It’s not like the Socceroos haven’t faced sudden-death encounters before, but what happens next if the unthinkable occurs and Graham Arnold’s men lose on Wednesday morning?
If you ignore the fact Awer Mabil’s winner technically came from a second ball, it took until almost two minutes from time for the Socceroos to fashion a genuine shot on goal from open play in the 2-1 friendly win over Jordan.
Ever since Ajdin Hrustic smashed home a free-kick in the 2-1 defeat to Japan at Saitama Stadium last October, the Socceroos have only ever looked like scoring from set pieces.
So it was no surprise to see Bailey Wright crash home a header to equalise from Craig Goodwin’s pinpoint free-kick on Thursday, just like it was no surprise to see the same two players combine in the build-up to Mabil’s eventual winner.
If the Socceroos qualify for a fifth consecutive World Cup through a series of set-piece goals, so be it.
What was more surprising was to see the likes of Kye Rowles, Jason Davidson, Kenny Dougall and Nick D’Agostino all feature in an unfamiliar starting 11 less than a week out from Australia’s do-or-die playoff with the United Arab Emirates at the futuristic Al Rayyan Stadium in Doha.
But then Arnie has been full of surprises throughout the campaign.
(Francois Nel/Getty Images)
His decision to overlook both Jake Brimmer and Jason Cummings for the squad to face the UAE surprised many, with the Edinburgh-born Cummings viewed by many in the media as somewhat of an X-factor given his propensity to run at defenders and shoot on sight for the Central Coast Mariners.
Stranger still was playmaker Tom Rogic’s decision to withdraw from the squad for “personal reasons”. Exactly what those personal reasons are remains a mystery, although Rogic is currently without a club after deciding to move on from Scottish champions Celtic.
The loss of Rogic and the fact Aaron Mooy is distinctly underdone means the Socceroos have increasingly relied upon Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hrustic in recent months.
Is he the man to help steers the Socceroos past an Emirati side that finished a distant third behind Iran and South Korea in Group A of the third round of Asian qualifying?
Whoever Arnie turns to – and in the likes of Hrustic, Martin Boyle, Mabil and even the deceptively effective Goodwin, it’s not as through the Socceroos are totally bereft of attacking talent – you’d have to think Football Australia has planned, at least in some way, for the worst-case scenario of missing the World Cup.
Because if the Socceroos overcome the UAE on Wednesday morning, they’ll then face Peru in another sudden-death showdown on Monday, June 13.
(Photo by Mohamed Farag/Getty Images)
And based on what we’ve seen over the past year, the Socceroos will go into that game as clear outsiders.
When Ange Postecoglou stepped down as manager after a similarly rocky campaign in guiding Australia to the 2018 World Cup, Arnold was the obvious choice – following interim coach Bert van Marwijk’s brief stint – to replace him.
And while it’s too early to eulogise a coach who realistically is still only two games away from World Cup qualification, it’s fair to say Arnie hasn’t exactly won over too many new supporters this time around.
The move to the Asian Football Confederation was supposed to provide more meaningful matches en route to the World Cup finals. But while much of Asia has been steadily investing in their football, the Socceroos have been caught standing still.
Missing a World Cup finals for the first time since 2002 would no doubt put a dent in Football Australia’s budget, particularly as they no longer have the A-Leagues to fall back on.
Yet it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
We all want the Socceroos to defeat the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday morning.
But after one of the most difficult campaigns in recent memory, you couldn’t blame Socceroos fans for going into the match with thoughts of 2026 already in the backs of their minds.
Reality Check
Guest
And how many times did Australia qualify for the World Cup under the 'traditional' clubs of the NSL. I'll tell you. ZERO! The NSL never ever got to being fully pro let alone getting a group of players good enough to qualify for a World Cup. If you want a semi pro at best competition then bring back the old NSL clubs. Do they have any fans left? Not much migration from Greece, Italy, former Yugoslavia nowadays, not since the 1960s. NSD will fail and go down like the NSL did. Why do we even need it, you get the same nonsense with the state NPL competitions, but at least now you get some away fans. You won't get that going national.
Bludger
Guest
When I read and hear people eulogising about how 'great' Ange was I just shake my head. We JUST made it and he could see the writing on the wall that we would be also rans at the finals, so he bailed. This team has performed better under Arnold than under Ange. When we lost games they were against a better standard team, Ange couldn't knock over the literal midgets of Thailand. That was embarrassing. And then he gets all nasty because he doesn't like the treatment from the media. He should have been sacked after the Bangkok match, then Oz soccer would have had 'hand' over him. Now he is over there with 5 times the budget of the next club in Scotland walking about Glasgow like he is the second coming. Good luck Ange, prove the mongrels wrong and maybe pinch a result in the finals. We are a chance to make it, but he have to actually beat a pretty handy team to make it. Just a shame it is not the home and away legs then we could see our boys in the cauldron of South American football. That's my only regret, away in Peru and at home in front of 100,000 at the MCG(not that shithole in west Sydney).
