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Two overseas stars injured in Olympic countdown
SYDNEY, Aug 23 (AFP) - The Australian football team, already on tenterhooks over the availability of world-class striker Harry Kewell, has two more injury concerns in the countdown to next month's Sydney olympics. Ajax Amsterdam are refusing to release their injured Australian Olympians Joey Didulica and Jason Culina for a pre-Games camp until the pair is fully fit. Didulica, the Olyroos number one goalkeeper, has a back injury while midfielder Culina has hamstring trouble. The players were due to arrive in camp in Melbourne on Saturday but it now appears they will be delayed. Olympic coach Raul Blanco now only has a handful of players in camp as the European-based sides are reluctant to release their young stars until the last moment. "Ajax is a totally professional club, they've told us the players are injured and they have a policy of not allowing players to travel unless they are 100 percent fit," Blanco said Wednesday. "We want to assess the problem as quickly as possible so that we can do something but it appears that they are injuries that will not take a long time to heal. "We will talk to them and hope that we can reach a compromise." The news could not be worse for Blanco, who is still awaiting an update on Leeds United star Harry Kewell's Achilles' injury. Blanco expects to know on Friday whether the striker, who is vital to a successful Olympic campaign, will make the trip. Carlton striker Archie Thompson has been named as a standby player and could even be elevated to the 18-man squad if Kewell pulls out. Blanco is upset that four standby players have boycotted the Games and Soccer Australia is considering invoking FIFA sanctions to have them banned from playing club football for the duration of the Games. Stayaway Olyroo Chris Coyne however was unrepentant and said his club side paid his wages, not the Olyroos. Coyne, who plays for Dundee in Scotland, believed it was too much to ask for him to travel to Australia when there was no guarantee he would play. "It would not be right to go around the world and miss seven weeks of the season for something that might never come off," he said. "I'd be lying if I said this has been easy for me, but I've made up my mind.
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