Triantis's heart lay with Australia - it always did. Whatever happened between Popovic and Triantis will always be spun by the Football Australia media but suffice to say my predisposition is to believe Nectar and his family.
Nectar was informed in camp that he would get game time in Australia for his debut. Whether or not this was a throwaway line by Popovic, or whether he even remembers saying it is a moot point. The Triantis family (which is large in Australia let alone OS) literally spent tens of thousands of dollars getting to the game in March from around the Australia and around the world for his debut and then had to spend again to go to China. I suspect his family were more pissed off than him.
The point is, (and this is not just necessarily referring to Triantis) as has been the case reported with Popovic at Perth and elsewhere, he will give an undertaking, maybe flippantly, and then not follow through. These are young footballers that are literally hanging on every word from one of the 'golden generation'. When they learn that one of their heroes has feet of clay it can be devastating.
Do I believe he would never have been picked by Popovic - probably yes. For him to make such a sudden move which goes against everything the Triantis family in Australia is about it must have been more than just not getting game time. Nectar spoke in camp after the first game and was still quite buoyant and saying he realises he needs to be patient - which points to the fact that he realises you don't just walk into the team. What happened after that when he talks about a very bad experience in camp comes after the first game. I suspect, given his comments after the first game that it had nothing whatsoever to do with not getting game time.
That said, I still believe he should have been given starting game time over those chosen.
