There is one simple reason why the Socceroos lost 6-0 to Brazil in this morning’s international friendly.
The result had nothing to do with the coach, players or tactics in my opinion. Defeats like this will always be a formality so long as the Socceroos continue to qualify for the World Cup through Asia.
In the Rugby Championship, Argentina is currently competing against Rugby superpowers the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies.
Despite not winning a game thus far, I know that the Pumas are slowly but surely developing the mentality and skill necessary to perhaps one day register a victory against such tough opposition.
When Argentina plays in the Rugby Championship, it is the equivalent of a novice mountain climber trying to climb Mt Everest each and every year.
While the obstacles in front of the Pumas are intimidating to say the least, Argentina will continue to fight to meet the high standards required to perhaps register victory against the best teams on the planet.
And when victory is finally secured against either South Africa, New Zealand or Australia, the confidence and belief that Argentina will get from such a result will be limitless.
Which brings me to my point about the Socceroos.
When Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup, they truly earned their place at football’s showpiece event given that they conquered two-time World Cup winners Uruguay over two extremely difficult legs.
Australia’s victory over Uruguay showed that the Socceroos had the mentality and skill necessary to make a name for themselves in Germany.
And so they did, beating Japan 3-1 before drawing with Croatia and (you guessed it) going toe-to-toe against Brazil before losing 2-0.
Then came the infamous 1-0 defeat against eventual winners Italy. It took a Francesco Totti penalty right on full time to end the hopes of a very stubborn and well-coached Socceroos outfit.
The reason why Australia was such a thorn against any side back then is because of the tremendously difficult route they had to take to quality for a World Cup.
Playing against tough South American opposition to qualify for a World Cup allowed the Socceroos to measure themselves against quality players and quality coaches.
If the Socceroos could pass this difficult agoge, then they knew that they had what it took to challenge any team come World Cup time, as was the case back in 2006.
Since switching to Asia however, the Socceroos are now expected to qualify for football’s showpiece event pretty easily and yet now the team barely secured their passage to Brazil in a group containing Iraq, Japan, Jordan and Oman.
In short, the Socceroos have developed a soft underbelly in comparison to the side that really had to work for qualification back in 2005.
While qualifying through South America will leave many Socceroos fans with hearts in their mouths, I believe qualifying through this route will once again push Australia to its limits, and if they get through, they will develop the belief and skill necessary to challenge any team on the planet.
If the Socceroos continue to qualify through Asia however, results like the 6-0 thrashing at the hands of Brazil may continue to eventuate at the highest level.
Luke Smith
Guest
It shits me how many people think where great just because we qualify for the world cup. We wouldn't have a hope in hell of achieving that through the Americas or Europe and would probably even struggle qualifying in Africa. It's not much of an achievement at all through the Asian route. I think only 2 teams from Asia should be included in world cup. It's unfair to the other world groups in my opinion. I'm I proud Aussie but I'm also realistic, we will never be a world power in soccer. If it was our national sport we may have some chance but it's not and never will be. So let's enjoy the cup but let's not get carried away because where practically given a spot through the ease of qualification through Asia.
AL
Guest
CB do you work for the AFL? First Chinese player, what are you talking about. How do these eggballers always find a link to there own codes via Football???
CB
Guest
Just realised, NZ are not playing a CONMEBOL team for qualification, they are going to be super tough after playing 2 legs against the 4th place CONCACAF team (out of Mexico/Honduras/Costa Rica/USA/Panama/Jamaica). If they qualify they will obviously be well prepared for the World Cup Group Stage..... :)
CB
Guest
Of course we are better having regular competitive games against Asian countries than continuing to play Oceanic minnows and then 2 legs against a decent Sth American team. Besides the CONMEBOL (which has a number of very strong teams in the one group), most of the World Cup qualifying confederations have a fairly poor standard of qualifying matches. Basically every group in UEFA qualifying has a couple of minnows, a couple of average teams and 1 or 2 decent teams. England have been struggling against Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. While this is no doubt harder than Australia's group, it's not exactly the powers of world football either. It is called qualifying for a reason and everyone gets a chance. I would expect Japan to be competitive and possibly qualify if they were in a European group but not Australia, simply because we aren't good enough. Of course the coach is a factor but if we don't have the quality of players, even if Hiddink came back, Australia would still be a very poor side compared to what we had in 2006. I think part of the decline is actually due to the periods of immigration to Australia from different parts of the world. During the 50s, 60s & 70s there were lots of immigrants to Australia from European countries that play mostly soccer. Throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s, most of our best soccer players were children of European immigrants (or immigrants themselves) and they were devoted to soccer as though they had grown up in Europe. These days our team still has a distinct European influence but it is becoming significantly reduced as the the proportion of European Australians is being reduced by other immigrants and also because the ties to their ancestry is reduced with each generation as they are influenced by all of the other Aussie sports and interests. A much higher proportion of immigrants are coming from Asia, which shows in sports like badminton and table tennis where most of the best Aussies have Asian ancestors. Maybe in 10-20 years we will have some players who can compete with the Chinese & Koreans. It is also noticeable in other sports like AFL where there were many players of Greek & Croatian descent in the 80s & 90s compared to today, where we have our first Chinese players.
