Following a summer that has seen Australia regain the Ashes and Rugby League World Cup, Ange Postecoglou's side can expect a harsh reality check this summer
Tim Cahill - World Cup 2014: Australia
coach Ange Postecoglou facing tough challenge
following unforgettable sporting summer
High hopes: Tim Cahill, the
former Everton forward, can expect to make Ange
Postecoglou's final selection for this summer's World Cup
Photo: GETTY IMAGES
It is fair to say the Aussie sporting public is on a Bondi wave of summer
sporting euphoria. The recent 5-0 whitewash of England in the Ashes series, the Wallabies winning practically all
their matches on the spring tour and Oh! the Kangaroos rounding it out with a
victory in the Rugby League World Cup at Old Trafford have made it a few months
of sports viewing to remember. Maybe unfortunately, the Australian
sporting public demands as much from their heroes in the Socceroo’s shirt, and
despite their team drawing the might of world football in Group B (for Bad,
Brutal and Brilliant if we can get out of it), they expect solid competitive
performances.
Australia’s World Cup hopes
began to fade quicker than a fake summer spray tan when they were pulled from
the bowl after Spain, Holland and Chile. Realistically, when
comparing the sides of our greatest World Cup triumph back in Germany 2006 with
today’s squad, there are plenty of variables that set them apart.
The final squad for Brazil is yet
to be decided by new coach Ange
Postecoglou, but it is fairly certain that former stars Harry Kewell and Brett
Emerton will not be listed on the team sheet. Tim Cahill, Marco Bresciano and
Lucas Neill’s prospects are brighter but there’s an unsettling storm brewing
over Neill’s captaincy as he struggles for competitive club football in the
countdown to Brazil.
Neill continues to reassure fans and administrators that he is the one to lead
the side, but his fate could be decided in the boardroom rather than on the
pitch.
The other notable absence is the
sentimental favourite Mark Schwarzer. The Socceroos brand has dined out on
Schwarzer’s commitment to the national football side since his debut in 1994
against Canada
in a World Cup qualifier (a time when he and a few more of us weren’t so
follically challenged). The 41 year-old and the first Australian
to join the Premier League “500” club, held his No 1 spot on solid, consistent
performances, the kind he recently turned in for Chelsea
in their fourth-round FA
Cup win against Derby
County.
The veteran together with Jon Aloisi were responsible for one of Australia’s most memorable sporting moments after
their penalty save and subsequent shot heroics ensured his country would be
represented at their first World Cup finals campaign since 1974.
The obvious difference between
the teams competing in Group B is the staggering disparity in team values. Australia
is certainly the footballing poorer cousins. In Aussie
dollar terms Spain
is worth a staggering $623.5m, while the Dutch and Chileans hover around the
$200m mark. The Socceroos’s collective value, at around $28m, is probably more
in line with the worth of the Spaniard’s kit man. Money isn’t always an
indicator, though, and converting wealth into results and trophies is never
assured, but given Spain
are the current world and European champions, it’s clear it certainly can help.
Australia’s
young talent prospects appear to be healthy with Robbie Kruse performing well
for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, although rising star Tom Rogic has been
struggling to gain the much needed playing time for his adopted Scottish
Premiership club Celtic.
In some real positive news just
in off the January transfer and loan wires has Celtic manager Neil Lennon
agreeing to a loan deal with Rogic’s former mentor Graham Arnold’s J-league side Vegalta Sendai. This is
wonderful news that will no doubt benefit the 21-year-old in getting match
hardened before the June tournament kicks off.
Another
recent bolter to the squad is A-League
Brisbane Roar midfielder Ivan Franjic. He played right back in the Socceroo’s
recent friendly against Costa
Rica, but his versatility and goalscoring
ability could add an extra dimension to the squad’s attacking options.
One thing for certain is for the
Socceroos to be competitive in Brazil,
they require players at the peak of their powers on the pitch. Just warming the
lush leather seats on the substitution’s bench will not please a hugely
competitive minded Postecoglou as he defines the make-up of his side. Not many
are confident of a knock-out stage berth, but limiting the goal margins to
something other than resembling a tennis score is high at the top of the wish
list after the disastrous “friendly” 6-0 6-0 losses to Brazil and France last
year.
Deep down us Aussies love nothing more than being cast as the
perennial underdogs. Our performances, whilst poor to learned football pundits,
were all cleverly designed to lull our more fancied talent rich opponents into
a deepening false sense of security.
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