Socceroos are miles away from the world's best
Val Migliaccio
The Advertiser
March 30, 201312:00AM
MOST of Australia was outraged when the Socceroos lost their 2006 FIFA World Cup second round clash against Italy in controversial circumstances.
Some even said that if the Socceroos had beaten the Azzurri, the FIFA World Cup would have been sitting in Australia in July that year, rather than in Rome.
But seven years on, Australia's chances of winning the FIFA World Cup any time soon are looking like a bad joke.
It's a far cry from the heady days of 2006, when the Socceroos seemingly came of age, beating Japan 3-1 before advancing to the second round.
The Socceroos today are millions of miles away from the best international teams.
Far from matching it with a superpower like Italy, last Tuesday night in Sydney it was clear the Socceroos are now struggling to cope with the minnows of football.
Some say coming from a two-goal deficit to force a 2-2 draw with Oman shows character.
Others look at the scenario and say it's a disaster.
But comparing the starting XI that faced Japan in our first World Cup game in 2006 with the one that faced Oman last week tells the sorry tale.
In 2006, in Hiddink's XI against the Azzurri, he had eight players who were playing regular first grade football with clubs from England's Premier League and Italy's Serie A.
They were players who were forced week in, week out to deal with pressure.
They faced the pressure of winning a starting berth among squads of 30-plus players, the pressure of winning games.
Losing matches would affect their livelihoods and they were under pressure to deliver their best to their fans because if they didn't, supporters wanted blood or they'd chase you out of the club.
It is something most of the the side which faced Oman would never ever know.
Last week, Socceroos boss Holger Osieck had just three players who were playing either in the English Premier League - Mark Schwarzer and Brett Holman, or the German Bundesliga - Robbie Kruse. Only Schwarzer can count himself as a regular starter.
That's just three players who are subject to the daily grind of being part of the toughest leagues in the world, and it's not enough to get the nation out of the pressure cooker like the class of 2006.
Many have argued that Osieck has not selected the right combinations against Oman but when you look at what stock is available, the German does not have an abundance of players who are of the same standard as the 2006 World Cup side.
Critics talk that Osieck's tactics are wrong, but when some players have limited technical ability is it the fault of the German or the fault of the system?
Football Federation Australia chief executive David Gallop says Osieck is under pressure to deliver Australia to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil
But surely Gallop must look deeper than the immediate World Cup issue.
Why can't this nation continue to produce players who face up to the most gruelling leagues in the world?
Sure the A-League has grown in leaps and bounds since 2005.
But eight years later the game is still trying to condense the season to six months because of TV deals and a lack of suitable stadiums.
Then the FFA insists on playing domestic matches during FIFA international calendar dates and Gallop said that won't change soon.
And judging by what some players were doing on TV in being too hilarious, too cute and building their own brands, the buildup to the international game looked like a parody at times, rather than the serious business that it should be.
Qualify for Brazil then take the micky.
But Osieck's best bet may be to try to mould a team together rather than pick a team of "All Stars" minestrone soup.
Spain and Italy are best at using club side footings for their national teams.
Sure Australia doesn't have clubs anywhere near the standard of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus or AC Milan, but familiarity among players would make Osieck's job easier.
For the theory to work, Osieck may need to choose "teams" from the best A-League sides. On that basis Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast could deliver the bulk of the national side's starting XI.
The late Eddie Thompson built his Socceroos 1994 World Cup qualifying side on the defence of Adelaide City's Robert Zabica, Milan Ivanovic, Alex Tobin and Tony Vidmar when Australian football had just a sprinkle of players overseas.
The Adelaide City defence was never disgraced and only a piece of magic from Diego Maradona in Sydney and a Socceroos own goal in Buenos Aires kept Australia out of the US World Cup.
That loss was to Argentina - a 1990 World Cup finalist. Imagine what Australia would have done to Oman with a unified team.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-the-worlds-best/story-fndb5nmd-1226609202736
