An unmitigated disaster for the Socceroos

 
Mike Tuckerman Columnist

By , 14 Jun 2010 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

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Tim Cahill sent off against Germany at World Cup

Tim Cahill sent off during the World Cup group D soccer match between Germany and Australia at the stadium in Durban, South Africa, Sunday, June 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

When referee Marco Rodriguez flashed a red card in Socceroo midfielder Tim Cahill’s face, he crushed the hopes of a nation. Four years ago was an epiphany, but 2010 has the potential to be our darkest hour – and it’s only just begun.

Picking apart the wreckage of Australia’s 4-0 capitulation at the hands of Germany is like trying to find the silver lining from a plane crash – whichever way you look at it, the result is an unmitigated disaster.

From the moment Richard Garcia’s effort was scrambled clear just three minutes in, luck was never on our side.

Our shoddy attempts to play an offside trap that looked about as a watertight as a tea-strainer saw Germany get in behind the back four time and time again, and even when the Socceroos managed to defend in numbers, Germany’s strikers still found time and space to reel in shot after shot on goal.

But the biggest worry for coach Pim Verbeek – apart from the disorganised defending, aside from the relative ineffectiveness of the attack – is the fact that talisman Cahill is now suspended for the crucial clash with Ghana, who defeated Serbia 1-0 in the other Group D clash.

Where will the goals come from, if not from Cahill?

Certainly not from Harry Kewell or Josh Kennedy, if they can’t even get on the pitch!

Forget Plan B – which was what Verbeek appeared to utilise with his surprise decision to include Garcia from the start – the Dutchman needs to devise a game plan which doesn’t see the Socceroos crumble as soon as Ghana start to apply some pressure in their next group game.

And as harsh as Tim Cahill’s red card was this morning, was it not inevitable from a group of players who perpetually seem to scoff at the notion of self-restraint?

Nathan Gibson was an assistant referee at the 2006 World Cup, and on the eve of this match he told his local newspaper The Manning Times that Mexican referee Rodriguez is “very card happy.”

“He hates those really hard defensive tackles, and Australia prides themselves on those, so we have to be careful,” Gibson said.

Prescient words indeed, yet Cahill still recklessly launched a two-footed tackle at Bastian Schweinsteiger, and this was after Craig Moore had already talked himself into a ridiculous booking, and Lucas Neill had continually blasted officials over offside calls which they actually got right.

It’s the lack of mental composure which bothers me as much as the result, and the body language on display hardly bodes well for the remaining two group games.

And while many will point out that neither Ghana, nor Serbia harbour the kind of awesome attacking power which tore Australia apart this morning, the problem for Verbeek is how to pick his team up off the floor and motivate them to recover – something he’s never had to do in his time in charge so far.

Former Socceroo David Zdrilic argued in the post-game analysis that a 1-0 loss and a 4-0 defeat were essentially the same outcome.

But what that doesn’t factor in is the brutal blow to morale that this morning’s defeat will have inflicted, not least because Germany could probably have wracked up double figures had they been less profligate in front of goal.

In the cold, hard light of day, the fact is that Pim Verbeek doesn’t appear to have a viable game plan or even the personnel to implement one.

And all the clichés about “fighting spirit” and “mateship” don’t make up for the fact that technique, tactics and some cool heads are required to perform well at this level.

None of those qualities were on display this morning, and that’s what makes this such a bitter result for me.

The Socceroos now have until Saturday to try and rediscover such traits, lest the 2010 World Cup becomes a tournament that we’d all just as soon forget.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman
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