Completing a World Cup journey full of unprecedented challenges and hurdles over the past three and a half years is all the motivation Socceroo Mathew Leckie needs heading into next week’s play-off with Peru.
Australia’s path to this year’s World Cup began in September 2019 with a 3-0 win over Kuwait.
Leckie scored a double in that victory, the first of four straight wins before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a shuddering halt.
When qualifiers resumed more than 18 months later, Australia were again in Kuwait, playing in a COVID-19 hub as they completed their initial group stage with four more wins.
Still unable to play at home, Australia began their next stage of qualifying with three more wins to take their run to a record-breaking 11 straight victories.
But just as the impacts of the pandemic started to ease, Graham Arnold’s men hit troubled waters with a run of just one win from their remaining seven matches to miss out on automatic qualification.
Leckie had to miss two camps due to an unwillingness to spend long periods in quarantine away with his family and was selected but injured for the March’s back-to-back losses to Japan and Saudi Arabia.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
He returned to start in Wednesday morning’s (AEST) 2-1 play-off win over the UAE, meaning Australia stand just one win away from a fifth straight World Cup.
Leckie says it is the benefits to those in the team and Australia football in general, which is driving him heading into the Peru game, not proving any doubters back home wrong.
“Once you’ve been here and once you’ve participated in a qualification campaign to make the World Cup, you understand how tough it is,” Leckie said.
“We know how hard it is and how much we have to put in to get those results.
“When you said we’d been written off or people probably aren’t expecting us to be there because of where our players are playing at the moment, that doesn’t really bother me in terms of, that’s not a drive for me to try to make it.
“For everyone, for the country, going to the World Cup is the best possible thing you can do in football.
“It’s good for the game.
“It’s good for younger players that are coming through and get the opportunity to be on the world stage.
“That opens pathways and opportunities because the whole world is watching.
“For many reasons, every player is at a different stage of their career, but it’s super important for so many different reasons.”
Aiden
Guest
As a Rugby and football fan you are talking pure nonsense
Bruce
Guest
As an Australian Rugby Union fan, I will not be too distraught if Peru win. We are in a battle with Soccer for sponsorship, media exposure, fans and players in Australia. Therefore if the Socceroos fail to qualify it will likely benefit Australian Rugby Union.
Hudddo
Roar Rookie
He's Fůcking useless
Keith Griffen
Guest
They’re partially right. The socceroos strategy is run hard, tackle hard and then blame fifa or the referee or euro snobs if the result doesn’t go their way.
Mitcher
Guest
You couldn’t honestly believe they’re being serious. No. I refuse to accept that’s possible.
Full Time NSD
Guest
Pretty good summary of Australian football at the moment
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
So Kyrgios and Tomic is the philosophy we should be following.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Bludger Peru has been using the white shirt with the red diagonal stripe since 1936. Was South Mebourne even around at that time?
Bludger
Guest
Meanwhile Peru cannot even come up with it's own jersey. They ripped off the old South Melbourne VFL team's kit from the pre WW2 era. Australia should win through good old brute force.
Mitcher
Guest
The concept that winning football matches is all about caring more and hunger is the sort of shallowing, base thinking that has seen Australia fail to progress for so long.
Roberto Bettega
Roar Rookie
Noticed this on Twitter this morning. Let us hope it helps put Peru a bit off guard. Former Perú international Ramón Mifflin: “I believe that there is no creativity in Australia, just the left-footer who plays in Frankfurt is the one that worried the UAE. Their goals were presented to them, due to mistakes by their rival. They’re very poor and without ideas.”
Ferno
Guest
I agree and see it often in A-League as well. Aussie football players are not hungry enough. They play football with the same spirit they clean their house. Tediously most of the time.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
The Socceroos for once had the perfect setup air conditioned stadium in the Middle East close to Europe. It would have been a lot tougher if they had to fly to Australia. Arnie's record on logistics is zero. He is the worlds greatest failure in logisitics , Asia cup 2007, ACL he has failed 4 or 5 times in, he has never succeeded with a logisitical challenge. What I dont understand is we have some of the world biggest wooses on this forum trying to pretend a 1 hour flight in Australia in the A-league is they reason their A-league team loses and others have a huge advantage. It doesn't make sense to me how you can think a 1 hour flight is going to affect performance but the 24 hour flight to Australia followed by a 16 hour flight to the Middle East is going to be ok.
NoMates
Roar Rookie
If they really cared they would have qlfy in the group stage, wearing the Socceroo's shirt nowadays is nothing more then a payday/working holiday with no heart in it. Minimal effort produces minimal results.