Blame it on the Socceroos. It’s mainly their fault that a World Cup qualifier before 70,000-plus fans at the MCG could prove so meaningless. They qualified far too efficiently, far too effectively, far too early. How dare they render the final two qualifiers so inconsequential?
Have they forgotten how John Aloisi sent the nation into orbit four years ago, testing its heart rate and bladder control in the process?
Ah yes, but what if Aloisi had missed that penalty?
We seldom consider that.
OK, we can live with a dead rubber or two.
Blame it on FIFA.
Its rules stipulate that any suspensions incurred in the qualifying rounds carry over into next year’s finals.
So who can blame the coach of an already-qualified team for refusing to take any chance with any player already sitting on a yellow card?
That stance ruled out a swag of Socceroos – Scott Chipperfield, Carl Valeri, Mark Bresciano, David Carney, Brett Holman, Chris Coyne, Mile Jedinak and even the long-absent Brett Emerton.
It’s difficult to imagine a key Aussie cricketer missing a dead rubber in a Test series.
But cricketers don’t have red and yellow cards to worry about.
And if FIFA had no such rules, it would give players the world over carte blanche to hack each other to pieces in their final qualifier.
Blame Pim Verbeek.
As we’ve seen, he can’t be faulted for ensuring he goes to South Africa with a full complement.
If he fielded someone on a yellow who then got a further booking, he would deserve all the censure he got.
He can be blamed for giving Harry Kewell the night off, but disappointing though that is, the logic of it is clear.
Kewell, Australia’s best player and biggest drawcard, played full games in the previous two matches in Qatar and Sydney.
He has answered his country’s call more spontaneously in latter years than he did earlier in his career.
Tens of thousands of fans may have bought tickets long ago on the strength of seeing him.
But when results don’t matter, coaches tend to cut some slack for big stars at the fag-end of a very long season.
Verbeek’s Japanese counterpart Takeshi Okada was clearly of the same mind.
He did not bother to bring to Melbourne his four European-based players – Shunsuke Nakamura, Makoto Hasebe, Yoshito Okubo and Keisuke Honda – or his star midfielder Yasuhito Endo.
The up-side was that home fans could at least see Socceroo regulars like Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Vince Grella and Jason Culina.
Still, it’s a shame a match that once loomed as one of the most electric ever on Australian soil could end up having all the importance and sense of occasion of an exhibition.
When the qualifying draw was made, however, no Aussie in his right mind would have chosen any outcome over the one we ended up with.
We’re off to South Africa.
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