Today is the sixth anniversary of that most memorable night when Australia defeated Uruguay on penalties in the final FIFA World Cup qualifier of 2005 and secured passage to the finals of 2006.
With 84,000 other Aussie football fans at the Olympic Stadium and millions watching around Australia and other parts of the world it was one of the most memorable sporting events that I have ever attended and will never be forgotten.
It meant that after 32 long years and many frustrations and disappointments, we finally qualified for our second-ever appearance at the World Cup Finals, which like 1974 were played in Germany.
That Socceroos team of 2006 and their exploits were the benchmark of Australian football teams and their performances on the world stage. I rate them even higher than the very courageous Socceroos of 1974 who were meritorious in their own right in getting Australia to the World Cup Finals for the very first time.
The 2006 Socceroos effort in getting past the first round and only losing by a penalty to the eventual champions Italy, is still the greatest achievement of our men’s national football team in a world competition.
I’m not going to get into arguments here about why I consider the golden Socceroos of 2006 the best, but I want to fast forward to 2011 and the Socceroos qualification path for Brazil 2014.
From a 32-year drought we have now reached a point where World Cup qualification is now expected, not wished for. Anything short of a convincing victory against lower-ranked Asian teams is no longer acceptable.
No matter the conditions, the odds or whatever slice of good or bad fortune awaits us, if Holger Osieck doesn’t qualify for the World Cup finals of 2014 he will be seen as a failure and asked to leave.
Australian sports fans are increasingly taking the Socceroos for granted and expecting instantaneous success at every attempt on the international stage.
Even not winning the hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup was seen as a momentous failure for this nation.
A lucky win away to Thailand and clinching passage to the next round of Asian qualification for Brazil 2014 with a game to spare, let’s face it, just doesn’t have the same allure and excitement of that memorable night in November 2005 against Uruguay.
If we don’t win convincingly, we are lucky or disappointing. If we do, then it is to be expected. The Socceroos are becoming more devalued, the more successful they become.
It has reached a point where the Socceroos not winning the Asian Cup of 2015 will be seen as a gross failure and not qualifying for Brazil 2014 will be the “greatest disaster” for Australian football.
Let’s go and tell the king that the sky is falling in.
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Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
What if we celebrated all of the achievements big and small, and weeded out those hell-bent on bringing down a game that is doing a hell of a lot right?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
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