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Referee Roberto Rosetti, pushes away Australia's Harry Kewell after showing him a red card during the World Cup Group D soccer match between Ghana and Australia at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, on Saturday, June 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Pride restored, but is there a conspiracy against the Socceroos? First Tim Cahill’s red card, then Harry Kewell’s – and neither foul has been anywhere near as bad as others we’ve seen elsewhere in this World Cup.
Four years ago I was inside the Allianz Arena and watched bemused as referee Dr. Markus Merk awarded every single equally contested challenge in Brazil’s favour, with the Socceroos succumbing to a more fancied opponent despite a typically gutsy performance in Munich.
Now the nation witnesses another lopsided display from Italian referee Roberto Rosetti, as Harry Kewell is harshly red-carded for his inadvertent handball on the line, yet Ghana defender Lee Addy stays on the pitch for an horrendous tackle from behind on Mark Bresciano.
I’m generally the last person to point the finger at refereeing as a deciding factor in a match, but perhaps I’ve reached my threshold regarding the sheer number of decisions that go against the Socceroos.
Living in Japan for a number of years, all I ever heard from Japanese fans was how physical the Australian team was, and how Samurai Blue supporters expected the Socceroos to out-muscle them on the pitch.
It’s the same story from many of my German friends – yet there’s rarely a mention of Mark Bresciano’s dead-ball abilities, nor of Brett Holman’s perpetual box-to-box motion – and I just wonder if referees haven’t fallen into the trap of basing key decisions on unfortunate national stereotypes.
Maybe that’s just the several glasses of Scotch talking – it was, after all, another nerve-shredding display – and had Luke Wilkshire held his nerve in front of goal, the result in Rustenburg could have been so very different.
There’s always a danger dealing in hypotheticals, but it’s tough not to be bitter when one considers the potential outcome had either Wilkshire or Brett Emerton blocked Andre Ayew’s cross, or had Addy indeed seen red for his tackle from behind.
Still, that’s not to take away from a tremendous performance from the Socceroos, and the players deserve full credit for turning a disastrous display against Germany into the kind of performance that we’ve come to know and appreciate from our battle-hardened team.
Craig Moore was inspirational as he turned back the clock with a vintage display in defence, while Brett Holman turned in one of his best ever performances in a national team jersey with a typically tireless display of hard running and the odd touch of finesse.
It’s just a pity that Australia didn’t approach their clash with Germany in the same vein, since the Socceroos looked to have the measure of Ghana for the full ninety minutes – even after Kewell had been harshly sent from the field.
One wonders what might have happened had Verbeek adopted more positive tactics against a German side which proved in their loss to Serbia that they’re anything but invincible.
The Socceroos will now need an avalanche of goals against the Serbians to have any hope of progressing, but that may be a tough ask for a side that isn’t exactly the most clinical in front of goal.
Indeed, with a game plan heavily reliant on grinding out narrow victories, one could argue that Australia perhaps don’t deserve to go through to the Round of 16 compared to some of the World Cup’s more adventurous outfits.
But by the same token, they hardly deserve to be knocked out on the basis of some overly pedantic and conspicuously inconsistent refereeing – especially when it always seems to be the Socceroos who get the short end of the stick in international competitions.
There’s still the match against Serbia in Nelspruit to play for, and with any luck the Socceroos will take out their frustrations against a Serbia side which has twice conceded penalties for handball in each of their games so far.
We’ll need luck on our side to progress, and that includes a referee who doesn’t feel the need to issue red at the sight of every player in yellow!
Re-live the Socceroos vs Ghana clash as it happened with Tony Tannous’ analysis HERE.