It’s hard to know where to start. Here the Socceroos are, 0 points from 2 games, 6 goals conceded, effectively out of the tournament with one game still to play.
And yet…
How could you not be totally enamoured with the way our national team has taken the fight to their two opponents in this World Cup?
How often does a team that loses two games in a row receive deserved and almost universal praise for the thrill ride it has taken fans on?
The 3-2 loss to The Netherlands was easily the best game of the tournament so far, an attacking smorgasbord of end-to-end action which earned both teams a post-match standing ovation from the 50,000 crowd in Porto Alegre.
The old adage that it is better to win ugly than lose pretty simply does not apply in this case. It was never going to happen – he is simply not of that mindset – but Ange Postecoglou could have decided to park the bus and throw away the keys, getting a 0-0 result in one of those games if the Socceroos were lucky.
Instead, the Socceroos attacked and threatened to tear apart Chile and The Netherlands in successive games.
The mould was set in the game against South Africa, when Australia hammered the visitors in the first half, attacking from absolutely everywhere before running out of gas.
It continued against Chile but the game was blighted by a nervous start from the defence. Oh, to have swapped those 15 minutes for some other quarter hour from the Pim Verbeek era, where the team camped in their third and conceded nothing but gained little more.
Or maybe not, for in Porto Alegre a new dynasty was born.
But for a few moments where class and experience told over exuberance and youth, the Socceroos would be celebrating the biggest win of their international existence.
One of those moments was the Dutch opener, when Arjen Robben pounced on some defensive hesitation from Alex Wilkinson and streaked away to score, evading Wilkinson’s attempts to stop him by any means necessary.
Another was straight after Mile Jedinak slotted home a penalty to give the Socceroos a lead that threatened to take the roof off the stadium. The Socceroos attacked again but rather than hold the ball in a wide position and try to pick out a runner, Tommy Oar slung the ball into the far post, looking for Tim Cahill to rise above yet again.
Only minutes later, Jason Davidson was tempted to track a wide runner into the box when perhaps stepping up would have been the better option. As a result he played Robin van Persie onside and one of the world’s best strikers buried the proffered chance.
As an old goalkeeper, I know what Mat Ryan will be feeling over the coming weeks. He is destined to be the greatest goalkeeper the country has produced, but knows he should have stopped the Netherlands’ third, a routine shot from sub Memphis Depay which he’d have gloved 99 times out of 100.
It’s a measure of the fortitude of the youthful keeper that he composed himself and produced three magnificent saves following the goal to keep the Australian dream alive. Unfortunately, he also knows which incident he’ll be reminded of. That’s the lot of the goalkeeper.
On such moments games are won and lost. But the Socceroos won a legion of admirers.
As Craig Foster said in his post-match comments, sometimes you have to lose in order to win. This World Cup was always going to be a learning experience, but it’s the Socceroos’ opponents who have learnt as well.
The Dutch celebrated their win with enormous relief, having been tested in ways the reigning world champions were incapable of just days earlier. One of their main tormentors was Matthew Leckie, who gave the Dutch defence nightmares with his pace and forays into the penalty area. He laid on a gilt-edged chance for Mark Bresciano in the first half, had a goal disallowed virtually from the kick-off in the second, and could have made a hero of himself had he managed to steer home Tommy Oar’s awkward cross into an inviting net when the score was 2-2.
Odds on that Leckie will not be playing second-tier football in Germany much longer.
To the Socceroos fans in Brazil; you’re a big part of this. The atmosphere in Port Alegre was molten, a sea of noise and colour, a lot of it gold. It isn’t often that Dutch fans get out-shouted.
And that goal? Likely to be the last great act of Tim Cahill at the World Cup finals, it will be replayed for years to come. A classier act in Australian sport would be hard to find.
The Socceroos won everything but the game. We’ve got that to look forward to.
apaway
Roar Guru
Still not sure you're around this Glenn, but without doubt you are correct about needing to tighten up defensively. The thing is, the game against The Netherlands was lost on "moments"; Mat Ryan's uncharacteristic error and Jason Davidson's split second decision to track a runner rather than move out with the line. Those things would almost certainly have happened if the Socceroos were playing a packed defensive game as well. Get both of those things right and we could have been looking at one of the most famous victories in our country's football history.
Mahonjt
Guest
Could those arguing that a World Cup is no place to be developing players do the following : (1) read the recent stories about why the Netherlands took a young team; (2) watch the Netherlands v. Spain again; (3) watch the Socceroos v. The Netherlands again; (4) Reflect on the question 'is the FIFA World Cup in any way different to the other world cups Australia participates in'? (5) give yourself an uppercut. Much appreciated.
