It's do or die for Socceroos

After the surprise of failing to qualify outright for the 2018 World Cup, Australia awaits the fate of one of its most treasured national teams, the Socceroos.

The Socceroos failed to qualify ahead of a far inferior team in Saudi Arabia, and because of that the boys in green and gold had to face off against fairy-tale side Syria.

Syria is coming off their greatest year in football. They reached their highest ever FIFA ranking in September, climbing to 75 in the world. Only recently did they drop down to 77, which remains a great achievement. For the national team of a war-torn country like Syria to get this close to qualifying is one of the greatest sporting feats of the past 20 years.

Unfortunately Australia ended up defeating Syria 3-2 on aggregate. Australia’s greatest ever player, Tim Cahill, scored a late header to secure the Socceroos another qualifying round.

It was a hard wait for Socceroos fans, players and staff to see who they would face in the last leg of qualifying, and the opponents were revealed to be Honduras.

In my opinion Honduras was the best possible choice. They have won eight, lost six and drawn seven of their last 21 games, whic is quite a mediocre stat line. One of those losses includes one of their biggest ever defeats against the USA, ending 6-0.

(Image: Matt King/Getty Images)

It can also be said that Honduras has a ridiculously bad World Cup record. Of the three times they have qualified, in 1982, 2010 and 2014, they have won no
games and drawn three. That is a horrifying statistic for a team aspiring to qualify for their fourth World Cup.

But the Socceroos’ recent statistics are not flattering. either. Of their last 12 games the Australians have drawn five times, won four times and lost three times. The stats are a bit more promising than those of Honduras, but the latter played quite a lot more games recently.

When it comes to World Cup statistics, though, the Socceroos trump Honduras. In four appearances the Socceroos have drawn three games and won two, and they progressed to the round of 16 once, in 2006. Those statistics are not fantastic, but they are a lot more promising than Honduras.

Australian coach Ange Postecoglou has received a lot of heat lately. Critics ask: if the Socceroos fail to qualify, should Ange resign or get the sack? Nothing against Ange, but should they fail to qualify, I think the best thing for the team and also for Postecoglou would be for him to step back.

The easiest way for Australia to reload and start again ahead of the 2019 Asian Cup and 2022 World Cup is to start completely anew – new coach, new gameplan – and youth will be the key.

The next question is: who should take over? That is a big question, and it all depends on what direction the board wants to go in.

It should be said that Ange has not done a bad job – he’s probably the best coach the Socceroos have ever had. He has led the team to one World Cup – possibly two – and they won the Asian Cup in 2015, which was a tremendous accomplishment.

(AAP Image/Matt Roberts)

One direction I have been all for since day one – but one that a lot of people are against – is to hire a non-Australian coach, preferably a European or South American, where the football is at its peak.

International coaches have been quite successful in Australia in the past, including achieivng the following milestones for the nation:

• First World Cup qualification – Rale Rasic, Yugoslavia, in 1974;
• First Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup win – Rudi Gutendorf, Germany, in 1980;
• Oceania Football Confederation Nations Cup win – Eddie Thomson, Scotland, in 1996;
• Confederations Cup runners-up – Terry Venables, England, in 1997; and
• First World Cup round-of-16 qualification – Guus Hiddink, the Netherlands, in 2006.

Cases can also be made for Aussies Frank Farina, the most decorated coach in Socceroos history, and of course Ange Postecoglou.

Qualifying for the World Cup is also down to the players. The Socceroos have a very talented squad this year and should perform well if they qualify. No matter the talent, though, anything can happen.

Rewind to 2010, when the Socceroos easily cruised through the qualifying stages and went in ranked at a very high 16 in the world. They ended up winning one game and failing to qualify further. That was the best qualifying the Socceroos have ever accomplished, but they failed to find that form at the actual ceremony.

The boys had a very rough qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, but they performed the best of any Socceroos team in history. Maybe that was a wake-up call for the players to dig deep after qualifying – and maybe it’ll be the same for our boys in 2018.