“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning,” said Winston Churchill.
The confetti blown over the triumphant Socceroos had barely settled on the grass when coach Ange Postecoglou turned his attention to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“The goal for this confederation should be to break the European-South American monopoly on the World Cup. That may sound farfetched but it’s got to be the goal. We have to contribute to that,” Postecoglou said.
Ange won’t be content to just contribute though, winning the World Cup is the path we have set ourselves upon. It won’t be easy but Australians won’t settle for making up the numbers. As Johnny Warren said: “I’m sick of us saying, ‘When are we going to qualify for the World Cup?’. When are we going to win the World Cup?”
We qualified for 1974 when a team of amateurs earned a solitary point with a scoreless draw against Chile. Then there was a long period in the wilderness until a John Aloisi penalty saw us through to the 2006 edition.
It was in Kaiserslautern that Tim Cahill scored our first World Cup goal in a come from behind win over Japan. This was also the first time we progressed to the round of 16.
We continued our qualification success to attend South Africa 2010 only to suffer a humiliating defeat to Germany. This game marked a period when the Socceroos’ natural attacking mentality and fear no one attitude was ignored for defensive, conservative football culminating in back-to-back 6-0 losses. It was our lowest ebb.
By this time we had qualified for the 2014 World Cup but not much hope was felt for a proud showing. Then Ange Postecoglou was made coach.
He quickly set about rejuvenating an ageing squad and more importantly returning the Aussie fighting spirit and adding an attractive, attacking style of play. While not winning a single game, the Socceroos left Brazil 2014 with their pride and confidence restored.
After some time of playing under foreign coaches and their schooling in the Dutch or German way, now might be the time we set out to play the Australian way. The days of looking over the horizon with jealous eyes at how to play football might be gone. We might be ready to embrace who we are
and take it to the world.
Who knows where it will lead?
It may take decades and many World Cup cycles to finally lift the big prize, but with an Aussie coach and an Aussie playing style future generations may look back on this Asian Cup victory as the end of the beginning.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Even though St.Pauli ultimately lost a high-scoring affair, Jackson Irvine was a standout, as well as scoring a late goal.
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?
A good performance from Michael Ruhs, scoring twice to beat Macarthur and doubling his season goal tally in the process.
Nestory Irankunda has sensationally rejected the chance to play at the Paris Olympics this June after a late bid from the Olyroos to include…
Mathew Ryan's tenure at AZ Alkmaar appears to be over, as the Eredivisie side are seemingly moving on from the 93-time Socceroo. The decision…
One down 49 to go. Socceroos striker Kusini Yengi raised some eyebrows this week when he declared himself to be the talisman striker the…
