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Opinion
Many a person in football tells me that Australia is not producing the same quality of male players it once did.
They assure me the absence of Aussies in the English Premier League is somehow clear evidence of that fact and that the rest of the world is storming ahead in development as Australia wanes.
I call BS on all of the above.
As it stands, Australia’s national men’s teams appear to be on a firm course and heading in the right direction, albeit, with plenty of wind and choppy seas certain to challenge them in the short term future.
Overnight, the Olyroos secured their second victory of the 12 team Maurice Revello Tournament in Aubagne France, with two second half goals against Mexico securing top spot in their group.
The Olyroos now advance to the final four and the remaining matches in Group C will determine their opponents.
The age restricted annual event is an invitational one which the French have traditionally dominated. The Mexicans have a proud and recently successful history in the tournament, winning in 2012 and qualifying for the semi-finals in each of the last three editions.
However, it the Olyroos’ day under coach Tony Vidmar late on Sunday, in what was a sometimes scrappy affair where the Mexicans did appear frustrated and potentially surprised by the Australian’s quality.
Western United’s Noah Botic scored in the 50th minute and Bristol City’s Marlee Francois sealed the three points with the final whistle looming.
Despite many continuing to insist that the football world, and Asia in particular, is simply passing Australia by, the current squad looks a mighty impressive one on paper.
Marco Tilio, Cameron Peupion, Calem Nieuwenhof, Nectarios Triantis and Jacob Farrell all started against the Mexicans, as Alou and Garang Kuol occupied the bench.
The squad also features Adelaide United’s Louis D’Arrigo, Belgium based Keegan Jelacic and the exciting Nishan Velupillay.
Considering some of the other names we have already seen graduate to the Socceroo set-up in recent times, players like Riley McGree, Keanu Baccus, Cameron Devlin, Kye Rowles and Joel King, I would suggest Australia is doing just fine when it comes to locating and developing its best football talent.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed more young players than usual to the rigours of top tier A-League football and many of the above excelled. Socceroo coach Graham Arnold backed a host of young men who had cut their teeth in the national competition and took them to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
The stunning success and competitiveness of the team flew in the face of those still lamenting the shut-down of the AIS football scholarship program in 2013. People to this very day continue to tell me that we will never again have a team such as the one that qualified and threatened at the 2006 World Cup, thanks to the AIS closure.
Nonsense I say, and the Socceroos greatest ever achievement in World Cup football in Qatar backs the argument of believers in the modern A-League academy structures and the young men that are increasingly receiving international opportunities abroad.
Don’t be hoodwinked by those concerned with Australia’s rare participation in EPL action. The competition is a more akin to a money-making beast that rewards the biggest purse-strings at the expense of the majority and a league that hand-picks the best from all around the world.
Just as many English players have been forced to compete in the lower tiers, or head overseas after being squeezed out of large, expensive and international EPL squads, as were the Australians.
It had nought to do with a lack of talent, poor development or a weak generation that followed the so-called called golden one of the early 2000s.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The global game simply changed and the EPL became a destination league; poaching anyone and everyone they could from weakening European leagues and the new frontiers across the globe.
While it would be nice to see Harry Souttar back at the top level in England, increased opportunities for Alex Robertson at Manchester City and a few other young stars being given a shot in the world’s biggest league, it simply doesn’t matter if they don’t.
The Olyroos and Socceroos are constantly being boosted by the arrivals of new and exciting young players that perform admirably on the world stage. As a result, there is a current belief on the men’s side of the game that had been missing for some time.
No doubt Arnold has had plenty to do with the transition and as his team enters a three-year period of qualification and lead-in to the 2026 World Cup in North America, Australian fans should expect more of the same from what is increasingly looking like an impressive generation of football talent.