Hiddink may rest players

Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink is toying with the idea of resting some of the players that received yellow cards against Japan, for next Sunday’s match against Brazil.

Socceroos coach Guus Hiddink is toying with the idea of resting some of the players that received yellow cards against Japan, for next Sunday-s match against Brazil.

Vince Grella, Craig Moore, Tim Cahill and John Aloisi all received a yellow from the Egyptian referee yesterday and Hiddink is concerned that another against Brazil, will rule them out of what is likely to be the key match against Croatia the following Thursday.

Under the FIFA rules, those players that receive two yellow cards during the same phase of the competition will receive a one-match suspension.

"I have to think strongly if I can use all the players in the game (against Brazil)," Hiddink said after putting the players through a light training run.

"One of the negative aspects of the game yesterday was that we had some silly yellow cards, which we talked about before the game, so there is a little bit of criticism from my side to that."

Any two cards picked up in the group phase, will earn a one-match suspension, but cards go back to zero in the knockout phases, with the same rule applied in that phase with two yellows earning a one-game suspension.