Australia national team head coach Ange Postecoglou was surely not completely serious last week when he said that beating England in a friendly is no longer anything to get excited about.
It was, he said, “stuff of a bygone era… I think our football’s progressed since then,” he added. “Hopefully we’re past trying to get feathers in caps in friendlies. A feather in our cap would be to beat a team like England at a World Cup.”
Maybe Australia doesn’t need a new feather in its cap as the one from 2003, when the Socceroos defeated England 3-1 at Upton Park, is still proudly on display. The result against Beckham and co is still talked about at every opportunity, such as the one provided by West Ham’s departure from that stadium.
Australian football has surely progressed in the past 13 years and it should be a great test for the Socceroos. England are always hard to beat, especially at home and there is a suggestion that, given the right selection and tactics, that this more youthful version of Three Lions could surprise a few in France.
But then that is the problem with England these days. In the past, the charge was that the massive burden on the shoulders of England weighed the players down and was a major reason for the team not winning anything of any importance.
These days, however, with expectations are a fraction of what they used to be. There is a danger that the media and fans will start to believe that the lack of pressure means that England can actually win – a bizarre reversal in logic. After the dull fare on offer in the past couple of World Cups, fans would probably be happy with some decent football and entertainment.
Regardless, England should not be playing Australia at this time. It is completely the wrong choice. The home players have just finished another gruelling English Premier League season (though admittedly more gruelling for some than others in the Three Lions’ line-up) and the European Championships kick off less than two weeks after the game at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
The problem with Australia is that the players will be desperate to win. Whatever Postecoglou may say, the Socceroos will give everything to repeat the 2003 result – there will be passion, aggression and no quarter given. The feeling is mutual when it comes to rugby and cricket, but in football it is not. What England needs is a gentle warm-up match, not a test against a fierce, committed opponent.
This will be as good as a competitive game for coach Roy Hodgson, and there are times when this kind of test can be very useful. This exceptionally short period after a league season and before a major tournament is not the right time. At this stage a simple knock could spell the end of an unlucky player’s chances of going to France.
I remember talking to Dick Advocaat just before he went to the 2006 World Cup with South Korea. He said that you should always play warm-up games for big tournaments against other teams that have qualified. Then both sides want the same thing – a nice and gentle try out for as many players as possible. No injuries and nothing unexpected.
The Dutchman also talked about the importance of playing teams of a similar style to the opposition they’ll be facing in this tournament. This is why ahead of World Cups, Japan’s opposition try to arrange games with South Korea, and vice-versa. With group rivals Slovakia and Russia looming, a game or two against Eastern European opposition would be preferable, as opposed to an aggressive Aussie team desperate to put another one over on the Three Lions.
This is a mismatch, not in terms of quality, but intentions. Whatever the boss says, Australia would love another feather in the cap from English shores. England has a much bigger prize to aim at and really doesn’t need this kind of distraction This is the fight they didn’t need to take.
Evan Askew
Guest
Fair enough.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Correct.
Colin N
Guest
With respect, you are mediocre opponents. Winning or losing against a similarly average England team wouldn't change that fact.
Freddie
Guest
Rick, whatever the rights and wrongs of your argument, why do you have to start with all this pom stuff? This is where jingoistic baiting starts to stray into xenophobia and racism. Utterly pathetic, you should be ashamed.
PeterD
Guest
It's all a bit of a laugh Rasty. I do say these things with a smile on my face after all it's only sport, we can disagree without us being nasty about things. Something hopefully Rick can appreciate in future!?
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
True. I was gutted when Johnston. For me, Craig Johnston was the 1st Aussie whose Euro career I followed as a teenage footballer. In those days there was no internet & we had to wait until the evening newspaer to get football news about matches played in Europe. I felt so proud when Johnston first broke into the Middlesbrough team; then was over-the-moon when he joined Liverpool even though they were the English club I hated the most. But, to be fair to Johnston, that comment about playing football for Australia was said when he was young. Whom amongst us hasn't said something when we were young that we later regretted. I remember a few years ago, Johnston was in tears when he recounted his biggest regret in football was not playing for the Australian National Team.
Evan Askew
Guest
I can't dispute that answer, but In Australian football terms I can bring myself to call him anything other than a traitor. He insulted the national football team by comparing it to surfing for England, which is an insult to the Frank Arok era socceroos who bought self respect back to the national team after the disaster of the 78 and 82 world cup campaigns.
rasty
Guest
Just like the pomms at sport. Trying very hard but achieving very little. :)
BigAl
Guest
Peter, I think you are trying a bit too hard now !
PeterD
Guest
Well Phantom I have to reply to Rick but at least I did it politely which is more than can be said for Rick mate. What Rick fails to mention is the the success of the U.K. in sport in the last decade which to be frank is more successful than Australia and is there in cold hard facts and it seems as if he cannot live in the sporting environment of the present or even the last decade!
