Have football fans in Australia forgotten what it felt like to watch Khodadad Azizi charge through on goal and slide the ball past Mark Bosnich?
The Socceroos’ failure to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup was the darkest day in Australian football history.
When Azizi scuffed the ball beyond a despairing Bosnich, he broke the hearts of 85,000 stunned fans at the MCG and millions more watching at home on TV.
There mustn’t be a single Australian supporter who can watch the video of that goal and not feel a sickening sense of despair in the pit of their stomach.
It was the single worst moment in Socceroos history, and it set the game back in Australia at least a decade.
So why don’t we feel the same way about the national team now?
When John Aloisi fired Australia into the World Cup for the first time in 32 years, he didn’t just vanquish a worthy foe. He went some small way to mending the broken hearts of fans who wanted nothing more than to take a place on the world stage.
And when the Socceroos ran out for that first game in Kaiserslautern, it was in front of the loudest collection of hardcore Australian supporters to ever assemble on foreign soil.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
So where are those fans now?
The answers, it must be said, are obvious. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then qualifying for three consecutive World Cups is not really the way to ward off complacency.
Much of the marketing around football in Australia talks about engaging younger fans, but some of those fans weren’t even alive to watch the Socceroos fail time after time to qualify for the World Cup.
And for many of the fans who were, they’ve already watched the national team play on the biggest stage in Germany and South Africa and Brazil.
So how do we re-engage those fans?
It looked for a while like winning an Asian Cup might do the trick.
When Israel knocked the Socceroos out of the 1990 FIFA World Cup amid scenes of farcical time-wasting at a packed Sydney Football Stadium, the thought of one day becoming Asian champions must have seemed more like a laughable pipe-dream.
But Football Federation Australia has largely squandered whatever good will was generated by such an historic occasion.
You know what, though? So what!
It’s not David Gallop who’ll be lacing up the boots on Tuesday night. It won’t be Steven Lowy lining up in a new-look back three.
There’s too much focus on the administration of the game in this country, and not enough on the actual football. And the incessant negativity is seeping into the way we support our national team.
It’s fine to have an opinion on how the Socceroos should play. Ange Postecoglou said himself he wants to see more debate around Australia’s tactics.
But after decades of failure, we finally have a coach who knows what it feels like to win. And after years of being condescended to by foreign tacticians, we now have one of our own at the helm.
(AAP Image/Matt Roberts)
So is it too much to ask to take the night off from criticising, and simply throw our support behind the national team?
You know, the one that plays in a World Cup actually contested by more than thirteen other countries?
It’s about time some Aussie fans remembered just how hard it is to qualify for a World Cup.
We failed in 1966. We failed again in 1970. And we didn’t qualify once for any of the World Cups between 1978 and 2002.
We have the chance to qualify once more for the next World Cup in Russia. But we need to see off Syria at Stadium Australia first.
So let’s fill the stands and tune in en masse on TV.
Because it’s a sad day in Australian sport when trying to qualify for the World Cup becomes nothing more than just another game.
me too
Guest
sorry, completely disagree. the current team has no one of the quality of Kewell, Viduka, Schwarzer, Bosnich, Bresciano, Grella, Moore, Neil, Emerton, Aloisi, or a younger Cahill. Even our next level players in that period contained better players tham most of the current mob. Zeljko KALAC, goalkeeper, Roda JC (Holland), Scott CHIPPERFIELD, Basel (Switzerland) Stan LAZARIDIS, Birmingham City (England), Kevin MUSCAT, Wolverhampton Wanderers (England) Tony POPOVIC, Crystal Palace (England) Tony VIDMAR, Glasgow Rangers (Scotland), Paul OKON, Middlesbrough (England) Josip SKOKO, Racing Genk (Belgium) Danny TIATTO, Manchester City (England), Paul AGOSTINO, TSV 1860 Munich (Germany) Mile STERJOVSKI, Lille (France), David ZDRILIC, Unterhaching (Germany), Jason Cullina, PSV (Holland), Ned Zelic, 1860 München (Germany) Only Mooy and mayne Leckie would fit into that list, with rosy coloured glasses maybe allowing an in form Kruse. Sinclair potential but needs to establish himself somewhere. On top of that Australia birthed or bred players like Ante Seric (Croatia), Josip Simunic (Croatia), Joey Didulica (Croatia), Sasa Ilic (Serbia and Montenegro), and of course Christian Vieri - all in that same time period. Our current problems stem from the fact we are no longer producing many world class players who are capable of playing on the biggest stages in Europe.
