Socceroos complete perfect second round with win over Jordan

When Australia starts beating some footballing nations that people have heard of I think there will be a lot of interest. Yes I mean the Italies, the Frances, the Argentinians, the Welshman or the English. Until then they will be a league One national side equivalent.

Stu please share (for my education) participation numbers of league against...say...sokkah. When you only watch channel 9 and read the daily terror you'd think the world rotated around SOO. Sadly, its not the case.

I’m confused, he’s mischievous but it’s not clear which sport he is trolling. I’m a rugby fan, obviously rugby is less popular than football in Australia. Rugby is, sadly, a dying game here. Also, as a fan of both codes and knowing many many rugby fans, I just don’t think the codes eat each other. In Australia rugby’s threats are the NRL and the AFL.

See Stu, you are focusing on the local game only. I agree that the masses who play football subsequently watch AFL/NRL, but you are mistaken that these same don’t follow football, maybe not at the A-League level, but they would have their European team, they have knowledge of their best players are in their respective teams. 95K people watched Liverpool play Melbourne Victory & sang that song for a practice match. 99K went & saw Ronaldo play in Melbourne another friendly. Now this is foreign football clubs Now look at Euros, this weekend England v Scotland, visit star City & see the support & this is 4.30am you now only looking at Diehards, there will be thousands in their houses tuning in for this too. Likewise in Italian, Croatian households & many other nationalities in Aussie homes. Now this is Euros. Look at the Asian cup in Australia, they were blown away by how well that was attended. Sth Americans Copa Americas for all those Sth Americans living in this country & lovers of Messi. You now have Sam Kerr, she would be arguably Australia’s no 1 sportswomen, without doubt in top 3. You have your 4 year sporting interest in the world Cup that captures the hearts & minds, now while not as big another one in the women’s world cup, then you also have the Olympics where they are another big attraction. The NRL & AFL have none of this. I can assure you Messi & Ronaldo is bigger in Melbourne then any RL players and bigger in Sydney then any AFL players. Now you have the A-league, yes very, very far behind the NRL & AFL, you got me there.

Chris...thank you for your polite post. Please share the viewing figures for this country for my education against say - State of Origin. Also, in your post, participation numbers are raised, I do question the inference that the masses therefore support the professional game in this country at the stadium or from the lounge chair. Many play it as a non-contact fitness experience and would subsequently sit down to watch AFL/NRL. It’s an old and tired chestnut that has not been quantified as beneficial to the professional game here. Attendance and viewing figures I think would be a fare indication of this. My point is, the game has no clear path to growth until the current and historic position is clearly accepted that the game is not well supported in this country. Many ignore this and clearly assume soccer is a leading contender for best supported game we have here. I don’t see this as being the case.

Thanks Pip.

Boyle had his best match of the tournament, it looked like he adjusted to the heat. At the moment Hrujstic in the first game and him look a cut above all the other attacking players. Hrujstic had a terrible game and its due to Arnold playing him in every match. Jackson Irvine handles the heat very well, physically he dominated but his control and passing under pressure were lacking. Dougall in this match was put under pressure and the same applies to him. The same can be said for Metcalfe and McGree. The back three struggled to play out from the back. If you have a back three you need at least one who has a good passing game, Sainsbury did better in this aspect in his previous game, the other two rarely play forward. Maybe Karacic could provide that in a back three

Thanks Pip :laughing:

Stu - you are quite clueless. Add up all the viewing that happens across ALL of football in Australia. Not just A-League...all the football. Both on media and live. Participation dwarfs the other codes. I think thats what Punter was trying to say. You saying "oh only every 4 years blah blah" shows your ig norance. Ok - go back to watching channel 9 and 7 and Murdoch press.

He'll be back

Johan, you are assuming a zero sum game; evidence suggests otherwise.

Basra, though it depends somewhat on the willingness of the opposition. From memory they played a game or two in Erbil initially (Palestine and Thailand?).

Punter....you list many Football events taking place around the globe at the moment, the size and following of the game is never going to be under question, however I can't see how the perpetual tale of the Australian Football masses hidden behind a vale is being translated into a very visible support. I am no supporter of AFL nor RL, but aside from the 4 yearly sporting interest if the national team qualifies for the WC the visual support that is committed to the sport is simply not apparent when comparing to the other codes. I love football, but tired of the great enlightenment that keeps alive a false dawn.

Are Syria actually playing in Syria these days? What about Iraq these days, do they play home games in Iraq now?

The Socceroos were sponsored for decades by Qantas too, no?

Meant to be ‘makes good business sense’

punter - sadly you appear unable to understand. AG074 seems to have understood it though. I make no mention of the NRL and AFL as they are domestic codes and although they are more popular domestically they are not in such direct competition with Association Football as Rugby Union. Rugby Union is an international football code and thus is in more direct competition with association football. These codes attract different additional media funding streams and often different sponsorship compared to Australia’s domestic codes. An example is the wallabies who for many years were sponsored by Qantas which makes sense for good business Qantas as their product is also relevant for foreign fans watching the games in South Africa or England for example who might also use Qantas.

"I’d personally like to see him in the lineup without sacrificing an attacking player" - In a squad that had 7 strikers and 6 central defenders, GA could have put them into a 5-3-2 formation. That would provide an extra defender to cover for Souttar when he goes forward while also having 2 strikers up front. It might often be thought of a defensive formation, but it can also be attacking. STRIKERS Duke, Maclaren, Rukavytsya, Taggart, Giannou, Boyle, Leckie NOTE: Hrustic was the only player to manage a shot on target in the opening half

Well done Arnie.

With all due respect Johan, Socceroos is not a code, it's out national football team. Football is the code, much bigger then just the Socceroos. Football is already bigger then those 2 codes you talking about, Rugby League & AFL. We have the aforementioned Socceroos playing in the World cup qualifiers, we have Matildas playing friendlies in preparation for the Olympics, we have the Olyroos playing in friendles in preparation for the Olympics. We have the Euros going on & Many Australians are following the fortunes of their parents countries in the 2nd biggest sporting event in the world, plus many football fans also following their favourite EPL players in the Euros. We also have the Sth American Copa America going on, with probably the most popular national team in the world Brazil playing in it, plus lots of other Australians having connections with their Sth America roots, not to mention Messi. We also have the A-League finals going on this weekend, all on the back of some great news in regards to TV rights for next year for football & A-League. I know you may think this is not as big as; AFL & all the Collingwood saga & the issues with Buckley. Rugby League with the state of Origin. But others think otherwise.