Misfit Moore flies the flag

To his left, the women footballers of Germany are completing a lap of honour by the corner flag. To his right, their beaten Mexican opponents are slumped on the pitch. Ignoring both sets of players from the preceding fixture, Craig Moore looks straight ahead and leads his Australia team on to the field to face Argentina in the Olympic Games. It is a surreal sight. The atmosphere inside a near-capacity Karaiskaki Stadium in Athens is genuine enough and the match itself turns out to be of real quality, but still you cannot rid yourself of the thought that Moore probably shouldn't be here.

The background to this case is well known, but the verdicts reached still need revision; not least the widespread assumption that this clubversus-country row represented a difficult choice for Moore. It didn't. While Moore was putting on a diplomatic front after last Tuesday night's 1-0 loss, his Australian teammates and coaching staff were more revealing about his state of mind. The fact that Moore departed for the Games during a month when Rangers are attempting to qualify for the Champions League group stages may have upset the club, but for the player, it seems, the Olympics could not have been better timed.

When Moore was made captain of Rangers by Alex McLeish after the departure of Barry Ferguson to Blackburn early last term it indicated a closeness that many believe is not there between the pair. The first hint of discord came towards the end of last season when, during a routine post-match briefing after a game at Hearts, Moore complained about a lack of ambition at Ibrox and claimed he would only be committing himself to a new contract if that were addressed. The dispute that developed this summer, once Moore made it clear that he wanted to play in the Olympics, may have had its origins in a wrangle within the club itself.

This is something that Moore hints at. Asked about how McLeish reacted when informed that Moore was accepting an invitation from Frank Farina, the Australian coach, to captain his country, there is a shake of the head. "Ach, it was just a build-up of other things going on at Rangers at that time," Moore says. "I don't want to go into that in great detail. When I left for the Olympics, Alex McLeish was the first person to ring me and wish me all the best. Gabriel Heinze and Cristiano Ronaldo have run into problems with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United as well, but this tournament is something you want to be involved in."

The difference, though, is that Heinze and Ronaldo, of Argentina and Portugal respectively, are both under-23. Part of the controversy with Moore is that he is 29 in December and one of only three over-age players in the Australian squad. "The opportunity to play in the Olympics passed me by in 1996," explains Moore. "I was in the Olympic squad right until the end, but I sustained a broken foot against Celtic in March 1996 and missed it. I didn 't think it would happen again for me, but it has and it's been so far, so good. It's not just a kickabout, there are some good players out here. I've always made it clear I've enjoyed playing for my country, for me the Olympics is a one-off and I was looking forward to it. We're a different breed, we Australians. We love to represent our country and I'm no exception."

The most compelling argument Moore makes is the fact he has never played at a World Cup finals. "That's the thing people don't appreciate. Qualification for the World Cup is hard for us against South American opposition. The Olympics for a lot of people, myself included, is like a World Cup.

"There's a real possibility Australia can make the 2006 World Cup. If I didn't think that I'd probably step aside now and let the younger boys through. Of course it was a tough decision coming to the Olympics because there are going to be problems with club versus country, but Rangers respected my wishes in the end."

In the end, perhaps, but not before Moore was stripped of the captaincy and transfer-listed. Earlier this month, only a failure to agree personal terms prevented him joining Blackburn. The Premiership club had reportedly been concerned about Moore's fitness after recent knee surgery, but at these Olympics he played every minute of his country's qualifying group fixtures and missed yesterday's 1-0 defeat to Iraq in Crete in the quarter-final only because of suspension. What he has lost at Rangers to gain by coming here sounds like a sacrifice, until you consider that Moore might have wanted out.

That view is given credence by John Aloisi, the Osasuna forward, who offers a damning insight into just how "tough" the dilemma really was for his fellow Socceroo. "I spoke to Craig about it and he said to me that it was an easy decision," claims Aloisi. "He's the captain of Australia. It was always going to be his country. I can understand Craig's thinking. Going into the Games it was a case of, 'look, we've got a chance of winning a medal' and it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He had never been to an Olympics before and when your country calls you, you want to go and play. It was unfortunate for him that Rangers were a little bit funny towards him and that made it hard for him, but he's got the backing of the players, the coaching staff and, frankly, the whole of Australia. He's a national hero Down Under."

Aloisi's comments will not, however, do much for Moore's local-hero status in Glasgow. He was asking around last Tuesday for a Rangers score in the return leg against CSKA Moscow, not realising it was not played until a week later. It is one thing to be out of the loop, quite another to have a different circle of thought altogether.

Moore's defence was that his mind has to be on the Olympics and the same rationale applies to any possible transfer dealings. He has instructed his agent, John Viola, to wait until the Games are over for Australia before entering into any negotiations. "I've not thought about my club situation since I've been here because that would be unfair to the other Australian players and the manager. I'll look at it again when I've finished here.

"

He claims not to have closed the door on Rangers, but can hardly expect a welcome mat on his return. According to Farina, there was never any doubt in Moore's mind that Australia mattered more to him.

"I didn't have any dialogue with Alex McLeish, Craig wanted to handle all of that himself. There was no need for me to get involved. Craig was adamant he was going, there was no issue for him and no discussion. He wanted to do it," reveals Farina. "When I asked him there was no hesitation from him whatsoever. Craig has made the ultimate commitment to Australia in terms of the national team and the Olympic side. I couldn't have asked for more from him. I' m very happy with it and I know that Craig's very happy with the choice he made."

The suspicion remains that there is more to the story than has been made public. Moore may well play for Rangers again. Assuming he cannot finalise a move before the transfer window closes, it would make no sense for either party to prolong the stand-off, but there is minimal prospect of that stay being extended beyond the turn of the year.

For the record, McLeish said on Friday there had been no new approaches for the player, adding: "I've been watching the Olympics and Craig Moore's looked a real solid, experienced player in the games, playing against Javier Saviola and Carlos Tevez the other night, who have been on fire for Argentina. Craig, and Adrian Madaschi, I may add, of Partick Thistle, did extremely well." As for the future? "He wouldn't be a bad experienced player to have in your squad, but we 'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

One last question as Moore heads for the team bus returning the players to their accommodation in the Olympic village: any regrets? "No, no regrets at all," he states firmly. "It's been everything I hoped."