The Socceroos are Asian Cup underdogs
Columnist
By Mike Tuckerman, 26 Apr 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert
Harry Kewell of Australia is challenged by Mohammed Addullah of Oman and team-mate Mohamed Rabia Jamaan Al Noobi during a FIFA Asian Cup qualifying match. AAP Image/Joe Castro
Technical director Han Berger claimed that it’s an “interesting” draw, and on the whole the Socceroos will be pleased to have been grouped with India, Korea Republic and Bahrain in Group C of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.
Kicking off in cool January climes, the fifteenth Asian Cup pits Australia against 2008 AFC Challenge Cup winners India in a fascinating opening clash, with the Indians an opponent we’re more familiar with from the dusty pitches of Mumbai and the lush outfields of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But it’s an encounter with old foes South Korea that will have Australian pulses racing, with the Socceroos no doubt keen to avenge their most recent 3-1 friendly defeat in Seoul back in September 2009.
The question is: can Australia field a competitive squad in Qatar, or will a post-World Cup rebuilding phase put the Socceroos on the back foot?
With the likes of Craig Moore and Scott Chipperfield expected to retire from international football after their South African sojourn, and questions over whether Harry Kewell and Tim Cahill will even turn out in the January tournament, the Socceroos’ yet-to-be-named coach could field an understrength squad in the Gulf.
AFC chief Mohamed Bin Hammam has already warned European clubs that they will be expected to release their eligible Asian Cup stars, but there’s no guarantee that every member of the Socceroos will put their hand up for international duty in the middle of the European club season.
That shouldn’t really constitute a major problem, as far as I’m concerned, since the Asian Cup represents the perfect opportunity for several fringe squad members to establish themselves in the national side.
For years we have relied on names like Schwarzer, Cahill and Kewell in the international arena, but the 2011 Asian Cup represents the perfect opportunity for a new generation of Socceroos to step up and make a name for themselves – not least because the 2014 World Cup in Brazil should also figure in our thoughts.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t take the Asian Cup seriously, it’s simply an acknowledgment that we can use our continental championships to launch a new generation of talent, rather than go hell-for-leather to farewell an old one.
I’m a firm believer that the Asian Cup is a tournament of undoubted importance, but we can take it seriously as part of a four-year cycle, as opposed to viewing it in isolation in our determination to win some silverware.
Every Australian fan is entitled to believe that the team will be “in it, to win it” in 2011, but hopefully the Socceroos approach next year’s tournament with a good deal more humility than they did in 2007.
Back then, the total ignorance of players and staff alike about what it takes to compete in Asia failed to prevent Lucas Neill from proclaiming that Australia would “go through the tournament undefeated.”
There should be no repeat of such unbridled arrogance this time around.
The fact that the Socceroos were not seeded for the Qatar draw following their humbling quarter-final exit in 2007 proves that we have a long way to go before we can call ourselves a genuine force in Asian football.
It’s probably a good thing that the Socceroos are not ranked as one of the outright favourites to win the 2011 Asian Cup, since the underdog tag can be a powerful motivating factor.
By the time the Socceroos take on Bahrain in their final group stage game in Qatar, I certainly hope that they are well on their way to progressing to the knock-out stages of the Asian Cup.
But with so many questions over coaching staff and the composition of the squad to be answered, there’s no reason to view Australia as favourites to win what should be a truly absorbing 16-team tournament.
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Australian Football said | April 26th 2010 @ 9:17am | Report comment
I hope we go into the Asian National Championships Tournament with a view of rebuilding the National Team for the Brazilian 2014 Football World Cup in mind and a new National Football Team manager in place.
_____
AF
Kingkenny7 said | April 26th 2010 @ 9:35am | Report comment
Aussies need to be tumbling in a mud of Asian football for a while. As a Korean, I’m very sure that it would not be easy task to any team in Asian Cup. We’ve humped by Bahrain few years ago and who knows! In this time it could be the Aussie’s time.
I think, if many Aussie fans are thinking like Kevin Muscat, then you would never ever be successful in the Asia.
Mike Tuckerman said | April 26th 2010 @ 12:32pm | Report comment
“I think, if many Aussie fans are thinking like Kevin Muscat, then you would never ever be successful in the Asia.”
Good point, Kingkenny, and I wonder when certain Australians will realise that their comments are often heavily scrutinised in Asia.
Realfootball said | April 26th 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment
A young Socceroos side could potentially be a very exciting team if well coached. In my view the choice of coach will be absolutely critical. Verbeek certainly isn’t the man for building that kind of team; let’s just hope that FFA gets it right for new appointment.