Midfielder
Guest
You are a joy to read JB...
Midfielder
Guest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwGVki2jzI4
Midfielder
Guest
Johnno If you take a note from your son they will allow you in as well...
Midfielder
Guest
Brian That has to be up there for post of the month...
apaway
Roar Guru
With respect, Glenn, you might be missing the point. Ange Postecoglou has had precious little time to develop the Socceroos but what he has publicly stated that he needed to do was have the team re-engaged with the public. And to do that he knew he had to change the style of play and re-vamp a squad that had relied very heavily on a stilted defensive approach with very little ball retention, movement or wide running in the attacking third. The central midfielders played as 5th and 6th defenders and our number 9 was constantly isolated. Ange has, in a very short time, transformed the Socceroos into an attacking unit. Had he stuck to the same style as his predecessors, he would most likely have overseen similar results, for that kind of tactical approach would never have worked against Chile or The Netherlands. And when I say "similar results", perhaps losses that could have blown out when the Socceroos were forced to chase a game playing a style they had not been coached to play. The first 15 minutes against Chile was indicative of a nervous set of debutants. The rest of their tournament thus far has been exhilarating. Yes, they have to sort out their defensive issues but with Ivan Franjic injured they are arguably missing their entire first choice back 4 (Williams, Sainsbury and Good being the other three).Ask any nation to play with a second string back 4 (with no disrespect to the guys who have been there) and they would struggle.
Glenn Innes
Guest
J Binnie - Great read really enjoyed it a good dose of reality after all this were Aussies we score goals if you score three we get four jingoism...you need something a bit more sophisticated than that. The Netherlands played the defending champions in the opening game and belted them...they would have been really up for that game it was no suprise they were a bit flat against Australlia but come the second half when they realised they were in a game they lifted and got the job done - I don't know you can read any more into it than that. All this pretty football vs dour football when you don't have the ball all you can do is defend to win at this level you need to be good on both sides of the ball....you can't be leaking three goals a game.
Mitch
Guest
Johnno! Give it up mate......................................You are NOT going to convince anyone on here that dragging the National Football Team (I refuse to call them that horrid nickname of "Socceroos") down the level of tedium that characterises the spectacle that the Wallabies Rugby Team provides is something that the National Footabll Team should be aspirng to! Unless of course, as a notorious troll from the Rugby forums, that was/is your objective - ie that you are terrified of Football's exploding popularity and Rugby's stagnation and wish to "crudely crash tackle" the game in order to stop it from disappearing "out of sight?" You sound a little like that trolling CH 9 f**kwit Gus Gould who came on this forum last year suggesting that we discuss 'how much better 'Soccer' (his word) would be if the offside rule was abolished'. I remember someone replying that they should do the same thing in his game as well and abolish forward passes and scrums and knock-ons too - come to think of it those ideas just might help to turn that boring game into something approaching being watchable......................On second thoughts Naaaahhhh like RU - It's will always be unwatchable!
Cpaaa
Guest
great post Ben i +2
titch
Guest
The way the team is playing they are showing the world "this is who we are" Us Aussies are an aggressive people when it comes to sport. Our heroes are those who are skilled, mentally tough, have a neversaydie attitude and big heart. Our national football team is paying a style of game which makes every Australian proud. Hats off to AP - and give him a $1 million dollar pay rise before he gets tempted by big offers overseas.
Cpaaa
Guest
Brian thats a classic post . I cant even read it again. I only get to the first 4 words b4 erupting into uncontrollable laughter. Thanks mate, the emotions are on par with Timmys goal that one. cheers.
Cpaaa
Guest
Oh Dear Johnno, Did you not watch Gladiator? " win the crowd, win your freedom", so this scene is for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzt6vlpdZWM or i can find something from Russel Crowe singing in " Les Miserables", if it dosnt matter to you.
