Tomorrow morning at around 3am, much of the world’s population will clamour around televisions to witness the laying of next year’s FIFA World Cup foundation in the form of the group stage draw.
Luckily enough, Australia will ‘dance’ (as Ange Postecoglou eloquently stated) at the World Cup for an unprecedented third straight time.
Given Australia’s changing of the guard, this tournament will be an extremely difficult one to navigate.
An array of questions will be answered but, regardless of who we draw, there are certain groups which would give Australia some respite from a logistical perspective.
I would love to see Australia face the traditional giants of football, in particularly Brazil on home turf, pass-masters Spain in their prime or old rivals England.
Each match-up would provide a global spotlight on the national team and reciprocal exposure of the A-League to hundreds of millions worldwide, trusting Ange selects some local lads.
This hype should hopefully make our boys more formidable foes than our ranking suggests.
Being nestled in Pot 3 ensures we are drawn against an intercontinental seeded nation from Pot 1 (Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Germany, Colombia, Switzerland, Belgium, Uruguay), an intercontinental unseeded nation from Pot 3 (Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d,Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Ecuador or randomly drawn unseeded European nation) and an unseeded European nation from Pot 4 (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia).
Our three group games will harness our total focus in preparing for the tournament, as others will be aspiring for greater heights.
Hence, where and when we play these games is crucial to our chances of success.
Brazil is South America’s largest country. As such, the vast majority of teams will be subject to travelling long distances to play their group matches in various corners of the country.
The organisation of group games throws up the chance of playing matches in the tropically hot and humid north, relatively temperate centre and cooler south over the space of ten days.
Travel usually wouldn’t play such a major role in the performance of teams at World Cups as momentum seems to carry national setups, however this dense period of multiple acclimatisations threatens to stunt many team’s ability to perform at the highest level consistently, not just Australia’s.
Being a Pot 3 nation, the groups we will therefore want to avoid are D, E and F.
(All groups follow the pattern of facing team 4 followed by team 1 [seeded], then team 2.)
D: Starting in Amazonian Manaus then a 2600km journey and quick turnaround to play in drastically cooler Sao Paulo, four days later finishing 500km north in more temperate Belo Horizonte.
An epic journey in distance and climate, one that would test any team.
E: Commencing way below in much colder Porto Alegre, 2200km four day turnaround playing in scorching Salvador followed by a trip to the Maracana in Rio 1100km away to wrap it up.
An arrangement that ensures each of Brazil’s climatic bases reached in a short period.
F: Begins in Curitiba but moves north to Belo Horizonte and Salvador on subsequent match days.
The move from altitude to tropical conditions, although relatively shorter in distance of 1800km, would pose a great physical challenge over ten days.
The best possible groups for Australia are A and B.
A: An opener in Natal is succeeded by a match against the hosts in Fortaleza with an extra day to prepare for the final game in coastal Recife.
Comparatively shorter travelling times are complimented by consistent, however tropical conditions in the north east pocket.
B: Kickoff in the humid Pantanal city of Cuiaba followed by a short flight south east to Rio to face our seeded opponent at the Maracana with an extra day to prepare for our final match in nearby Sao Paulo.
Conditions vary slightly but the stability of our final two matches provides a sound platform.
A round of 16 showdown against the hosts would loom if the Socceroos were to qualify.
The Socceroos have already done our nation proud to reach the tournament. The reality is that the organisation of group matches across Brazil over a short space of time could make for a bumpy ride for our boys in Green in Gold.
Time to tango!
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