When questioned about returning to Australia to play football, Scotty Chipperfield once said that he would rather go back to driving Unanderra buses, than play in the A-League.
This from the guy who was supposed to be providing a lot of funding for the Wollongong bid for an A-League license.
Mark Schwarzer also vowed to never play in the A-League, “after what they did to Johnny Aloisi.”
Mark Schwarzer’s sudden and somewhat unexpected retirement from the Socceroos for international matches comes only a few hours before the announcement of Ange Postecoglou’s squad for the Socceroos friendly against Costa Rica.
Schwarzer is undoubtedly one of the best and most successful goal keepers to ever play for Australia, but did he anticipate his demise and recognised the need to inject new blood and new hope into the Socceroos squad for Brazil 2014.
Australia’s best team and possibly best results came in 2006 under Guus Hiddink in the FIFA World Cup in Germany.
The squad that competed in Germany 2006 comprised of:
John Aloisi, Michael Beauchamp, Marco Bresciano, Tim Cahill, Scott Chipperfield, Ante Covic, Jason Culina, Brett Emerton, Vince Grella, Zeljko Kalac, Josh Kennedy, Harry Kewell, Stan Lazaridis, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Josip Skoko, Mile Sterjovski, Archie Thompson, Mark Viduka and Luke Wilkshire.
More than half that group is retired and no longer available for selection in the Socceroos squads. The other half of them are still playing and vying for a spot at Brazil 2014 and a record third straight appearance in a FIFA World Cup finals tournament.
When is the best time to retire and is it entirely the players decision? Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall with the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.
Although, I thought Ange’s selections were very conservative and didn’t radically alter the squad’s make up, he could have blooded some more younger players, particularly if he is carrying some of the older players with him to Brazil.
Perhaps it’s a question of giving everyone a chance to adapt to his playing style, because we all know Ange is just going to select players and build the team to fit his playing style.
I don’t think re-selecting players like former captain Neill is the problem, it depends of who he plays and how they play.
This recent squad announcement may be the nucleus of a superior Ange Postecoglou-schooled team in there, just waiting to come out. He can certainly also teach them some determination and pride and instruct them on the privileged position they have and what they are striving to achieve.
A few of the Golden Generation see it as their divine right to play for the Socceroos and are already planning their trip to Brazil.
This is the time when hard decisions need to be made about the Socceroos.
For the sake of saving face in Brazil 2014 let’s just hope Ange is still working on it.
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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?
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