j binnie
Guest
Interesting comments coming up and strangely they mostly concern 4 countries Hungary,Germany,Brazil & Holland. The Brazil team of 58 gets a lot of mention,the Dutch team of 74 and the German team in both those World Cup Finals (as winners). The strange thing is that at the 58 and 74 finals both Brazil and Holland were in fact developing a system of playing football that was slightly away from the norm of those years,Brazil who had entertained with their outrageously attacking 4-2-4 formation began developing a system where every time they won ,or lost possession they actually changed their formations on the field switching sweetly from a 4-2-4 when in possession to 4-3-3 when they were trying to win the ball back. Brazil used the unbounded energy of the left winger Mario Zagalla to accomplish this transfomation on field. By the time the 74 and 78 finals came around Holland had taken this simple transition to a new level using both Cruyff or Neeskens to do the "Zagallo function" This was christened "total football' by the press of the day but both Germany and Argentine proved it could be overcome,albeit with discipline,patience and execution. That word discipline is a key word for it is a trait well known to be inherent in the German psyche and is no doubt part of the make up of a team that has appeared as top four finishers in World Cups since 1950,more than any other country. The 54 final,when Hungary suffered their first defeat in 5 years had a different angle.It has always been argued that Puskas should never had been on the field but even then there were other reasons put forward as to how the "impossible" was achieved,stories that were somewhat degrading to the German team but never proven. That brings us up to what we have witnessed in this Cup so far. Spain played Holland and for 45 minutes the Dutch sat back and allowed the Spanish to play their possession football a long as they were contained in the middle and their own back third of the field.Half time came and subtle changes to the Dutch structure suddenly saw break after break being engineered to which the Spaniards had no answer.We move to the Australia game and we witness the same "lie back and let them play" attitude being exercised by the Dutch, the only difference was that our boys turned on the aggression and no doubt had the defence a bit more worried than they had been against the tippy-tappy Spaniards.Half time and again a subtle change in the Dutch structure saw more and more pressure being put on our defence,with another 2 goals resulting,The question is, have the Dutch been working on a system that allows opponents to 'do their thing" in the warmer than norm conditions and then exert more and more pressure when their opponents are tiring?. The following games should let us see if Van Haal has come up with another development in the never ending change in football tactics.We shall see. jb
Knightblues
Guest
I prefer this new Aussie attacking style game to the old hesitant fearful of making a mistake style we had under previous coaches, its better that we make the WC now every 4 years and go out early with wonderful attacking play, than to dig deep in defence and get draws that may get us into the second round.
ciudadmarron
Guest
I am a perennial bridesmaid Johnno, don't worry. Of the football teams I've followed or had strong attachments to, I'm sitting on 2 out of 10 or more wins in a Final. I hate losing them.... but you know what, I love seeing good football more. Last world cup despite my dutch heritage I was not upset when they lost - to win in that way would have been sour. Forget Wenger, look at Allardyce. Winning at Hull and he gets booed for the ugliness of his game - that I can relate to. You are missing the big picture Johnno. You are not on the park. A victory of your team doesn't belong to you, not really. We all pretend it does of course, but it doesn't. What is football for? It's entertainment. When winning takes over and strips the game of its joy, you have a trophy, maybe, and the memory of watching a passionless machine at work. It's not for me. I think of the Maracana. Aside from the fact that the focus of that story in the consciousness of the world is on Brasil, the newspaper headlines already printed, the speeches before a ball was kicked. But it's a precursor to Pele and Garrincha, making joga bonito all the more sweet in the years to come... it meant so much to have lost but they didn't throw it away, like the Argentines did - and they won.
Glenn Innes
Guest
This is the kind of debate you could only get in Australia or maybe Canada or the USA ...in the rest of the world where football rules supporters simply want to win. Australia are simply not good enough to have the luxury of debating about the aesthetics of how we play and lets face it when you have an emotional investment in the result of a sporting contest you don't care much about anything other than the result. Lets visit planet Earth - what would get Australian football more publicity more hype and more eyeballs...Australia making the last eight on the back of some nill all draws and penalty shootouts or limping home at the end of the group stages our campaign done and dusted after two games...it's a no brainer. At this level of football if you are leaking three goals a match you are going to walk away a loser ninety nine times out of a hundred I mean how often do Holland score three goals and lose.Poor defending and sloppy goal keeping equals early exit and always will simple as that.
Johnno
Guest
Well I'd rather be dull defesnive Uruguyan in 1950 than beautiful Brazil in 1950. Arsene Wenger's desire to entertain rather than win at all costs, there you go, caused Arsenal fans so much pain the fans want him sacked on and on no EPL or UCL titles in a long time. Yes Dutch total football entertaining, you must love being the perrienal bridsmaid. Give me clinical Germans and Italians anytime mate.
ciudadmarron
Guest
Thing is in football Johnno that "winners write history" stuff doesn't actually apply. The artist is right, it's the teams that excite and amaze that are remembered - and get written about. We remember 58 and 74 not for the Germans but for the Hungarians and the Dutch. You might not, and fair enough, I can appreciate defense as a one-time defender myself - but the narrative of world football centres around joyful football. This, btw, is why the world has been talking about our football. A win might go in the record books, but football as joy lives longer.
Tim
Guest
Of the 3 goals Italy scored in the finals, 1 was from build up play, 1 was poached from a Brazilian mistake in defence and 1 was from a set piece (corner).