AL
Guest
Anyone who thinks that quaification via Asia is easy as the standard is lower than Oceania and one off play off knows nothing about Football. The team and world cup he speaks of was part of our Golden generation. Most of whom played regular football in the big leagues of Football. He may be from Argentina but that doesnt mean he can play/know aoubt football or do the tango. Judging by this artical Id say he was a private school rugby boy who grew up in Sydneys North Shore.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Uzbeks are a funny one. The White Wolves tend to play better away than at home, where often they are suspect. They'll still be too much for Jordan on Wednesday night though.
Kane Cassidy
Roar Guru
Does he know more about AUSTRALIAN football though? This article proves he doesn't.
Damiano
Guest
Roberto, you're drunk, go home.
Johnno
Guest
Al this whatever he is Alan, is Argentinian. Home of the greatest footballer ever produced Maradonna. Greater than Pele,Garrincha,George Best,Cruyff, and his fellow country men Lionel Messi, or Brazils 2 overrated hacks Ronaldo, and Romario. So this Alan being from Argentina knows more than you AL, about football than you.
Griffo
Roar Guru
Yes - I well remember the debate Foz tried to kick off 4 years ago on sacking Pim after qualification. It was hard to take after qualifying with relative 'ease'. Perhaps Alan's article would have been better by approaching this point of view: has qualification for WC2014 been a curse in disguise? Failure of direct qualification I think would have seen Holger on the next plane back to Europe. Also we are seeing the World Cup but forgetting we are hosting Asian Cup 6 months later. Hosting the AC has prevented us from qualifying for the AC the hard way - giving prime opportunities for testing, blooding and giving experience to younger and fringe Socceroos. Also an opportunity to put more pressure on Holger and expose any of his inadequacies earlier. As it stands Holger may not be around for the AC...leaving six months of prep for the next coach... While coaching inadequacies are not the sole issue, will a similar score line against France next month make any difference? Maybe a poor showing against Canada will be the last straw... ...or perhaps a 3-0 win against Canada will appease head office once more.
your ashton gate mate
Guest
wake up
C
Guest
Nail head al Currently we are dominated by the egg ball We still have a very long way to go
Qantas Supports Australian Football
Guest
Yes totally agree, however, some here will tell you here he is only being selected to make him the scapegoat.. Thwaite should be reinstated at LB ...
AL
Guest
I really wish bloggers, journos or who ever this Alan is would stop writting firstly about Football, a game that he clearly has no undersanding of and secondly comparing it to eggbal codes. Real 1950's stuff.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@vinnie It was a shocking performance and, like anyone who loves AUS football, I'm sure Robbie Slater was saying things in the heat of the moment when watching that inept display that he doesn't really mean. I know I was saying things about the lads that, in the cool light of day, I realise were over the top. We lost. We were awful. We played one of the best teams in the world. In modern society, financial strength is often used as a surrogate when assessing quality, so it's amusing to think the entire operating revenues of all domestic professional sporting clubs in AUS from A-League, NRL, SuperRugby & AFL ... is probably less than the market value of the players in the Brasil National Football team!
Midfielder
Guest
I agree with Fozzie ... http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video/47199811748/Shootout
vinnie
Guest
FUss im sure you watched the game , everyone is just looking at the 6-0 score, but the real worry is how silly we looked going forward and turning Julio ceasar into a statue. I dont like robbie slater but i rate his slur on the socceroos comparing them to Gladesville ( a park soccer team in sydneys north west) and im sure world football just had a good laugh at our team after that very embarrassing performance.
vinnie
Guest
+2 your joking? the players are nothing compared to teams all the way back to 1998 socceroos
Adam
Guest
I disagree
Adam
Guest
Very well said