Former Socceroo Harry Kewell has stressed he never had any problems with Mark Viduka but concedes they weren't exactly firm friends off the pitch.
The duo lined up together for club and country with their partnership at Leeds United in the Premier League particularly effective in front of goal.
The Australians remain the top two goal contributors for the club in England's top-flight but never quite hit it off at international level.
There was speculation the duo may have had a problem with one another - something Kewell was quick to rubbish.
“Viduka, for me, he was fantastic. As a player, as a person, he is what you look for in this day and age as a No. 9. He was phenomenal," Kewell told Optus Sport's The Analysis Show.
"Funny enough, there was also supposedly this problem between me and him, which I found very strange.
"When we grew up, were we best friends? Did we go to each other’s houses? Did we go out for dinner and all that? No. We were professional players. We weren’t best mates. A lot of players are not best mates.
"What are you? You’re work colleagues, you go into your job and you do your job properly. That is what grew our relationship; when we played together, we connected.
"I feel we got better as our careers went on because we figured out each other’s games. We knew what the strengths were in each other and I think that just moulded into being a great partnership.
"There is even a stat that I read the other day that me and Vidukes have got the most goals and the most assists at Leeds to this day.
"I’d drop in and play behind him, the great thing about playing with Vidukes was he would occupy two centre-halves and if the ball did come into him like this, people would think oh he’s just going to turn or play it out, but he had great feet to be able to twist and turn."
Kewell was sacked as manager by English club Barnet last month and has been encouraged to look outside of Europe for his next job.
Viduka, meanwhile, recently opened up on his life in Croatia where he runs a cafe and helps his son out in a band when needed.