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Like Melbournians with their public transport system, Pim Verbeek’s faith in the A-League is lacking. But for next Wednesday’s Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia, Verbeek – like those Melbourne commuters each morning – must simply grin, bear it, and hope for the best.
Verbeek has been frank in his assessment of Australia’s domestic league since his appointment in December 2007.
Who could forget his comment just six weeks into the job, upon naming a Socceroos squad for the World Cup qualifier with Qatar?
“If you train for three weeks with Nurnberg or with Karlsruhe, I have to be very honest, I still think that’s better than playing A-League games,” he said.
It was a frank assessment that ruffled quite a few feathers.
And after that comment, it have would have seemed inconceivable that Verbeek would ever pick an all-A-League squad, least of all in the opening Asian Cup qualifier.
But on Monday he did.
Whether the decision was down to a softening of Verbeek’s opinion or that the match is scheduled on a non-FIFA sanctioned international date is up for dispute. Perhaps it’s a bit of both.
Regardless, it was with great interest that the squad’s make-up was announced.
Bar a few surprises, those selected are a good reflection of the League’s form teams and players.
Eugene Galekovic should get the chance between the sticks after a terrific year keeping Asia’s best at bay, while a number of his Adelaide United teammates rightfully receive their own just reward.
Scott Jamieson is the baby of the squad, but is likely to slot in at left back. The 20-year-old’s gamble to return to Australia after serving an apprenticeship at Bolton has paid off. United supporters would have only pencilled him down as a solid squad player at the start of the season.
The fact that Jamieson forced coach Aurelio Vidmar to push skilful Brazilian Cassio up the field is a true indication of how far he has come.
League domestiques, Matt McKay and Rodrigo Vargas, deserve their call-ups, while Roar excitement machine Michael Zullo adds a touch of the unknown to the squad.
Verbeek has indicated he will pick Melbourne strike duo Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp up front.
Thompson has plenty of experience, while Allsopp is much-maligned even from his own supporters. But 11 goals warrant his chance.
Of the major surprises, Dean Heffernan’s call up after only returning from long-term injury in December shows how thin his country’s reserves are at left-back, while Nik Topor-Stanley’s season has hardly been a watershed one.
Verbeek selected Shannon Cole and Billy Celeski as his options on the right of midfield. Adelaide captain Travis Dodd must be wondering what more he needs to do after leading his side to the final of the Asian Champions League.
A-League squad aside, the match against 144-ranked minnows Indonesia looks a breeze on paper.
But we need only to cast our mind back to the Oceania Football Confederation Cup in 2002, when a near-bankrupt Soccer Australia was only able to send a domestic-based squad (including current squad member Tom Pondeljak), with Scott Chipperfield the exception.
A 1-0 loss to New Zealand was the result, and it cost Australia a spot at the 2003 Confederations Cup in France.
It’s a sobering thought for Verbeek, whose initial assessment of the A-League is about to be put to the ultimate test in front of potentially 90,000 Indonesians at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.
Let’s hope that his crop of A-Leaguers can prove the Dutchman wrong.
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