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Simon Colosimo of Sydney during their round one A-League match between Sydney FC and the Melbourne Victory in Sydney. (AAP Image/Jason McCawley)
It seemed like an age between the A-League’s last round, which commenced on Boxing Day, and last night’s kick-off to Round 22 in Wellington. Thirteen days, to be exact, with only one game in between – the New Year’s Eve Central Coast versus Wellington fixture.
In that time, the A-League’s rival summer code (although, it can be argued it’s not much of a competition) has commanded the headlines with the Twenty20 KFC Big Bash pulling bumper crowds across the country and the thrilling Test matches against Pakistan.
The A-League’s hiatus in the fortnight over the New Year period is yet another reason why the league is failing to engage with the Australian public, but that’s a discussion for another day. The A-League can at least head into its concluding rounds and finals series with some good news…. sort of. In failing to definitively convince Pim Verbeek in Kuwait, the A-League Socceroos look, it seems, resigned to their place outside the squad, without the need to seek greener pastures in January.
Alex Brosque was cruelly denied his chance to even impress; Simon Colosimo’s defensive blunder that gifted Kuwait their opening goal probably condemned his chances right then; Matthew Kemp was too often exposed; and Archie Thompson, meanwhile, was isolated, too often allowing his shoulders to drop. He lacked the confidence and touch that marks him out in the A-League when in form for the Victory.
None of the above and the rest of the local based Socceroos put in a solid case to Pim Verbeek, and their less than convincing performances comes at a time when Socceroos candidates in the periphery of Europe are making a case for their tickets to South Africa. Think of Patrick Kisnorbo and Neil Kilkenny, both mightily impressive in shutting out Manchester United at Old Trafford for Leeds United in the FA Cup, while Mile Jedinak, Dario Vidosic and Luke Wilkshire put in a solid case in Kuwait.
With Craig Moore no longer shackled in the A-League, Jason Culina appears the only domestic Socceroo to have a realistic chance of heading to the World Cup, depending on his ability to extend his season beyond Gold Coast’s season.
The inability of his A-League colleagues to impress Pim is, however, a blessing in disguise for the competition. If they accept Kuwait as the wake-up call that they are unlikely to be World Cup bound, they may just bite the bullet and stay in the A-League.
When you consider how much damage could have been done to the A-League’s public image had a bunch of the league’s elite left, as a result of shortsighted scheduling in a World Cup year, the A-League may just be spared such a mass exodus.
Put simply, the damage in seeing Brosque, Kemp, Colosimo, Thompson and Galekovic – stars of this season – heading for the exit door this January, with finals on the horizon, would outweigh the positives of having such players fill out the Socceroos squad in South Africa.
There is a widely held belief that the Socceroos should always take priority and the A-League must play the submissive role to the national cause, and rightly so.
But occasionally what’s best for the A-League needs to be considered, particularly when it comes to scheduling clashes which put the league in a hiatus it cannot afford. And the indirect result of a lacklustre performance in Kuwait that could see some of the stars of this A-League season possibly hanging around for the finals is a positive, and unlikely, outcome of the Asian Cup qualifier.
Let’s hope the momentum lost by its New Year layoff can be regained as the finals approach, with Archie and his mates staying put.