Popovic: End of my world

Popovic recalls: "We had won 1-0 at home, so we had one foot at the World Cup. We then went away, conceded a couple of sloppy goals and were down 2-0. A third went in and that was that.

"Over the two games, we just weren't good enough. We froze in the second match.

"Although international football is slightly different, there is a comparison with tomorrow because the big prize was there as well.

"It was the World Cup, so obviously I felt a big disappointment then."

While the Socceroos were faced with 52,000 passionate home fans in Uruguay in November 2001, the Division One Play-off Final is held on neutral territory. Palace have an equal ticket allocation to West Ham and their fans will give as good as they get at the Millennium Stadium.

Popovic added: "The atmosphere in Montevideo was very hostile. Tomorrow we will have more than 30,000 fans cheering for us, there we had about 70. It was one game I will never forget and hopefully it will be the same this time but for different reasons."

Popovic is one of the more worldly-wise footballers in the Nationwide League.

His journey from Sydney to south London included a four-year stopover in Japan, where he played under former Socceroos coach Eddie Thomson at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.

In the J-League, he got used to a very meticulous style whereby almost every aspect of a player's life was monitored - from daily food intake to number of hours spent sleeping.

The strict approach clearly worked for Popovic who, after establishing himself as a regular Socceroo, impressed Steve Bruce enough to earn a Palace contract in August 2001.

Popovic admits his experience at Selhurst Park quickly turned into something of a culture shock. He had swapped the order and professionalism of Japan for chaos on the scale of pancake day at Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant.

Bruce left after just three months to be followed by four different managers over the next three years. The club's training and preparation have greatly improved since Dowie's appointment last December and Popovic admits he was unhappy with the situation before then.

He said: "To say it didn't affect me personally is a lie. I want to play at the highest level and I want to be in a successful team. That just wasn't happening here. It was very frustrating. "I was used to high standards, I wanted high standards, but the club just felt it was crumbling around the team. It was just one change after another. The continuity was never there and it caused a problem throughout.

"The proof that it did is the fact that it is the same players who were here before Iain arrived - losing 5-0 at Wigan - that are now in the play-off final. That says everything.

"When I first arrived Steve Bruce was trying to sort things out and run them properly. Iain is very similar to that. Since Christmas, things have got better and better. Results have been great, but it was working even if we didn't make the play-offs. You can see the club is going forward on and off the pitch."

Popovic had the pick of Australian sports as a youngster, but was encouraged to play football by his Croatian parents. He will be in Portugal to watch Euro 2004 and is in no doubt who he will be cheering for when Croatia face England in Group B.

He said: "I'm not sure I should say this, but it could please me if they beat England."

Palace fans will surely forgive him if West Ham's attack is kept quiet tomorrow.