It’s almost a year since I blogged here on my view of the crowd booing the Socceroos defeat against China in the dead rubber in Sydney. Since then much more has been written and talked about the style of play under Pim Verbeek and the balance between getting results necessary to qualify and playing in a manner which suggests the team might be able to match or better their performance. Tim Cahill has taken a swipe at sections of the media and fans for not giving enough credit to the coach and his squad for what they have achieved to date. I completely agree with him and in our latest podcast which you can listen to here recorded yesterday before Tim’s overnight salvo I address this again.
For me...these are the facts:
Australia stands on the verge of being the first nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup having been the last nation to qualify for the last World Cup – their first in 32 years.
They are one more shut out away from qualifying without conceding a goal in 6 final stage qualification matches.
They are on the verge of qualifying for consecutive World Cups for the first time in their history.
How short are some people’s memories?
If someone would have presented any Australian football fan or journalist with the current run of results in the manner achieved would they have accepted them in 1978? How about in 1982? Or 1986 for that matter? Try 1990 for size? Perhaps in 1994? Maybe in 1998? Or finally 2002? You see my point?! For so long the World Cup was this seemingly unattainable holy grail just always slightly out of reach and the source of much soul searching which even had some people believing in witch doctor curses.
Now with qualification for consecutive finals firmly in our grasp.....two games early, no goals conceded...and yet many are still not happy....what’s wrong with these people?
Of course everyone would love to win every game in style and people generally put one team forward currently, Barcelona, as proof this can be done. Barcelona is a multinational collection of the best players in the world who before they could dismantle Man Utd also had to grind their way past Chelsea scoring only once in two games. Only one team can play like Barcelona and that’s Barcelona.
Of course we need to look at our formations, personel and systems of play in the lead up to the tournament and that will be dictated by who is drawn in Australia’s group in December...just as Guus Hiddink had his game plans for each specific challenge in 2006....but he didn't have those plans before he knew who the opponents were going to be...how could he?
Of course we should be constantly striving for improvement in all areas.
But in my view, if successful this weekend, for now we should all be rejoicing in the improvement of being the first nation to qualify and celebrating a second consecutive World Cup final adventure in a manner that many other nations would consider “perfect” in not conceding a goal along the way.
There’s way more to celebrate in this qualification campaign than there was in the last not discounting the unforgettable night of the 16th November 2005. As I wrote a year ago the objective in the future should not be the last team to qualify on penalties but to qualify early with games in hand to allow a full year's preparation. This is what Pim's Socceroos stand on the threshold of achieving and that will more than do for me - for now.
So let’s enjoy the moment whenever it comes because for so long these moments were just a distant dream.
The old wives saying of “Beware your hearts desire for one day you might just get it” has never been more appropriate.
For me...these are the facts:
Australia stands on the verge of being the first nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup having been the last nation to qualify for the last World Cup – their first in 32 years.
They are one more shut out away from qualifying without conceding a goal in 6 final stage qualification matches.
They are on the verge of qualifying for consecutive World Cups for the first time in their history.
How short are some people’s memories?
If someone would have presented any Australian football fan or journalist with the current run of results in the manner achieved would they have accepted them in 1978? How about in 1982? Or 1986 for that matter? Try 1990 for size? Perhaps in 1994? Maybe in 1998? Or finally 2002? You see my point?! For so long the World Cup was this seemingly unattainable holy grail just always slightly out of reach and the source of much soul searching which even had some people believing in witch doctor curses.
Now with qualification for consecutive finals firmly in our grasp.....two games early, no goals conceded...and yet many are still not happy....what’s wrong with these people?
Of course everyone would love to win every game in style and people generally put one team forward currently, Barcelona, as proof this can be done. Barcelona is a multinational collection of the best players in the world who before they could dismantle Man Utd also had to grind their way past Chelsea scoring only once in two games. Only one team can play like Barcelona and that’s Barcelona.
Of course we need to look at our formations, personel and systems of play in the lead up to the tournament and that will be dictated by who is drawn in Australia’s group in December...just as Guus Hiddink had his game plans for each specific challenge in 2006....but he didn't have those plans before he knew who the opponents were going to be...how could he?
Of course we should be constantly striving for improvement in all areas.
But in my view, if successful this weekend, for now we should all be rejoicing in the improvement of being the first nation to qualify and celebrating a second consecutive World Cup final adventure in a manner that many other nations would consider “perfect” in not conceding a goal along the way.
There’s way more to celebrate in this qualification campaign than there was in the last not discounting the unforgettable night of the 16th November 2005. As I wrote a year ago the objective in the future should not be the last team to qualify on penalties but to qualify early with games in hand to allow a full year's preparation. This is what Pim's Socceroos stand on the threshold of achieving and that will more than do for me - for now.
So let’s enjoy the moment whenever it comes because for so long these moments were just a distant dream.
The old wives saying of “Beware your hearts desire for one day you might just get it” has never been more appropriate.
