The Socceroos need your attention for more than just the World Cup

"I was also mildly embarrassed that our first-choice defensive midfielder is so slow he could be out-sprinted by a ten year old." I don't follow? Who was the 10 year old that out-sprinted our DM? Or are you using hyperbole to pretend something happened that didn't actually happen? Look, I was disappointed. I was disappointed for myself, because I thought we might qualify for the Ro16 - in reality that wouldn't have happened even if we beat Peru 10-0. I was disappointed for the players, who gave everything during this tournament. But embarrassed? No way. I've never been prouder of my National Team than I was during this tournament. Embarrassment was walking out of AAMI Park after we scraped home against Thailand in a match we needed to win by at least 3 goals. Embarrassment was watching Kyrgyzstan run rings around us under Ange Postecoglou's system. Embarrassment was That Night in Bangkok. Losing to a fine football team like Peru? Never embarrassing. A reality check. PS: As you'd know, I've nothing but utter contempt for "people who aren’t welded-on fans of Australian Football", so I couldn't give a toss what they think about our National Football Team.

Not shame-ridden embarrassment Nemesis, just mild, uncomfortable embarrassment. Shades of grey again. For example, I was mildly embarrassed at having defended Robbie Kruse earlier in the week, on the grounds that he added something defensively, only to see him amble back from halfway oblivious to Carrillo ghosting in behind him to volley home Peru's first goal. I was also mildly embarrassed that our first-choice defensive midfielder is so slow he could be out-sprinted by a ten year old. I was also mildly embarrassed that our go-to guy for goals is 38 years old and has barely played football in the last year, not through injury but because 4 coaches have deemed him not up to it. I was also mildly embarrassed that people like Craig Foster keep claiming we can do better if we just go harder at teams like France and Peru when they are clearly more skilful than us and just as athletic. I could go on and on...but even so I thought Bert and the team did a good job, given the dire state Ange left the team in. But it's mildly embarrassing trying to explain that to people who aren't welded-on fans of Australian Football.

Let me see if I read you correctly. You found it embarrassing that Peru, a team that the world was drooling about the week before the WC Finals kicked off when a video of showing absolutely beautiful football leading to a goal they scored in a friendly went viral, beat Australia - a nation that struggled to qualify for the World Cup tournament and was beaten 4-1 by Norway in a friendly, struggled against Hungary in the week before the tournament & was held by Thailand at home until the 85' in a must-win WC Qualifier? Fair enough. You must live a life of constant embarrassment.

Nemesis - Maybe you didn't, but I found it embarrassing.

"Let’s take our opponents from the other day, Peru, embarrassing us 2-nil when we were the ones who had something meaningful to play for." The old Grobbelaar returning with his snipes. Korea embarrassed Germany 2-0 when Germany were the ones who had something to play for. Those of us who follow football don't find this embarrassing. We find this is what makes football intriguing. It's what makes us get up in the middle of the night hoping that our team who are not individually the best, might pull off a result against more talented opponents.

No, you misunderstand, which is as per usual, no one will change their mind about anything that is written on here in regarding to sporting preferences, i seek to give my opinion. The question was asked, i was actually late to have an opinion in comparison to many others, you dont like it, who cares!.

As always, you misunderstand the point. You are welcome to post here, I just don't understand why you bother. Are you trying to convert all the Football fans who read this tab? That seems like a futile goal. Do you do it out of fear that your code is dying and you are trying to convince yourself it isn't? Why do spend so much time doing something that just annoys your audience? I'm mystified.

I do agree that there is a strong cultural element at play in Australia's Football 'problem', in particular the skills issue. There are four prominent competing football codes in Australia and Australian kids absorb lessons from them all. Inevitably the success-defining attributes of each code become part of their general understanding of how to succeed in sport, including in Football (soccer). Athletic attributes like speed, strength, endurance and aggression are very important in AFL and the Rugbies. Of course, skill is important too, but far less so than in Football. Because those other codes are so prominent in Australian sport, the athletic attributes which lead to success in those sports bleed into the general Australian sporting mentality. And so, every Australian Football (soccer) team I can recall, successful or not, has relied far more on athletic attributes than skill. Postecoglou's approach was notionally about playing more skilfully, but at heart his approach was as focussed on the athletic skills as anything seen previously. Given the choice, he went with physical dominance over aesthetics every time. Smith over Behich/Gersbach, Jedinak over Luongo/Milligan, etc. He struggled to find a role for Rogic. Leckie had no real competitors but he is a beast of an athlete and would have been picked regardless. It's far easier to sell athleticism to kids as well. Learning skills requires concentration and countless hours of repetitive and often frustrating practice. Athleticism, on the other hand, is a natural attribute and far more straightforward to enhance. That is definitely a cultural problem which money might never cure.

LOL, There we go, just as i thought - stop the discussion, dont post here. The question is asked why doesn't soccer have more interest, the question is answered, you dont like my reasoning, so I should stop posting. You related to post hoc ?. He manages to comment on articles i have written which i actually encourage, but then proceeds to tell me not to comment on this TAB. Furthermore i am just reporting what the ABS found and the AFL is just a small part of why soccer has less interest, it really has nothing to do with it. Interestingly though soccer in this country has more immigrants attend matches than Australian born, makes you wonder where all those waves of immigrants have gone before them in the last 150 years.

Not really. The real interest point is knowing what hole in your life you are trying to fill when you endlessly bang on about the relative 'success' of AFL in this country. And why do you do it on the Football tab?

Soccer has been built on the back of immigration to this country, generally Post WW2 and generally via Southern European migration. That era has come to an end The southern Europeans that now are kids or grandkids of post WW2 immigration have a much wider sporting interests and no longer base or define their sporting culture around soccer like they once did. There is your interest point.

MQ - money might not be everything but it sure helps. The recent improvement in Peruvian football is probably connected to the stunning 15-year reduction of the poverty rate in Peru from around 50% to around 20% of the population.

1. Yes it is. 2. No you didn't.

No, just a silly ramble from you wanting discussion shut down. I actually attempted to answer a post with reasons why soccer struggles.

This is a discussion

Or a discussion of course, which seems to be beyond you.

This tab desperately needs a dose of digital weedkiller

You are not the only one, i refer to ABS statistics. Amazingly Australian Rules football gets more attendance from English and non English speaking immigrants than soccer does. http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/4156.0.55.001~Dec+2009~Main+Features~Migrants+and+Sport?OpenDocument Many immigrants come from countries where soccer is the be all and end all, when faced with a myriad of options that we in this country provide soccer loses plenty of traction. I would also argue that as many immigrants move up the chain to better jobs, lifestyles and education their interests become spread over a number of sports.

The problem is I would like the Socceroos to improve, but not enough to watch the A League, or anything else for that matter, because I just find soccer dull and unengaging when removed from the spectacle of the World Cup. If I could guarantee the Socceroos a place in the final by watching every match between now and the next WC I still wouldn't do it.

Shout this from the rooftops my friend until it sinks in. SOCCER CULTURE.......don't have this in spades, we will not grow.