The greatest fallacy of Pim Verbeek's successful campaign to achieve World Cup qualification for Australia has been the lack of a dramatic battle against adversity in contrast to the achievements of his predecessor, Guus Hiddink.
Hiddink was tasked with the impossible challenge of a two legged home and away tie against two time World Cup winners Uruguay who had survived a campaign against the likes of Columbia, Ecuador and Argentina. Verbeek faced the far more plausible challenge of qualifying over seven matches in two group stages against comparative footballing minnows like Uzbekistan and Qatar.
Hiddink took on a team of underdogs, a history of disappointment and a qualifying campaign that had been tried, tested and failed every time against Argentina, Iran, and Uruguay. Verbeek took on a team of experienced World Cup players and a qualification campaign that Australia was expected to be a success.
Hiddink's successful qualification took place in front of a home crowd of 83,000 supporters in a dramatic penalty shootout. Verbeek achieved it in Doha with a 0-0 draw against Qatar.
The underdog status and capacity to sustain such drama instilled a resolve in the 2006 Socceroos that they carried with them and capitalised on in their World Cup Campaign. The 2010 Socceroos will have to source their resolve elsewhere and deal with a new world of expectations.
This is by now a familiar story, we have all watched and read about Australia's path and speculated upon how this history will impose mentally upon the Socceroos of 2010.
What of our immediate opponents in the World Cup? What do we know of our enemies and what will be inspiring or conspiring against them when they aim up with the intention of causing pain in Socceroo lovers hearts in 2010?
Let's start with Ghana. The Black Caps, formerly known as the Gold Coast, minus Jason Culina (sorry), are the second most successful team in the African Cup of Nations. They've won the cup four times and are runners up four times, most recently in 2010. They are tremendously successful at youth level. Their under-20s team, the Black Satellites, are the current World Youth Champions.
The Black Caps feel like a team on the rise. Their first World Cup qualification was in 2006 where, like the Socceroos, they were knocked out in the second round. Unlike the Socceroos Ghana were the youngest team at the 2006 World Cup with an average age of 24. The Socceroos went to that World Cup with an average squad age of 28.
Four years on you would think the Black Caps are a team reaching their prime but it would not be first time Ghana have been a team full of promise.
In 1992 they were runners up in the African Cup of Nations where they were defeated 11-10 on penalties by Côte d'Ivoire. Their U-20 team the Black Satellites were runners up at the World Youth Championships in 1993 and their under-17 squad, the Black Starlets, won the U-17 World Cup in 1991, 1995 and were runners up in 1993 and 1997. Despite all these signs of future success the senior team failed to qualify for the 94, 98 and 2002 World Cups.
The Black Caps have more than the legacy of failure to meet up with expectations to overcome.
Their barren period of success coincided with the career of Abedi Ayew, dubbed Abedi Pele. Despite never playing in the World Cup he was Ghana's and probably Africa's most successful footballer. He is Ghana's most capped player and greatest goal scorer. He was named African footballer of the year from 1992 to 1993 and in 1997 Abedi scored in the Africa All Stars 2-1 defeat of Europe. He has played in more FIFA organised charity matches than any other African player and was named among the 125 greatest living footballers in 2004 in a list compiled by the other Pelé.
In his retirement he was a spokesperson for South Africa's 2006 World Cup bid and was awarded his country's highest honour, the Order of the Volta for services to his country. He also purchased a club in Ghana's second division called Nania FC.
In the last round of the Ghanian second division football competition in 2007 Nania FC, known as Abedi Pele's Nania Accra F.C. were vying for promotion to Ghana's top tier for the first time. On that day they led Okwawu United 1-0 at half time and went on to score 30 second half goals to win the match 31-0. On the same day Nania FC's rivals for promotion to the top flight, the Great Mariners, defeated the Tudu Mighty Jets 28-0, they were up 2-0 at half time and scored 26 second half goals.
Abedi Pele was embroiled in the subsequent match fixing allegations as all players and officials were suspended from participation in active football for one year. It would be the equivalent of Johnny Warren becoming involved in a match fixing controversy.
With football brought into disrepute locally and their country's greatest footballing icon a fallen star, the current generation of the Black Caps are charged with the task of wiping the slate clean and establishing a new reputation for Ghanian football globally.
That's enough psycho analysis of our enemies for one blog, I'm going to work on my Jason Culina puns and have a look Germany next.
