It's not mission impossible: Postecoglou

Sadder still he doesn't contribute to any discussion about the Wannabies over on the Rugby section,then again if a soccer team who isn't ranked in the top 50 is taking fans and money from you I can't really blame him for wanting them to fail.

English by supporting the wallabies? How to answer prejudiced comments - with more prejudice. Way to go fadida.

The wallabies need maximum fans, sponsorship and money so naturally I would not want the soccewoos to win major tournaments as it will divert much needed money from the wallabies. I am prepared to acknowledge that they will probably win the Asian cup as the competition they will face is woeful.

The thing I have noticed about soccewoos fans is that they are very defensive and feel they must defend their sport at every opportunity. I note the banner has a misspelling too. It says 'go socceroos' surely it should read 'go soccewoos'. Nice try fadida but not right.

FIFA rankings versus bookmakers odds. Bookmakers odds are probably more worth looking at for where teams rank in terms of this specific tournament as they have a lot of money riding on those odds. As it says, one of the friendly victories the Socceroos had was against Costa Rica. Costa Rica must be ranked higher as they are at the WC also. I think those odds have been influenced a bit by the groups. I'd put Japan and Korea ahead of Australia currently, but only by a bit, not a lot, and they are 150/1 and 300/1 respectively. Both have much easier groups and I really wouldn't be surprised if either or both actually finish top 2 in those groups and get through. Despite where Australia is at, 1500/1 has to be influenced by the group. Costa Rica (3000/1) are in a really tough group too. One where, maybe none of the teams are favourites to win, but the other three teams are all teams that would normally expect to at least reach the knock-out phase, and possibly progress a little way in that. One of England, Italy and Uruguay are going to get knocked out in the group phase. Can't see Costa Rica making it two of them.

I think the big problem is just the lack of players in the prime of their careers. Jedinak is one of the few. Most players in the squad are 22 or under, or over 30. That 23-30 sort of age is the prime period for players, but we pretty much missed a generation there with those players being developed and trying overseas in the early days of the A-League mostly not reaching any great heights. The young guys coming through now seem to be doing better, and in 4 years time will be much more experienced and in their prime. Our team will likely be pretty young then, with all those currently 30+ gone, and the core experienced players being guys now in their early 20s who'll be into their mid-to-late 20s by 2018. But sometimes youth can bring a no fear attitude and just get out there and produce something great. Lets hope so. A few of these players have a real chance to make a name for themselves and possibly get their managers phone ringing with offers from big clubs!

Mid I'd keep F Lowy sniffing around somewhere in the background he's expertise and guidance are to handy, I'm concerned of the new Governor , any thoughts Jb..

Q I agree it was a convenient way to bullet Osieck with those friendlies , but I believe wholeheartedly that Ange is a better coach . ______________________ Steve Every time you post here you remind me my sports in great shape or tip top order in Australia..

:-) Loved Bresciano's dry wit yesterday when quizzed about the odds .. "put a dollar on us, why not"!

Fuss - Surely worth a tenner at those odds is it not??????? Get in there and if you win you can send 33% for the advice (Tongue in cheek) jb

I like stevo's comments. It means he is engaging with soccer in Australia. He will come around.

You're missing the point---Holger had to qualify for the WC, it was imperative with no young players at the time playing first team football---all were in the reserves or sitting on the bench for their clubs. He was forced to use the aging players to achieve qualification. Ange has now the luxury of being there and trying new players who have progressed at club level, but not well enough for my liking. The team Ange put out against SA was woeful and never in the light of day would they have qualified for the WC.. "Set up to fail" from what understand it was the FFA who sought those high quality opposition at their home grounds to play, not Holger.

"It matters not though as many serious football fans in this country support serious teams like me who have a real possibility of winning the World Cup (yet again)" What???? I have read this three times and have no idea what you are talking about. Are you calling yourself a "serious team" or a "serious fan"? Are you saying that Australians shouldn't be supporting Australia but instead some other nation? Baffling.

I see this side and AP's appointment as the FFA taking another step on Footballs development in Australia.. As a code we have five products, National sides, A-League, W-League, Australian Cup, NPL... JON to his huge credit established Hal ... more importantly he took the Socceroos from sorta Hockeyroos status to the top sports brand in Australia... BB & DG have worked on the A-League and taken Football from a basket case to where it sits today i.e an established and respected National Competition... this has taken some effort and at the same time the NPL and AC have been developed and a kinda uniting of the football tribes .... While working on the domestic position the National teams have been not so much ignored but little time spent on them... resulting in the Socceroos falling from their 2005 to 2008 position... Its clear to me part of AP's appointment is to re brand the Socceroos and then in time other national teams... The side we have on the park and the way we are playing is what is being taught from U 5 these days... the beauty of Brazil is given who we are playing we can loose ... maybe if we had an easier draw expectations would be higher ... TBH Germany & Italy would struggle to get out of this group ... As for Pim and Holger ... they both did what they had to ie get us to the WC ... now we have established the A-League its a matter of getting the Socceroos back in the headlines... Finally we also need to replace Frank ... this IMO is the single biggest issue we have moving forward..

South Korea lost at home last night to Tunisia, continuing their poor form from the last couple of years. This is despite having 9 players in top Euro leagues.

According to people, who crunch numbers & data for a living, Australia is not the bottom-ranked team at WC2014. The team at Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research has published its 2014 book on the World Cup & Economics. BRA is favourite at 3/1 CRC is the rank outsider at 3000/1 AUS has been assigned odds of 1500/1 It's a lengthy document, but worth storing & reading: http://www.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/outlook/world-cup-and-economics-2014.html

@Stevo So why are you here? Every day you waste your time discussing our National Football Team? I feel sad for you - you really must have a very lonely existence.

I'm guessing you're English Stevo. Your opinion on WC football therefore counts for zero. "serious" teams make it past the second round and quarters occasionally.

"set up to fail"? Interesting. Set himself up to fail more like. I have no doubt that Ange's side would suffer the same fate. At this stage.The difference is he has had just 3 games and a few months. Osieck had many games and a few years and yet found himself going backwards rapidly, primarily due to his own ineptitude. Again, those 10 caps that he gave Cornthwaite could have been spent so much better. Let's judge Ange after a dozen games.

Holger was set up to fail. Those two friendlies in oppositions territory was bound to end up in tears trialing new players. The team that Ange put out against the South African B team, would have suffered the same fate.