One loss in nine international fixtures and the Socceroos are once again the victims of ridiculous, uneducated hyperbole on social media.
Armchair experts from Perth to Penrith are using Friday morning’s 2-0 away loss at the hands of the un-fancied Jordanians as a reason to vent the ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ built up internally following an inexplicable number of opportunities ignored by the Socceroos to disgrace the nation.
Let’s get one thing straight, no one was happy with this result. That goes for both true supporters of Australian sport and those ‘Australians’ who have spent the last ten months waiting for the Socceroos to fail.
However, performances like these must be considered rationally, rather than from a viewpoint of nationalistic ethnocentrism, where our society is so focussed on national affairs – and success in less global sports – thereby creating a sense of historically-ignorant self-importance where anything less than immediate, tangible success is not worthy of recognition.
This specific complexity of the game’s status in Australian culture can be compared to its position in the US. Both nations are, almost by default, global powerhouses in their national sports. Anything less than sweet, sweet victory in sports such as football being seen as an affront to national pride and something that should be obnoxiously shunned from societal water-cooler chit-chat.
Naturally, this is not susceptible to a thoughtful critique of games such as the loss in Amman. As such, they should instead be analysed by using mystical innovations such as “facts” and “historical evidence”.
By using these oh so wonderful tools, we recognise that the Socceroos have never really had a qualification campaign without at least one subpar result. This dates all the way back to our very first qualification match in 1965, a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the North Koreans.
Qualification for 1970 started promisingly, with back to back wins away to Japan and South Korea being the highlight, but the boys in green and gold fell at the final hurdle against the Israelis.
Our fabled team of 1974 made history by qualifying for the World Cup, but this was not a bump-free ride. A 3-3 draw against New Zealand followed a narrow 2-1 home draw against Indonesia were just enough for the Aussies to qualify for the final round and even then they needed three games to overcome South Korea.
Shocking. I feel my sense of patriotism escaping my very being.
The immediate years following qualification was underlined by results such as home losses to Kuwait (1977) and New Zealand (1981) as well as an away defeat to Indonesia (1981) and, more astoundingly than that, a 1-0 loss in Fiji in 1988.
The start of the 1994 campaign was also cause for concern with narrow wins against the likes of the Solomon Islands (2-1) and Tahiti (2-0). The 1998 and 2002 campaigns were highlighted by the infamous one-sided affairs in the OFC, namely the 31-0 demolition of American Samoa in 2001.
Shockingly, these individual results had no bearing on the success of our performance overall and we again faced disappointment at the final hurdle.
Then came the one we’ll never forget, the qualification campaign for the 2006 World Cup and that magical night in Sydney where we broke the Socceroo hoodoo. However, as we all remember, celebrations were soured by the national feeling of embarrassment after only winning 2-1 away to the Solomon Islands.
If anything, I think it should be stricken from the record.
It’s not all bad though. Our participation in the Asian confederation has brought about losses away to the likes of Iraq, China, Oman and Jordan (now twice!) haven’t stopped us qualifying for three consecutive World Cups, nor have poor results against Thailand (2-1), Uzbekistan (1-0) and Oman (2-2). What we must realise when looking at qualification results in Asia is that we have struggled on away trips, regardless of opposition. Further, when we do win, it’s rarely by a cricket score and that is in no way against a criticism.
We have all seen enough ‘underdog’ performances in recent years, both at club and international level, to recognise that no game of football is a guarantee (Faroe Islands versus Greece anyone?). Games like Jordan’s victory are examples of what makes football great.
It’s nothing new for Australia, or any supposed favourite, to be on the wrong side of games like these. By all means be disappointed by the performance, poor tactics or perceived lack of effort but look at the facts before blurting out nonsense. It happened in the bad times and it’ll happen in the good times ahead.
