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Socceroos national team training insights from Davidde Corran (File: AP Photo/Hassan Amma)
As regular readers of my columns on this site will know, a few days ago I arrived back in Australia following a three week stint in Europe that revolved around the Socceroos training camp and friendly with Germany.
Since then, between waking up jet lagged at 4am and imbibing copious amounts of caffeine to keep me going through the day, I’ve found myself reflecting on my trip within the context of Australian football’s current state of affairs.
Overall three things really stuck out at me.
The first was the understated mood of the players immediately following that famous 2-1 victory over Germany.
I remember waiting in the mix zone for the Socceroos to file through and as Harry Kewell walked by I asked him for a quick chat. The 32-year-old turned to me and with a quizzical look on his face asked “really?” as if it had just been another game.
All I could think was, “Harry, you just beat Germany on their own patch! Yes, really!”
However, the Galatasaray striker shed some light on why he was so nonplussed by the result in our interview that followed.
“We go out there and we do produce, it’s just a shame sometimes we don’t go out there in the World Cup, on the big stage and do the same thing,” Kewell said. “We need to do this when it really counts.”
Despite being pleased with the win, the rest of the players I spoke to that night had a similar attitude.
The next key impression I was left with was the stunning chasm between the financial health of the German and Australia Football Associations.
While I was with the national team in Germany, the news broke that FFA was culling jobs at its College St head quarters.
I remember the contrast between the shock on the faces of the FFA staff, who’d just found out that some “good people” and friends they’d left in Sydney wouldn’t be there when they returned, with the almost exorbitant reality of life for the German FA.
For example the DFB had brought so much staff to Monchengladbach they’d booked a separate hotel for players and employees, had their own official desk in the lobby and parked a Mercedes Benz with DFB logos next to the hotel entrance for cosmetic value.
The message was clear: Die Mannschaft was in town.
Unfortunately, I was the only journalist to make the trip from Australia for the game. The sad truth was that this was an improvement on the Socceroos’ previous stand-alone friendly in Egypt from last year.
It’s such a shame then that so much of the real colour of our national team’s camps go unseen.
Thankfully this is slowly changing. For example the Sydney Morning Herald have dispatched football writer Sebastian Hassett to cover all of Sydney’s away games during their Asian Champions League campaign.
Despite Sydney’s faltering campaign, this is positive both for the game and for real insight being offered.
Our national teams, both male and female, are filled with fantastic ambassadors for Australia and have some fascinating stories to tell.
Furthermore, almost all are a pleasure to work with.
I regularly hear from my colleagues and friends in the English football media about how difficult their players can be to deal with.
I remember one journalist telling me how shocked he was when an English player offered to give him a lift to the station.
In my experience, having interviewed dozens of Australian footballers across Europe, Asia and North America, getting a lift is the least you can expect.
Despite my fierce attempts, I haven’t once managed to pay for a bill when meeting an Australian player at a cafe, bar or restaurant.
I even recall one Socceroo picking me up at the station, taking me on a tour of the little town he lives in, paying for a feast at his favourite café before getting me back to the station in time to catch my return train.
Twelve months later on my next visit to interview him I received similar kind treatment.
This time I stayed in the area to watch him play the following day so a ticket was taken care of for me and then despite the player suffering a painful head injury during the game I received a call later that night to make sure I’d got home ok.
Even the Socceroos’ biggest superstars tend to be just as pleasant.
When Tim Cahill sat down with me for an interview last week he’d only just arrived back from six days overseas for rehab. Yet the Everton midfielder patiently obliged all our requests as the interview ran over time (for the record having one of Australian football’s greats stare you in the eye while you record “noddies” is a particularly uncomfortable experience).
My hope now is that in the future Socceroos fans will be more easily able to gain some insight into what is a pretty special group of players.
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