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As the Socceroos battled out a courageous draw with Ghana that all but ended their World Cup, a lesson of tricks of the trade must surely be considered in the near future.
No one likes it, but diving and refereeing are part and parcel of football that must be effectively utilized on the pitch.
Australia was the better team, with 11 and 10 men on the pitch against a side they should feel they should have beaten.
But the stark contrast could be seen throughout the encounter.
We may call using the following methods as un-Australian, but this is football and if you want to win, as every Australian does, it’s time to put these into place.
The first example came early on as golden boy Harry Kewell beat his marker in the area before tangling feet with his opponent.
No penalty. Fair enough. But were there protests from the Australians? Only from Harry, who was attempting to utilize his experience.
On 24 minutes, when the man himself was dealt a cruel blow on his goal line, things were different.
The ball struck Harry’s arm, yes, but the Ghanaian players ran to the referee and demanded a red card.
They got it.
Whether it was or not is open for discussion, but had Kewell been in another area in the box, it would have been a yellow, and outside of the box, probably nothing.
He may have denied a clear goal, but his arms were up against his body the whole time.
I’m no judge, but FIFA will more than likely approve the referee’s decision.
But when Ghana’s Lee Addy brought Mark Bresciano down with a crude tackle on half way, protests were somewhat muted by the Aussies.
It was late, from behind, and could have caused serious injury.
A Ghanaian midfielder was seen clasping his hands in a praying motion to the referee. Yellow card.
The missing Kewell may have been the number one speaker on this occasion, but the other experienced heads in the side should have been up in arms.
They should have remembered teammate Tim Cahill was sent off for a challenge nowhere near as reckless as this one.
Differences throughout were in challenges across the ground.
Late in the game, Josh Kennedy should have felt obliged to drop to his knees in protest of a foul in the air.
He didn’t and the ball went up the other end for a Ghanaian striker to suffer the same treatment, falling over and winning the free kick in a dangerous position.
It happened throughout, be it aerially or not.
Early in the first half, the impressive Brett Holman had his opportunity to go tumbling to the ground on the left hand side after another late challenge.
He didn’t.
In a gutsy performance, the Aussies deserved more.
They now rely on Ghana beating Germany and they beating Serbia – without Kewell and Moore, with Cahill returning.
This might not be the way we play football, but is it time to think about it?
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