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The Socceroos’ desperate 2-2 draw with Oman was unacceptable. Given the quality of their group this result would be an acceptable setback against Japan only.
However, the Socceroos did not lose to Japan and instead drew against a team ranked 105th in the world.
This, after previously capitulating to the ‘powerhouse’ of world football that is Jordan in qualifying.
Although these results are unexpected, the warning signs have been plain to see recently.
Australia has only won one of their qualifiers, and excluding the East Asian Cup – where if Australia had lost they should have all been fired – have failed to win in seven of their last ten internationals.
Four of these results have been losses, two of those have been completely unacceptable, with Jordan and Scotland ranked much lower than the Socceroos.
Scotland sit a whole 27 places below Australia on the FIFA rankings. They are not great at football, yet they made Australia look abysmal by holding onto the ball; the boys in green and gold helped them out by passing everything they could straight back to the kilt wearers.
Drawing with Oman and losing to Jordan though is the icing on the cake being served at this sad party the Soccerooos are hosting.
Some teams are much better than their ranking but Oman and Jordan are not among those teams and deserve to be languishing.
Holger Osieck claimed before the game this was a must-win and nothing else would be accepted. Well hopefully it is not accepted and highlights the need for change in the Australian set up.
Australia had its golden era at the 2006 World Cup and were unfortunately robbed by a dive that would have stolen a gold from the Chinese Olympic team.
Most of this team then played on in 2010 but were schooled by Germany and did not deserve to progress in the slightest.
Alarmingly though, the core of this side still makes up the current crop. Mark Schwarzer is past his prime, the defence in front of him is too old or inexperienced, the midfield give the ball away and the attackers seem to have no creative flair.
So why do we persist with them? The simple answer is there is nobody better lining up to replace them and that is a sad fact.
Australians are not making their mark in the world of football like they were only six years ago, with only five players currently playing in the top three European leagues of England, Italy and Spain, and three of those are goalkeepers, who clearly cannot be on the field at the same time for the Socceroos.
The standard of the A-League has improved, particularly this season, but not near the level it must to allow the Socceroos to compete on the global stage.
More money must be invested by David Gallop and his team in grassroots and academies to let players learn the beautiful game more intimately.
Incidentally, Australia has slid down to 39th in the rankings. The World Cup showcases the best 32 teams. Technically we do not qualify but thanks to the continental fairness of the competition, Australia still has a slim chance.
The Socceroos cannot let any more points slip and if they do manage to somehow qualify then they should book tickets home after the group stages (which you may as well do in advance) and then give Australian football the attention and shake-up it needs.
Its fans and players deserve more.
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