Socceroos v Oman: The good, the bad, the ugly and the summary

A lot of questions have been asked of the Socceroos after last night’s unexpected 2-2 draw with Oman.

The result coupled with Jordan’s win over Japan leaves Brazil a bit farther away than what we would have hoped for.

In fact in many minds it seems like the dream is already dead.

I disagree. If I was quite confident of reaching Brazil before last night’s game, I’m reasonably confident now.

There is a lot to take out of the match, and here it is. I’d like to finish with the positives so I’ve flipped the traditional order around a bit.

The bad

The crowd. 35,000 for a vital World Cup qualifier? Sydney ought to be disappointed with itself.

Some of Holger’s tactical decisions were baffling. Michael Thwaite was at fault for Australia’s first goal. Jade North would have been a better option in the centre of defence alongside Cornthwaite, given North’s recent efforts for Brisbane.

James Holland? Two holding, defensive midfielders do not complement each other in a game like this.

We would have been better served with Jedinak holding and Bresciano playing slightly more advanced. Cahill is a poacher rather than a playmaker and needed that support.

Taking off Robbie Kruse, who at the time was our only player running at opponents, was a bad move in itself.

Replacing him with Archie Thompson on the flank was the worst part. Thompson’s best position at this level is in the centre of the park.

Brosque was solid last night as was Cornthwaite, but surely taking one of them off and putting Archie up in the middle would have been better than removing Kruse? With Kruse and Oar whipping balls in from either side and Cahill and Thompson floating in the box, the Omanis would have been all at sea.

Japan’s 2-1 loss to Jordan does not help us at all, causing us to slip to third. I can’t understand what happened to Japan, losing to a team they beat 6-0 last time around.

A seven-goal turnaround – is home advantage really worth that much? There is one tiny positive to come out of this result and that’s proof that if Japan can fall to Jordan, our loss to them last September might not be as bad as we all thought at the time.

The ugly

There is a regular complaint from Aussie supporters, especially in big games like last night’s. The Omanis’ phantom injuries throughout the game – mysteriously enough it only started when they were ahead and seemed to get worse during the second half – were diabolical.

Some people will say that nobody who isn’t medically qualified can accurately determine if a person is faking an injury – those people lack any common sense because there is no way you can convince me that a player who is unable to stand for two minutes, then gets stretchered off the field, only to jump up straight away and return to the action within seconds of leaving the pitch is genuinely injured.

FIFA will continue to turn a blind eye but what is wrong with introducing a law that, for example, states a player needing assistance on the pitch must leave it and remain off for a period of five minutes before being allowed to return?

Until such a thing happens players have to take matters into their own hands and kudos to the Australians for playing on and not returning the ball – sportsmanship be damned when it’s not being shown to us in the first place.

Further to my rant immediately above…the referee, Ravshan Irmatov, is probably the best in Asia and had a good game last night, but the “injuries” took up more than two and four minutes in the first and second halves respectively.

Accounting for the other stoppages e.g. goals, cautions and substitutions, much more additional time should have been played in both halves last night.

The praise lavished on the Omanis after the game really surprised me. Why? They’re now fourth place in the group with an inferior goal difference and half of their opponents have a game in hand. Their last game is against the giant-killing Jordan.

If anything, the draw suits the Socceroos more than Oman. In any case, they were terrible last night – a better team would have buried us at two-nil up but they couldn’t go on with the job.

Finally, the media. Critics will be harsh and already the knives are out. However those who know football won’t have a bar of it. The Socceroos’ quest to qualify isn’t dead and buried, there’s still a long way to go and anything is possible.

These things happen in World Cup qualification. The reality check needs to go to those who think we ought to waltz through Asia without losing a game. It doesn’t work like that.

The good

Tim Cahill. How often does he dig us out of a hole the size of Sydney Harbour? After one goal off the head it was amazing that he wasn’t marked more heavily for the rest of the game, allowing him the time and space to get away half a dozen other bullet headers.

He’s unlucky to have scored more – but for a brilliant performance by Ali Al-Habsi, he would have.

The table. We’re still in third spot which, if maintained, gives us a second chance via two double-legged playoffs. Naturally we would all prefer to avoid these after decades of suffering through the four-yearly do-or-die cycle as a matter of course…and let’s be honest, a team like Uruguay or Chile would rip us to shreds even if we did beat the other third-placer in Asia.

It’s impossible to predict what will happen with a decent amount of confidence but if the results of the remaining games reflect what’s happened so far, we’ll still finish in second – Jordan’s big loss to Japan last year could haunt their goal difference.

Pressure. The Aussie team thrives on it. A loss in Japan won’t be fatal but it will make finishing in the top two extremely hard and our only realistic chance to make Brazil will be via the playoffs. But the Aussie team has a knack of rising when the chips are down and the odds stacked against them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed to jag a point – or more – from Japan, whose confidence will be down following the shock upset by Jordan this morning. That would be priceless and would give the team an invaluable boost for the last two games at home against Jordan and Iraq.

Holman’s goal. Putting aside the rest of his ninety minutes, his goal showed what he can bring to the team. A great strike.

The team’s general performance – in patches. At times last night the Socceroos showed that they have the players and nous to make it to Brazil and in many ways were unlucky to score more. If they can harness those flashes and play to their potential in the next three games, Brazil is there for the taking.

The summary

Where to from here? Hope for the best. For us that means beating Japan (or at least getting a point), Japan beating everybody else by a truckload and draws in all the other games. Let’s hope it works out for us.

Group B standings – latest results: Australia 2 – Oman 2, Jordan 2 – Japan 1