j,binnie
Guest
Lionheart- The Manchester United team that visited Australia in 1967 playing to sell out crowds went on in the following year, 1968,to become the first English team to win the then European Cup.. I attended the game at Brisbane and the team on show contained Best,Crerand,Stiles,Stepney Charlton,Aston,Cantwell et al, in fact the only "star" missing was Law who was injured and was replaced by a young Brian Kidd. Some funny stories emanating from the same game was when Charlton volleyed a goal from about 25 metres ,the Qld goalie was searching for the ball behind him and Charlton had to indicate the ball was jammed in the net, up at where it crossed the stanchion.The local referee awarded a dubious penalty to Utd (who were leading 7-0 at the time) in the dying minutes, a kick which Charlton duly despatched into the top tier of a double storied grandstand behind the goal, After the match it was rumoured that the Queensland left back ,a lad called Snaith, gave up the game, stating "if what Best does is playing football then I can't play". Snaith disappeared from the local scene that season so whether he did or not is debatable. Cheers jb.
g
Guest
Agree 100%
Fadida
Guest
Try living in Tasmania then! $500 to get to qualifiers, even the Iran game. Flights, tickets accommodation. Next to us would be locals moaning about the price of the beer! And we never blamed FFA...
punter
Guest
Let's stay playing 1990s football while the rest of world plays 2017 football.
punter
Guest
Saddest day in my watching sport life. But that made 2005 so good.
holly
Guest
"When Azizi scuffed the ball beyond a despairing Bosnich, he broke the hearts of 85,000 stunned fans at the MCG and millions more watching at home on TV. There mustn’t be a single Australian supporter who can watch the video of that goal ,,," Still can't watch it 20 years on
Redondo
Guest
I totally agree - but even for that tiny portion of humanity that thinks an Aussie Rules game is worth commenting on, there won't be anything to talk about for the next 4 or 5 months.
Lionheart
Guest
Pert and Adelaide have had games. If you want a game in Brisbane, tell your premier, sports minister and Tourism Events QLD.
Lionheart
Guest
I'll be brutally honest Redondo, I don't think any game of Ausy Rules, anywhere at anytime, is worth writing about.
Lionheart
Guest
what do you mean it's a sad indictment on me that I can't add on the discussion on football? Comments like that are best ignored, and I think you should refrain from personal insults.
Michael
Guest
They still had to beat France and Sweden; they've ended up finishing ahead of the others so I'm not sure what your point is. That said Bulgaria would give the Socceroos a good run for their money
Lionheart
Guest
Sportsbet's tweet was 'why did they play the opening game of the A League behind closed doors' with a pic of AAMI Park crowd. My thoughts were firstly, crowd was about NRL average size, and secondly, even with just 10K at an A League game, the atmosphere they generate is way way better than any AFL or NRL game. Besides, I flew down from Brisbane for that match. Sportsbet take a lot from sportsfans, is that what they give back?
Rolly
Guest
The FFA the powers that be have destroyed what was once a fantastic brand in the Socceroos .as a fan I have lost faith ,the tèam is too frustrating to watch has been since the last World Cup.the experiment that was is still an experiment for this manager and has continued to be an experiment for this manager .to the point where we are in this predicament I always said Ange was the wrong man for the job he is not a good motivator instilling self belief and punching above our weight has always been the Aussie spirit that has seen this team succeed in the past. .we are simply not good enough to be in Russia thanks to the management,if we were we would have already qualified.
Grobbelaar
Roar Guru
It's a fair enough observation Rick.
Redondo
Guest
Not one game of Aussie Rules, anywhere in the world, worth writing about between now and February 2018. Sport's equivalent of an evolutionary dead-end, doomed to die out. Go away Rick - you have more pressing things to worry about.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
I'll be brutally honest: I don't care. However, I'm quite fond of a few people here and I think this forum would be a lot better if more articles were written to entice talk about the actual football, particularly the A-League.
bobbym
Guest
True cuts to penalty rates and stagnant wage growth amidst higher living / energy costs have to bite somewhere.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
There will be an A-League article every Tuesday morning that I will submit after the weekends action. If there is a Socceroos, Matildas or FFA Cup a few days away, occasionally the subject might steer towards the national teams or cup competition, however, most weeks the A-League will get the attention it deserves from this writer. I'm sure the other guys feel the same way.
marcel
Guest
Qualifying through Asia wasn't meant to allow us to reach the finals on merit...and not be subjected to the lottery of a sudden death playoff. Unfortunately this time around we've demonstrated that we don't merit qualification.