I am sure that with the right coach any team we put on the park in Qatar will be very competitive.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | April 26th 2010 @ 10:34am | Report comment
It will be very interesting indeed with a significant changing of the guard anticipated. Whilst not exactly the ‘Golden Generation’ I still think that players like Jedinak, Vidosic, Kilkenny, Milligan, Williams, Carney etc can come together to form a very good Socceroos squad, provided we have the right coach.
whiskeymac said | April 26th 2010 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
i agree. profesionals in good leagues, and possibly a few others coming of age to join them like Kantarovski admittedly thats based on reports of his recent young roos performances) oar etcetera. with a good coach and organisation that will always make the team competitive and hard to beat.
whiskeymac said | April 26th 2010 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27035200-5014539,00.html
David said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:25am | Report comment
We’re miles off a golden generation and as long as the A-league refuses to acknowledge that it needs to lift its game and promote youth development we’re never going to have one again.
Realfootball said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
I do think that there is something of a hole in the playing stocks. The last Olyroos were dismal and have failed to come on, by and large, which is no surprise to those of us who saw them play. But the kids between 18 and 21 now are a genuinely exciting bunch and I think your pessimism, while understandable, is premature. That is why we need a coach who can develop talent. Our NT going into the next WC qualifiers is likely to be very young, with a sprinkling of older heads in the team. Hopefully some of those older heads will be back in Australia by then as Aussie marquees.
The “golden generation” phrase has been bandied about too much. I think that the “bronze generation” would be more accurate, and, frankly, it’s lost a lot of the shine it had in 2006 because of age, retirement and injury. Our only players regularly performing with prominence at the highest level are Cahill and Shwarz. It is a fairly ordinary team by world standards.
Axel V said | April 26th 2010 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Can’t our stars retire after the Asian Cup? it’s only 6 months longer than after the World Cup. Same should go for the coaching contracts.
It’s a joke to go into every Asian Cup is an experimental side with a coach that has barely put his own footprint into the team. 2007 was a never ending nightmare.
Realfootball said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:00pm | Report comment
It actually ended quite quickly. It was only while watching matches that it seemed to go on forever.
Kingkenny7 said | April 26th 2010 @ 7:49pm | Report comment
It’s more on FFA. I still remember when Graham Arnold let Scott McDonald to play for Celtic, not Aussie NT. He need to be adopted into Scottish football then and Arnold knew what to do. Similar to ‘changing generation’ stuff. FFA must understand how could they bring some new players in time to time.
K-League needed a time to make a switching generation smoothly. Same to A-League I think. When I saw some of Aussie’s big players, then they were brought up by European clubs. Aussies must used to be bring their own, the finest players up to the Adult level.
whiskeymac said | April 26th 2010 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
we will still have a competitive team i wld think with some promising but not amazing (happy to be proven wrong) euro standard players. much will come down to the coach, who for 2011 will be new.
as a new coach do you build for later or do everything you can to make a good impression in the first comp and set of internationals you will be judged by? is it a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
will japan and south korea etc also be looking to rebuild/ restructure. i cannot believe that the roos are the only ones considering priorities in respect to 2011 v 2014, if indeed that is the dilemma.
what will the FFA expect? if we did well in 2011 what impression wld this make on our standings in asia? will it effect any bidding processes (or is that to be decided well before?)…
tbh i cant see the FFA not wanting to at least make the semis – not saying we will or deserve it but it shld be the boards expectation – as it wld for the other big 5 or so Asian countries.
to sit on a fence i hope the coach goes with the next generation of players like vidosic, milligan and puts players like oar and ruky and williams in the squad or thereabouts but also maintains a solid core of players like shwarzer, cahill, bresciano, wilkshire and neill.
Phutbol said | April 27th 2010 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
The Fox story linked above says TD Berger doubts Kewell or Cahill will be released by their Euro clubs….
Thats half the problem. If we are going to bring the kids up through the ranks they have to be playing with our most experienced campaigners too! I know Tim and H and others have been great Roos contributors in the past, but their greatest legacy might be what they can teach the next gen while they are in the twilights of their own careers. We need them available for these ‘rebuilding’ phases so they can pass their experience on, not leave a team of rookies to flounder at international level.
Clint said | May 1st 2010 @ 9:01am | Report comment
So why can Euro-based African players go to the African Cup of Nations but our players not go to the Asian Cup?
Euro players should be released and they should want to go. The tournament should be respected and taken seriously. I hope the FFA appoints a full-time manager before the tournament. Australian football will be in something of a transitional period, but I agree with Axel V, I don’t want every Asian Cup to become all about ‘experimental’ line-ups, why can’t it be taken seriously as a tournament in its own right? Not to mention that actually doing well and putting out a good lineup will enhance our standing in Asia and put to bed some claims that we are arrogant and don’t respect Asian football.
To be honest using this tournament for ‘development’ seems a cop-out. There might be a few players who retire after the World Cup and fair enough, but those who are still around, be it at Euro or A-League clubs, should go if called up.