Mate, if I was able to search posts that I put up years ago I'd love to but my account has been muzzled somewhat.
In any case, comparing Australia to Ecuador, or Poland or even Uruguay...nations with f**k all going for them apart from football yeah?! That's just nuts....
I'll say this till the day I take my last breath - Aussie kids have the same skills to a boy/girl as their soccer counterparts on any continent you compare them to...
What our players are missing is "Desperation" and "Poverty".... South American and crappy neighbourhoods the world over produce players for fun..We produce kids paying thousands of dollars to a private coaching clinic teaching them to hog the ball and stand out when some drifter who might or might not be from Pedo FC or Barcelona FC FFS...
That's the exact point I'm trying to make, though.
Australia has been said to struggle to fund the game; nations with nothing else going for them have been able to create programs that keep their football engines pumping.
The need for those kids from poor countries to develop their football skills to escape their cycle of poverty is not in question - I lived in Santiago for 4 years, and witnessed how dire it is first-hand (side story - my sister's school bus was shot at on a school excursion, because Augusto Pinochet's granddaughter was in my sister's class, and was aboard that bus).
My comparison between Australia, and to third world nations was drastic, but it was to serve the purpose of highlighting that if the will exists to fund football correctly, it can be done.
Why it isn't being done in Australia, I can't tell you.
But as an Australian football fan, I'm frustrated watching some of our players play in the international stage, because - quite frankly - the best we have to offer is just not good enough at that level in many cases.
It always used to be a source of humour for people that football was predominantly played by "Mediterranean Descendants", and our Australian teams at the early stages were filled by players with "foreign" blood.
Fast forward forty years, Serbian-Australians are playing rugby league, Greeks are playing AFL, and Pakistanis are representing Australia in cricket.
I am glad to see those sports embracing the cultural shift, and growing with the times, but it seems like Australian football is one of the codes that hasn't developed with the times.
I don't know.
As I said, I'm frustrated watching us struggle to qualify for a World Cup appearance, because it really shouldn't be like this.