Bludger
Guest
Let's face it. All the benefits from qualifying for the World Cup stops at highest levels. The money goes to the players and whatever is left over goes to the suits that run the FFA. They cost a lot of money those administrators. Some might end up in national team setups, like under 23s, Joeys etc. But, lets be honest here. If the FFA is short of money for those programs, they just get the government to pay. To everyone else we just watch the matches stress free. As a lot of matches will be on after midnight, I doubt many will bother watching it live. So, in summary the game won't go anywhere. But the easy money for the suits of the FFA and players wanting to buy their 8th or 9th investment property won't be there this year. I still don't understand why Socceroos players get paid. Even England players play for free.
chris
Guest
My comment was in the context of poor treatment by the media. And how its heavily skewed etc. You troll around here and do what exactly? Tell us how big AFL is lol
AR
Guest
Ha - ok chris. I guess we'll look forward to the next WC article when you bring up - yet again - AFL ratings and attendances.
chris
Guest
AR just go and enjoy your wonderful AFL and quote your amazing attendances and viewing figures to your hearts content. We'll just labour through watching World Cup qualifiers, WC matches, Asian Cups, AFC matches, A League, Euros...I could go on. You can tell us all about how Richmond did against...some other Melbourne suburb. For the next millennia.
AR
Guest
"How’s the AFL attendances? Apart from a few games in Melbourne, you’re getting crowds of 5 to 6k." Average AFL attendances at stadiums so far this season: Optus Stadium - 35k Adelaide Oval - 30k SCG - 28k GABBA - 24k But you're actually right, these figures are down on pre-COVID numbers. I think ALeague attendances have dropped 7 consecutive seasons. This season the competition average was 5.5k per game. The mighty WSW did better - they drew a whopping 7k on average to their home matches at Parramatta Stadium.
chris
Guest
How's the AFL attendances? Apart from a few games in Melbourne, you're getting crowds of 5 to 6k. And you can't refute that AFL doesn't rate in 2 out of 3 in the biggest markets in Aus. Sydney and Brisbane. Hows your bizarro world going?
Garry
Roar Rookie
"Maclaren s goals come in tandem with Nabbout feeding him. Pick one you got to pick the other"..or pick one capable of providing the equivalent service at intl level..personally I think Tilio can do this.
AR
Guest
Uh huh. You know you're living in bizarro world when people are arguing the excellence of the ALeague by citing TV ratings and crowd figures.
Jody Esse
Guest
Arnie likes anyone from an overseas club. Doesn't watch A league enough, otherwise he'd know that Maclaren s goals come in tandem with Nabbout feeding him. Pick one you got to pick the other. Jason Cummings can head the ball, Agostino can't. And so on.
chris
Guest
100% totally agree. Just before Covid I took a junior team to play in a tournament in Japan. I was gob-smacked at the level. Granted they were J-League affiliated academies and high school national champs, but they played at a different level to our kids. Facility wise we aren't that far behind and hopefully we will close that gap soon. We do have some catching up to do however on the playing front.
chris
Guest
Nah what I said holds true. AFL ratings in Sydney (and Brisbane) stink. They are barely ok even when Sydney are playing. Take Sydney out of it and you might as well show info-mercials. The oldies on ch 7 love that.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
What happens if the parents run out of money, kids going to a 20k-40k a year school if the parents hit hard times they still get to do the HSC at another school and go to uni. If we had a system you could only do the HSC at a 20-40k school then this would become the dumbest country in the world.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
hes still young, has a lot of growing up to do.
Dumbo
Roar Rookie
That is one of the most entertaining matches I've seen in years! Apart from the skill (awesome!) what I found most refreshing was the absence of any (inane) commentary. Seriously, everything you said about skill and support (not to mention effort, fitness and commitment) was shown there. It's a pity that there is nothing comparable here.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Garry, Great….??. You jest surely.
Kewell
Roar Rookie
Well Waz, your not going to win if you can’t score. Yes Arnie has made mistakes, most coach/managers do, but when you have a squad devoid of a single stand out player those mistakes become magnified.
AJ73
Roar Rookie
I personally believe that the following are now having an impact 1. Cost - some places charge $1500+. We are lucky we can afford it for my daughter. 2. Coaching - the coaches are taking out the "feel". Instinct is frowned upon. Again my daughter who plays SAP at the NPL1 level was told off to have a goal from 20m out. They were down 0-3 and not looking like scoring. She took the opportunity (just missed) and then was told off. She has a cracking left foot. 3. Getting rid of the AIS academy. 4. Making too early a judgement on players and discarding them, when they may develop later on. Look at Volpato as an example. Yes, I agree with Waz as well, the coach is a major part of the problem/success of a team. It can be wrong tactics with the wrong team (or the other way around). Tactics need to be able to be changed as well, mid-game and mid competition when it is not going well. It can also be trying to identify talent and bringing them into the system as well. It is unfortunately more than just the coach.
TenTribesOfTexas
Guest
You can write it into their contract that in the early rounds the coach only selects a limited amount of players e.g. 12 players of the squad of 23. The rest are selected by a coaching panel until the coach has shown his worth. If the coach does not accept the job bad luck. Someone will. Joe Montemuro, Trevor Morgan are options for Aust in early rounds of qualification. FA is set to.lose $20 mil because they chose to stick with Arnold and it cannot be denied that Arnold is responsible for the failures. The China and Oman games should have been wins not draws and 4 pts were lost to late goals due to Arnolds idiotic & deficient selections and substitutions...