Soccerwhos?

If by "nowhere near World Cup material" you mean "unlikely to win the World Cup", then sadly you are right. If, however, you mean "don't deserve to be at the World Cup", then clearly you have never seen Saudi Arabia play (how has a side that bad qualified for the last four World Cups?). In fact, I've seen nothing to suggest that there is an Asian team that can out-class us. Japan couldn't even beat us in February when we were jet-lagged and ill-prepared and they had a five week training camp. And they needed penalties to beat us in the Asian Cup, despite the fact that we'd been underperforming the entire tournament, and they had an extra man for the last 40 minutes. If it wasn't for an error from Mark Milligan they would have gotten knocked out. "It’s great were playing, but honestly, playing Asian countries none of us have never heard of is doing nothing more than just elevating up our players ego." ... Now that just makes it sound like the Socceroos decide their own fixture list. We're playing these countries because that is who we have been given. If you are unhappy with the likes of Iraq, China, Uzbekistan, Bahrain and Qatar standing between us and the 2010 World Cup then feel free to petition FIFA for a more difficult draw next time. "I do like the Socceroos and want to see them do well. But we’ve really got to boost our team up as we are far from world class." ... That's your problem? That we're nowhere near world class? There's no quick fix for that. It took France ten years to win the World Cup after opening the Clairefontaine youth academy in 1988, and they finished 3rd in a World Cup two years previously!

There is much room for improvement. I'm sure we would get smashed if we played a team like, say, the Netherlands ... But seriously, who would you think is the best team in Asia? Japan? Don't remember them beating Uzbekistan at home ...

Typcal Eurosnob crap, the first half wasn't that inspiring but hey certainly settled down in the last 10 minutes of the first half and started to dominate. I think you may have the possession stats back to front. Alan Nicolea, While I agree that South America is the toughest qualifying group, the title of easiest or weakest group must surely go to Concacaf, 3.5 spots for a confederation that feature 1, maybe 1 and a half 'world class' teams. I'm pretty sure my Abbotsford AA2s could qualify through Concacaf.........

and then we all wake up :(

aussie_sly, I am sure he will. The fact that he hasn't given him any game time with the Socceroos and has not selected him for any of his squads in living memory shows that he has a cunning plan to keep him well rested in order to unleash his Zidane-like skills on an unsuspecting and unprepared World Cup, which we will subsequently go on to win and dominate for years to come, displacing the likes of Brazil, Argentina, Italy, and all those other overrated prima donnas. The roundball code will go on to replace the rugbies and the AFL in Australia as the number one field sport, and peace and love will reign. Obama will become an Australian citizen and be elected prime minister and we will pave the streets of Sydney with gold. etc.

i wonder if pim will take nick carle to the world cup?

Indeed. In fact if all of us posted rational, factual and accurate information all of the time none of us would have much to comment on except the usual inane mutual backslapping "I totally agree X" type of posts which I loathe.

Slippery Jim, Yes, I know I shouldn't have done it. I guess Wils copped my frustration at the whole band of people who carry on with this rubbish. And as you say, from commentators who ought to know better. And God knows I've typed rubbish from time to time (albeit unintentionally).

Sheek, cut Wils Wils some slack, he is entitled to post his opinion, it does not necessarily need to be well informed or original to reflect his feelings about football based on the length of his personal football journey. Believe me, there are many, many football commentators who are award winning paid professionals who go down the same path of constant unjustified negativity when it comes to national football, both in Australia and overseas. If Wils Wils keeps it up he might even join them one day. Not that I will be cheering his article, mind.

Wils, With all due respect, yours is a stupid post, & I'm just as stupid for responding. But I couldn't let it pass without comment. What is it with some of you people? No doubt this is the 'instant gratification' society. The concept of patience & working towards a goal has been totally lost. Both the concept & the practice. As another poster mentioned elsewhere, Italy just qualified by the skin of their teeth for the world cup in 1982, & impressed no-one through the pool matches. Yet by the time the knockout stages came around, they were the form team, going on to win the world cup. One thing's for sure - the team attracting all the headlines at the beginning of the world cup is usually gone by the time the final comes around. Your expectations are totally unrealistic, & unfair. We have to qualify first, that's paramount. And in case you've forgotten, this is the first time we've qualified through Asia (well, almost qualified). So these guys are pioneers, pathfinders for future generations. Most of our players have to come from Europe to Asia or Australia to play qualifying games. Back in Europe, they are in the thick of their season, playing twice a week. The training, playing, travelling, different time zones, must put an enormous strain on their bodies, both physically & mentally. Have you given any thought to this? The guys are trying to survive, to keep their bodies in one piece. It's a fine balancing act earning your living on one side of the world, & helping your country qualify (for the WC) on the other side of the world. Qualifying is one comp. Competing in the WC is another. Once Pim selects his WC squad, he will look at different combinations, strategies, tactics. Never shoot all your bullets at once. Always keep your powder dry. Geez, I can't believe I need to explain any of this to you. And I'm only a casual football fan!