PeterD
Guest
3 The best cities in the world:- Once again looked at these lists in one list every city was in a former Commonwealth country bar Vienna. I know the British world influence is wide and far reaching but even I must admit thats going a bit far! Furthermore how can you take seriously any list when you get people commenting that "Adelaide is like Birmingham in the sun". The other lists are so different from each other it's hard to know which is accurate! Vienna came top in one list but I quote " For those preferring the bright lights and hustle and bustle of New York or London, Vienna might feel a little too sanitised and touristy", which basically means it's beautiful but a bit boring. Finally how can you have a list which excludes London, Paris, Rome, New York or even Las Vegas and a few others not mentioned!
PeterD
Guest
2 The richer country debate:- Once again you obviously didn't read the link you posted. The 3 areas used to measure are the IMF, World Bank and GDP, however the methodology used which you failed to read states "as estimates and assumptions have to be made, the results produced by different organisations for the same country are not hard facts and tend to differ, sometimes substantially, so they should be used with caution". Quatar was top of every list, Luxembourg was either 2nd or 3rd and Lichtenstein was also right up there. The U.S.A. the richest nation in the world in case you haven't noticed finished 10th, 9th and 12th. Basically the stats you have used are spurious at best.
PeterD
Guest
Well sorry Rick we are not done I'm afraid! I have looked at the articles you have used so let me begin. 1 Immigration :- The so called "people fleeing the U.K." was nothing more than a headline because you obviously didn't read the article. In the year you quoted 312,000 people left the U.K. What you obviously didn't read was that only 43,000 went to Australia. To be fair that was the highest of all Commonwealth Countries but half that figure went to the U.S. and the rest to other parts of the Commonwealth which came in at around 78,000 of the 312000 who left. The far greatest portion who left where people returning home to other EU countries and overseas students who had finished they're education. The reasons people mostly left was for another job but also family reasons and lifestyle. What you failed to mention is that during this period over 600000 people arrived in the UK., double the amount who left. You just didn't do your homework properly old boy!
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Fussball, anyone with the official piece of paper is Australian, and that cannot be gainsaid -- even if they haven't lived in Australia for 50 years. On the other hand, there are also hundreds of thousands who see themselves as Australians because they are residents of the country but not necessarily citizens (for whatever reason). I haven't checked on the stats, but there must be millions who are, or are eligible to be, dual, triple or quadruple citizens (say, British, Indian, Australian, New Zealandish) -- I don't see their citizenship of Australia diminished by having more than one nationality, but a lot of bloggers would disagree.
Fussball IUL
Roar Rookie
Surely, at the very core of "who is an Australian" is any person who is a Citizen of Australia?
Evan Askew
Guest
Can we call Craig Johnston an Australian? He did choose to play for England. By the same logic we should call Josip Simunic and Tony Dorigo Australians and My burnt bones will be floating on a funeral pyre on the sea before I call them Australian.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I don't buy that notion Punter. We can agree that football is the biggest sporting code in the UK, but not necessarily at any given point in time. The England Test cricket captaincy is very prestigious & I'd be surprised if most people in the UK haven't at least heard of Alastair Cook regardless of whether they follow the game. The captain is always on display; taking criticism from the press during the hard-times, whilst wallowing in the sun during the good. Ashes cricket takes centre stage during the summer period. Of course for the rest of the year, football takes centre state, but not during this period. Tennis is just massive when Wimbledon is on. Football in no way overshadows this event. The Olympics as an event is far bigger than the Football World Cup. Television viewing is about equal (the Olympics slightly higher); however, one goes for 4 weeks...the other 2. This just shows the power of the Olympics, especially when you consider how big the Football World Cup is. There is no doubt that football is king when it comes to sport, but it by no means over shadows sport in general. My initial comments were based around the average person who doesn't follow sport intensely at the elite level. Most people are casual followers and will follow the bigger events when they are on. There are far more of these around the world than hardcore football fans. As such, a vast majority of people are not going to be that impressed by Wayne Rooney or know a huge amount about the man. Likewise, most wouldn't care less about Cooke, but they've probably heard of them both. Pleasure chatting with you again as usual Punter.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
" I just love it when you aussies bite!'', to be fair to us Pete is was only the one.
The Phantom Commissioner
Roar Rookie
Arguably we'll be able to put out a stronger side than we did against the Germans, certainly going forward as there was no Kruse, Rogic , Loungo or Mooy from memory available in that match. Granted we are a bit green at the back but then again in that match the back 4 had never played together and did ok. As i've said we'll probably fall short but i'd be disappointed if we are easily accounted for.
Punter
Guest
now Rick, where did I say the POMS eat, sleep & whatever football, you putting words where there was none. I too have lived in London, I have huge family on my wife's side living there still, I think I have an idea. However, from those interested in sport, yes football in England is huge, it covers most of the papers, both cricket & Rugby are for the elite, RL only exist is 2 counties.Most people would know Wayne Rooney but would struggle to naem the English Rugby or Cricket captain.