Ahmad
Guest
thanks , it is 3-0 not 2-0 ... definitely we will have a great match in Australia in March , but Australia now play under pressure next game Vs kyrgyzstan in November as we wanted to put you under this pressure infront of your fans.. for us we have enough time to prepare for kyrgyzstan game away from home , despite of game is being played away from home but kyrgyzstan will be exhuasted as they have 4 days to go back from Australia to kyrgyzstan... i expect to win them then we will win Bangladesh and our last game with Australia will not be so important as we could qualify with three chances (win,draw and loss). have a nice play against Kyrgyzstan :)
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@ Ahmad Superb response. So good to have a proper discussion with someone who loves football & has deep knowledge of the his National Team. I see your lads won again this morning against Tajikistan. 0-0 at half time, so there must have been a few nervous fans, but 2 goals in 2 minutes in the 2nd half would've set the stadium rocking! Well done. Enjoy top spot ... for a few months - Australia is going to come back at you! :-)
Alessandro Vari
Roar Pro
Go watch a replay of Barcelona 1-2 Celtic when the Bhoys won at the Nou Camp with 16% possession, and you'll see what he means.
Ahmad
Guest
Thanks Fussball ist unser leben by the way i know lettle german also :) whew ! you realy loves fooball and have a good informations about the teams track and history. i loved that . i'm so happy to answer all your questions .. let's start from the first poor game away in Japan (0-6) .. this match followed the ASIAN cUP2011 were Jordan was near to beat Japan but at the last mement the could score a goal (1-1) , actually jordan performed well in that cup and also in 2004 Asian Cup the same result was (1-1) .. what happened is that players and coach ( Adnan Hamad from Iraq) were so confident that Japan cannot beat Jordan as hisotry says but when game started japan Stunned Jordan and all players and coach were out of control from the first goal. the same thing happened with Australia game away from home , the game was played after Jordan Beated Japan in home game (2-1) preceded by (2-1) vs Australia so the spirit and confidence were so high as players and coach were the same... the reslut was so negative in Australia (4-0) despite of long preperation to this match as if you remember jordan beated Newzealand (friendly match) in her way to Australia . about World Cup Playoff Vs Uruguay in home game.. it was catastrophe in home>. why this happened ? for these reasons:1- The Jordananian Football Association decided to change the coach whose contract expired before the playoff ( wrong timing to change) 2- they agreed with an egyptian coach who has no experience in coaching national teams. 3- this new coach wanted to show to jordanians and to old coach that he understands how to coach and then he started to change players and inviting players with no international games experience to play Vs URUGUAY(is he crazy?) 4- this coach has made a lot of problems between the players them selves. 5- he changed the stadium where Jordan had beated Japan and australia and chose Amman international stadium (bigger than old one) and players were not used to play on .6- he decided to play an open game vs uruguay with new players( especially the gool keeper) in the team , this was a poor reading to the opponent . this why we lost . but frankly i say Uruguay was not a WOW team because when we rectified some of the mistakes that we made in Amman we could play a great match in Uruguay(0-0) in front of 70000 fans! we stunned them! Finally, what happened in Asian Cup 2015 was another fall down for the jordanian Association when they decided to hire a an English coach whose last coaching experience was in 1996 :) and who tried to change the way we play to be smiliar to England team in 90s :) so funny coach he destroyed us . but this time we could find a coach from Belgium who has experience with national teams in Africa and results so far good.. some facts i want you to know about jordan fooball in general: -our football association is not rich , this justifies the hirement of coaches with cheap costs. - jordanian players are semi professionals , some of them are employed in the Army like the striker HAmza Al Dardoor but they have permission to play eaihter in jordan or out of jordan. - we don't have a great stadiums . - the gouv. does not support football in my jordan so clubs are self funded ( based on donations and sales of good players to a richer clubs in the region. - the jordanian league is not so strong. hope this will clarify the poor performance. thanks
jbinnie
Guest
James - A simple question? How can a team dominate a match and play very well while at the same time not managing to score a goal which after all is the main aim of the game no matter at what level it is played, as a notorius politician once asked ----"please explain". Cheers jb
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Thanks, Ahmad. I was extremely impressed by Jordan when they beat Australia during the qualifiers for WC2014 & they also beat Japan, so it was not a fluke that they won. Yet, despite being so impressive at home, I couldn't believe how poor Jordan were away from home - lost 0-6 in Japan and 0-4 in Australia. Also, at the Asian Cup in January I expected much more from Jordan. I saw them beat Palestine in Melbourne, but they were disappointing against Japan & Iraq. Finally, that World Cup play off against Uruguay stunned me. At home, I really thought Jordan would give Uruguay a tough time. Is there a reason for this "Hot & cold" form for Jordan? Your players are technically excellent (I rate them technically higher than AUS) & physically as strong as Australia.
