Australians expect sporting success. For the longest time we have failed to achieve in soccer. The game in this country was wracked with racial divisions, longstanding grudges and regional thinking. When the Federal Government report into the sport was handed down and a new regime installed, that's when we started to see some success (well, that, and John Safran removing the curse on the Socceroos ;).There has been some criticism of the way Australia has qualified for this World Cup. Apparently, Australia doesn't play with enough style, doesn't dominate, isn't exciting enough, isn't coached by Guus Hiddink.
The people who say this know nothing - NOTHING - about the history of soccer in this country.
They have clearly forgotten the years and years of heartache, where we played well against great opposition - and missed out (Argentina). Where we were about to go through... and got done in the last 15 minutes (Iran). Where we were harassed and bullied at the away game (Uruguay).The main reason we switched from qualifying through Oceania to Asia is so we could qualify in exactly the manner we just have. We used to dominate our local opponents and then have a two-legged tie against high powered opposition, who had just been through a gruelling campaign. They came in battle-hardened; we hadn't seen each other for months.
So we moved to Asia. To do exactly what we've just done. Play a lot of games, build a squad of players, and avoid the lottery of a playoff against a big South American team.
Okay, so we haven't smashed opposition sides. Perhaps that's because other countries also have good soccer teams?? So we're not playing like Brazil 1982. So what? What people need to realise is that making the World Cup is not about playing like the footballing Harlem Globetrotters. It's about results. Pim Verbeek knows this. He's got us to the World Cup. He's done his job. Pim deserves a lot of credit for what he's done.
Now we just need to get to South Africa and see how much havoc we can cause.
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