Young excellence, promotion battles, and a happy farewell: The Australian team of the week from players around the globe
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
Damned if they did, damned if they didn’t.
But at least Football Federation Australia (FFA) hierarchy showed they give a damn.
The sacking of Holger Osieck as Socceroos coach was ruthless.
Less than a decade ago, any coach who took Australia to the World Cup finals was feted as a treasured genius.
Now, in a bold yet brutal new age of Australian soccer, getting there isn’t enough.
Osieck’s tenure ended, perhaps aptly, in the country that championed the guillotine.
Australia’s woeful 6-0 loss to France in Paris on Saturday followed an identical defeated scoreline in Brazil last month.
So much for Osieck’s grand plan of exposing his blue collar troops to the world’s upper class.
“The manager wanted to test us against the best in he world at the moment and, right now, we’re well below the standard,” captain Lucas Neill told AAP after the pounding in Paris.
“We’re going to have to take a long hard look at ourselves.”
The FFA’s look didn’t take long.
Within hours, they terminated Osieck’s contract. The German will get severance pay of more than $1 million.
Neill himself is being encouraged to look in the mirror, with Mark Bosnich and John Kosmina leading calls for him to quit.
“He is a big part of the problem … he should retire,” a blunt Bosnich said.
So where to now?
With eight months until the World Cup finals in Brazil, where does Australia turn?
Does it look inwards, to an Aussie coach such as Ange Postecoglou or Graham Arnold?
Does it look outwards, to another foreign coach such as Marcelo Bielsa or Gerard Houllier?
Does it look back to go forward, and turn to Guus Hiddink, who steered Australia’s dreamy 2006 World Cup journey which ended in the round of 16?
Or does it look at sobering facts: just two wins in history at the World Cup finals. A current world ranking of 53. Only three Australians ranked in the world’s top 1485 players. An average Socceroo age of around 31-years-old.
Perhaps they’re just expecting too damn much.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…