Only time will tell. That possession stat was not what came up on my screen.

Definite room for improvement.

What I hate more than anything is the assumption that nations which we have not regularly competed against in our traditional pissy little sports, or that don't fit into some broad stereotype model (such as the "all South Americans are football gods" assumption here) are or should be "easy-beats" in the real world of football. Its a kind of closed-minded arrogance that I think is quite galling. One of the very best things for me about the football world and the way the game is structured is that - without denying that there are a group of about 10 'football royalty' nations - anyone who really knows the game knows to give respect to at least the top 50, if not 75, of the 200 footballing nations in the world. And even beyond that, a so-called "minnow" team that combines a disciplined defensive performance with one or two flair-filled players can be a real headache, a real banana-peel, even to the footballing powers.

Eamonn Agree ... joke of an article and to me shows little knowledge of football history and how sides get to the WC...

Joke of a piece. Just because you've never heard of the Asian Champions (Iraq) World's Biggest nation, China, Japan and Uzbekistan don't assume the rest of the sports public haven't. And 32 teams go to the World Cup...so as you;d expect in such a number, a fair bit of varying quality in there usually....Trinidad, England, Argentina, Costa Rica etc Australia will be fine. We may or may not get out of the group.but we will be at the Greatest Show on Earth.

Alan - on your final line, I agree somewhat with the first three but not with the last. Japan on their day are a technically gifted and tactically astute opponent and for the record, whatever the official FIFA rankings say from one month to the next, I consider Japan to still be a class above the Socceroos. Also, while not quite at Japan level, the regular competition we will get against in particular the Koreas, the Saudis and Iran is also nothing to be sneezed at. My second point in response is yes the South American zone may be theoretically more ideal than Asia for our development (in fact probably the best in the world on this basis) but we've already gone a long way in the right direction coming from Oceania into Asia. As per my point above, 5 or 6 of the Asian teams we will now regularly meet are ones that demand a measure of the football world's respect. Third, lets also show some respect for the so-called "minnows" of our region. You name the Uzbeks and Qatar for example as "hardly world cup material" but the world is an ever-changing place and these are countries where football is getting ever-increasing funding at all levels, and more and more professionally administered. Just 5 years back Australia was around rank number 50 or below, shambolically managed, and also "hardly world cup material" but we have pulled our socks up and started the reform of our game. It think its silly to assume that other nations in Asia can't and won't do the same. Fouth and finally, the proof is on the pitch. Australia is not thrashing Bahrain, the Uzbeks and other so-called "minnows" every time (with the exception of Qatar). We have had some shaky moments, some lucky results, against these teams. So lets make sure not to get too much ahead of ourselves as the case for there being a real gap in quality and class between us and these nations is one that is not yet at all convincing to me. When we're good we're good, no doubt, but when we're not we still play some alarmingly fragile and naive football which does not befit our "top 32" aspirations.

Sledgeross The South American qualifying zone for a world cup is the toughest in the world by far, whilst the asian continent is by far the easiest. I would love to see Australia pit their wits against the likes of Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile on a consistent basis. These south American nations are so under-rated yet on their day, they possess as much skill as Argentina and Brazil. Argentina will always be world class because they compete against nations that play world class football, and this to just qualify for a world cup. If Australia were to be truly successful, they must play and beat nations who are consistenly in the running for football's greatest prize. Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Qatar and Japan are hardly world cup material.

Where did you get that possession statistic from, Wils? Thats very different to what flashed on the screen on Foxsports. I don't recall too many Lucas Neill blunders, although both he and Beauchamp were patchy early. Over the 90 minutes though the Uzbeks had very few chances. I actually think our side looks pretty good at the moment. Admittedly we're not exacty playing the European all-stars but I'm not sure what more we can do than what we're doing now. And frankly, I think its just downright insulting to say we're playing against 'Asian countries we've never heard of'.

Hmmm... he must have been at a different game. Wils - we were the ones in yellow. then agai nwhat can you expect from a supporter of 'the filth' ??