Marc
Guest
Lived in Jordan for 3 years and saw lots of teams come to Amman and under-estimate Al-Nashama (Wikipedia says 'The Chivalrous' but i would think a closer translation would be 'The Brave'). Japan, Australia in 2012 ... They are a very decent footballing team and footballing nation. Together with a passionate, mainly young male crowd, that supports their team and are packed into a relatively small stadium, it really is a frightening, as in lonely (rather than fearing for your life) experience. Then there is the Arabic everywhere the players go, the smells and food, and Amman itself which has apartment blocks stacked on apartment blocks, and it's a real culture shock for the players. The Socceroos won't be the last team that goes to Amman or Irbid and loses to a proud, passionate Jordanian team ...
Pauly
Guest
Likewise Australian teams need to be drilled in how to deal with this. The worst thing you can do when playing an Arab national team is to go a goal down, but score one first and suddenly it's a different ball game, with fewer players needing the stretcher.
Jorge Hernandez
Guest
Good article and the way I saw the game was much like most of the games we have lost in the middle east: 1. Make sure you have a bumpy pitch to play on, making it difficult for the opposition to control and move the ball effectively (though Australia has played on worse pitches in the past to be fair) 1. Park the bus ceding most of the possession to opposition 2. Absorb pressure 3. Wait to counter attack and hopefully score a goal 4. If goal/s are scored become even more defensive Sometimes it works effectively against Australia sometimes it doesn't.
Pauly
Guest
A lot of people can't handle sports that have more than 10 countries involved. Constant success is demanded from every sports team or individual and it's quite irrational. Mind you, Australians are also this way when it comes to investments, Australian investors are far less patient when it comes to waiting for a ROI than investors in other developed nations, hence why Google-type companies don't originate from here and also why we are still backing coal mining even as it becomes more obsolete and less profitable. As for politics, well 4 PMs in 5 years (including a deposed one being recycled) says it all. Patience just isn't a virtue down under,
Pauly
Guest
Actually Japan also lost to Jordan when the Blue Samarai visited Amman.
Justin Mahon
Guest
Sorry, but this IS the actual World Cup. It certainly is not the World Cup finals, but it is indeed the World Cup. That's how we roll in a game as big as this. It takes grew years to find a world champion.
Justin Mahon
Guest
Amen to every word of that.
Ahmad
Guest
but we respect Australia and the support that makes to JOrdan as a country.
Ahmad
Guest
Dear Australians , because of loss 4 to 0 in australia in 2014 world cup quali. we played the supplement vs Usbekstan and then vs Urugway .... what happened in Amman was kind of revenge !! but i confirm to you again that Jordan will not be an easy hunt in home game in australia..
Gentile
Guest
Agree we are not going to win every game. I still question the need to have 3 playmakers, who are scratchy defending in a tough away game. No balance, its like having zola, baggio and pirlo (in relative terms) in the same team. Also please no more jason davidson - he cost us a goal a game.
marron
Roar Guru
It IS the world cup.
Pat malone
Guest
Pot calling kettle ?
Wally
Guest
Australia will never get past second round in World Cup! Yet, Asia is an easy route, like USA with their route. We will qualify at the end of the day. It's so much better than Oceania playoff,but there are efforts in Asia to kick us out. I love SBS in how they take Socceroos so seriously like their a top 10 side with football. I'm happy if we get there and put in a good effort against the best!
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Wasn't a great result, was always going to be a tough game and there's going to be a few more on the long qualifying path. Let Jordan and those who enjoy watching the Socceroos lose enjoy the moment we'll be sure to think of them when the boys are boarding the plane to Russia.