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The chorus of disquiet after Australia’s narrow win in Bangkok was as predictable as a scything Mile Jedinak tackle. But six years after that magical night in Sydney, do Socceroos fans now take World Cup qualification for granted?
There’s little to add to the discourse on Australia’s 1-0 win over Thailand at an atmospheric Suphachalasai Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Socceroos were scrappy, struggled to string together even a handful of passes and youngster Michael Zullo defended with all the tactical nous of a seasoned park footballer.
And the excuses were as uninspired as the performance: the pitch was bumpy, the heat was oppressive, Zullo thought flying winger Suree Sukha was his twin brother Surat.
But at the end of the day, the Socceroos won and that in itself was a major departure from the result in Oman just a few days earlier.
It’s also more than some fellow Asian heavyweights can say, after Japan lost 1-0 in North Korea and South Korea were stunned 2-1 on the road in Lebanon.
Japan had of course already progressed to the next round of qualifiers and South Korea will do the same if they avoid defeat against Kuwait in February, but the point is that even our strongest regional rivals lose from time to time.
The issue for the Australian media and fans is the way the Socceroos have been playing and in that regard, performances have been largely underwhelming to date.
Wins over Saudi Arabia in Dammam and Oman in Sydney hinted at better days to come, yet the loss in Muscat at the weekend and the scratchy performance against an inspired Thai side have left some wondering if the national team is stagnating under Holger Osieck.
But what more can the Socceroos coach do?
It’s not as if he’s keeping a cadre of talented players on the sidelines and when Osieck has turned to young players – Robbie Kruse was twice the first player called off the bench this week – they’ve largely wasted their chances.
Part of the problem seems to be that after finally staking out a place in the beautiful game, many critics assumed we’d automatically play the beautiful game too.
Yet for all the “Roarcelona” headlines and desperate sounding references to one-time Liverpool stars, the fact is the Socceroos can call upon few truly world class players.
That’s not to disparage the team: it’s simply recognition of the fact it’s hard for a coach to get his side playing attractive, free-flowing football when half his players are grinding workhorses and his most consistent goal scorers play for AZ Alkmaar and Nagoya Grampus respectively.
Put simply, perhaps there are some over-expectations about the style of football the Socceroos are capable of playing.
We’re quick to criticise lacklustre football – and goodness knows I’ve done so over the years – but a more realistic approach might be to acknowledge positive results and admit that qualifying for World Cups is a difficult thing to do.
And six years after that fateful night at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, maybe it’s time we give praise when it’s due and congratulate the Socceroos for negotiating their way to the next round of qualifying.
After all, the end game is to get to Brazil and in that regard Holger Osieck is doing a decent job.
And if Australia end up making it to 2014’s football fiesta, few of us will still be complaining about the way we played in Bangkok.