium in Sydney (1: 2).

On July 13, 2007, in the last seconds of the match against the Iraqi national team (1: 3), Neil insulted the referee and received a second yellow card. In the quarterfinal of the Asian Cup, which Neal missed, Australia lost to Japan in the penalty shoot-out ^[32] . Neil played his 50th game for the national team in the qualifying match of the 2010 World Cup against the Japanese team. Australia won 2-1, Tim Cahill also scored in that match.

On June 2, 2008, his girlfriend Lindsay Morris gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

On September 28, 2009, Neil was the victim of robbers. The criminals entered the Nile’s house, beat him and stole valuables and keys to the car, which was soon found ^[33] .

• Official site
• Profile on the official website of West Ham
• Profile on Australia Football Team website
• OzFootball Profile
• Player profile on soccerbase.com
• ESPN Profile