The future of Australian football is all up to chance

As Al Pacino famously said in his pre-game address during the 1999 film Any Given Sunday, ‘that’s what living is; the six inches in front of your face.’

I love that image. It presents such a succinct message of opportunity and a blunt reality that strips back much of the nonsense with which our minds can often become cluttered.

It asked a simple and fundamental question to the gridiron team that he was fictionally coaching.

Will you take your chance?

That’s what sport is, in essence. A series of moments and chances that present themselves; begging to be grasped, taken and acted upon.

It is that action that brings about change, without any, the status quo is assured.

Sometimes things pan out perfectly, other times poor decisions sink the athlete further into the mire. The competitor must then wait for the next moment to come along and the subsequent opportunity to extricate themselves.

Australian football exists and depends on the taking of those chances. Just as Jackson Irvine’s early header against Norway on Saturday lifted the nation and brought hope, so too Tim Cahill has pounced at poignant moments; moments that have shaped our footballing history.

Bert van Marwijk has a bucket load of chances and opportunities in front of his face right now. With six substitutions in the Oslo disaster and a match on Wednesday with Colombia where he may mirror that approach, it appears he is willing to exhaust every available avenue in order to find that for which he is looking.

Sadly, some players will miss their chance altogether and Bailey Wright appeared to lose the confidence of the manager in Norway. It was painful to watch. A competent and in-form defender produced a howler of a performance and despite not being blessed with riches in that position, it appears likely the manager will look elsewhere.

Thus a chance will present itself for someone else.

Chances can also slowly dry up and Mark Milligan must be experiencing that feeling as we speak. Frustrated at covering the right-back position after Wright’s exit, the former Melbourne Victory man was time after time confounded down the flank by Mohamed Elyounoussi.

No disgrace there, as the quality of the Norwegian is unquestioned, yet it completes a pattern of recent performances for Milligan where his old legs are becoming increasingly caught out by speedier opposition.

What chance Mile Jedinak misses out altogether when van Marwijk’s plans are formed into a squad? Unthinkable a few years back, yet with Milligan and Jedinak on the pitch together, the deficiencies in speed and agility are magnified.

Both Matthew Jurman and Trent Sainsbury’s June travel plans seem assured after the defensive effort against Norway. It appears they have clasped their chances with both hands while sitting in the stands. Life can be like that sometimes.

Tomi Juric and Nikita Rukavytsya have golden chances right before their very eyes and considering the lack of production in the front third in recent Socceroos’ history, any significant impact at all will put them on the plane.

Van Marwijk himself has taken a considerable chance in this five month adventure. While not long enough to destroy his reputation, it may also be a little too short to achieve anything of substance.

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The FFA have joined in on the risk/reward feel and handed Graham Arnold the post-World Cup reigns and a defence of the Asian Cup title. Many feel this might just be the biggest leap of all and the most significant chance taken on our national team in recent history.

On the other hand, what a moment for Arnold. If he is as improved a manger as he claims to be and continually developing his tactical knowledge, a seizing of the day and a second Asian Cup triumph might just be his defining moment.

More deeply, the growth of the game on a national scale depends on our ability to capitalise on chances and opportunities that exist right now and others that will present themselves moving forward.

Parlaying player participation numbers into A-League support, riding the wave of success of the Matildas and capitalising on booming female junior growth, as well as facing the ever so difficult structural challenges our new, tiered national competition will pose, aren’t things to be feared.

(Photo by Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images)

The crafting of the new and expanded A-League along with a reconnection to a surging NPL should be a challenge thrived upon by those charged with its implementation.

Designing and implementing a working and effective promotion and relegation structure in Australia should also be an enthusiastic endeavour, with the potential rewards far outweighing the undoubted difficulties and challenges along the way.

In this way, Australian football is blessed with chances and opportunities both individually and collectively, despite some negative coverage.

The World Cup in Russia will no doubt be forecast in doom by many, as is already occurring, yet once again the moment is there to be taken.

It might only take an opportunistic goal against Denmark to secure a point or a Mathew Ryan save that ensures all three against Peru. When tallied along with the dour point secured in the opening match against France; knock-out stage here we come.

Sounds somewhat fanciful I know, yet as did Iceland’s chances at Euro 2016.

There are a collection of moments that lie ahead for Australian football and action and initiative rather than indecision and procrastination, both on and off the pitch, is required.

When all is said and done, seizing the moment is what life and football is all about.