The Sun-Herald

Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Men Who Fell To Earth

Where to now for the Socceroos?

It's time to get out a map and compass. But luckily (and we've been living on luck for a while) symmetry can be a beautiful thing.

Australia has ridden a recent wave of football euphoria that rose on a penalty shootout against Uruguay and has now been mercilessly dumped hard by losing one against Japan.

Panic not, though, the Asian Cup has been extremely beneficial for the sport and very revealing.

None of that has anything to do with whether Harry Kewell or Lucas Neill missed their kicks in the penalty shoot-out against Japan.

There was some irony, though, that two of the national team's biggest stars, guys that have contributed to the highs, had a role in reaching the lows.

Here's the thing that matters most. Australia entered this tournament half-baked and under-prepared and any success here would have seen us go forward to the 2010 World Cup believing our own hype.

I received an email during the week from someone closely connected to one of the more successful teams at the Asian Cup.

He said that Iraq's victory over Australia gave him a lot of satisfaction because Australia's coach, in particular, had been "very arrogant".

(Dear Arnie, these were his words not mine, so as is often the trait in football, don't blame the messenger).

Whether Arnold had been arrogant is now irrelevant.

The truth is there's wide perception across Asia that the new kids on the block had a swagger based only on a good - not great - performance at the World Cup.

There's a lot of work to do before and during the World Cup qualifiers.

One thing is clear from this tournament. Graham Arnold will not coach the Socceroos towards 2010.

Australia has suffered in the past from not being ruthless with coaches who fail and Arnold admitted that "failure" would be anything less than the semi-finals.

Sure, he had a difficult job succeeding Guus Hiddink, the man who could do no wrong (apparently).

The FFA now knows that having a caretaker look after their property is often not as satisfactory as someone who owns it.

Apparently Dick Advocaat is lined up for the World Cup campaign. He has supporters and detractors.

But there there are no shortage of other options.

Here's something of a world exclusive: Italian coach Claudio Ranieri was interested in the job earlier this year.

For whatever reason, the FFA showed little return love beyond asking for a CV.

The former Chelsea coach instead took over at Parma for the second half of last season, saved them from relegation and is now in charge of a small team called Juventus.

So, the big question is, where to now?

One thing is for sure.

Following the Socceroos is like riding a roller coaster. One thing it can never be described as is boring.

Oh, and another thing... did Andy Harper really say during the TV broadcast of the Japan game that Australia "wasn't diving enough". Did he really say, "It's not cheating, it's clever play..."?

• by Matthew Hall at 12:27 AM
• Comments (75)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Shockeroos: You have to suffer for success

This wreck of an Asian Cup was a slow train coming.

It's easy in retrospect to say "I told you so" but in the words of the late Johnny Warren, I told you so.

Football, on and off the pitch, is full of smoke and mirrors. Bangkok's humidity, however, makes things very clear to see.

Australia, we're not as good as we think we are.

Lucas Neill's bold pre-tournament prediction that the Socceroos would win the Asian Cup is now as laughable as some of Australia's comedic defending.

I used to joke to English friends about our 3-1 win over the Poms in London in 2002.

We didn't win that game 1-0, 2-1, or 2-0. We caned England 3-1.

That joke is now, sadly for me, buried. We beat England in a friendly. Iraq has whipped us in a competition match, in a tournament to decide the best football nation in the region.

World Cup euphoria blurred a lot of people's vision and hearing.

First, Australia was just one missed penalty away from not qualifying for the World Cup.

Johan Neeskens reply to a loaded question during the World Cup about Lucas Neill's potential became classic Chinese Whispers where the next thing we knew the defender was all but a Barcelona superstar.

Reality: Lucas Neill now plays for West Ham.

After controversially losing to Italy at the World Cup, some people in a parallel universe bizarrely suggested Australia could have made the World Cup Final.

Reality: in Germany, Australia only won one game, was fortunate to draw against Croatia and lost two matches. That's only one win (against an Asian team) better than the 1974 team's performance.

More reality: Preparation for the Asian Cup was third, maybe even fourth, rate for many reasons.

- The failure to appoint a permanent coach for this tournament and beyond created paranoia and insecurity within team management before the Asian Cup began.

- The failure to play more than one half-baked friendly against Singapore, and the idea to use Oman and Iraq as "warm up" games has been cruelly exposed.

I could go on but I'm sure you all have your own thoughts about what has gone wrong.

In late May, I asked Mark Schwarzer if he thought Asian Cup preparation was up to scratch.

He gave a hum and a hah before replying: "We won't know until the tournament starts."

Well, we now know.

It's easy to say Graham Arnold isn't up to the task handed him.

It's easy to say that the players have performed so far below expectation that it's comical.

It's easy to say all of that because it's likely true.

Dunga, Brazil's coach, said last week that "You must suffer to have success."

He was fending off criticism of his team after a shaky Copa America campaign.

That tournament 's final will be played on Sunday night between Brazil and Argentina. The weather in Venezuela, the otherwise hospitable host, has been hot, humid, and wet, wet, wet. It has also provided sublime games, exhilarating performances, and some of the best goals you will ever see.

Dunga, though, has a point.

Maybe,this loss to Iraq, a team with a shattered homeland, is the greatest thing to happen to Australian football.

The honeymoon is now well and truly over.

The bandwagon has spun out and flipped over.

We get to learn some humility.

We earn a very public lesson and a big dressing down.

The players' so-called superstar reputations now mean nothing.

We need a coach in command, not just "in charge".

Expect a siege mentality to come from the Australian camp over the next few days.

The traveling supporters however maybe said it best by booing the team at the end of the match.

Football is now a serious sport in Australia with passionate and demanding fans.

The Socceroos can expect to be hailed as heroes when the occasion deserves it.

They represent our own hopes, dreams, and ambitions.

But when things go wrong - very wrong - the truth has to be told.

Nothing comes free of charge and nothing should be served up on a silver platter.

A little suffering might do us all a lot of good.

On a related note, from UK newspaper The Guardian earlier this week:

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"With Harry [Kewell], I've played with him for a long time and it makes it easier because he knows where I run, how I come off defenders, and I know what he's going to do once he passes it" - Mark Viduka on July 7. 2007.

"I'd love to play up there with Johnny [Aloisi]. I've known him for a long time, since we were at the Australian Institute of Sport together, and it would take a lot of pressure off me" - Mark Viduka on July 9.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!

• by Matthew Hall at 02:12 AM
• Comments (56)

Friday, July 6, 2007

The X-Factor

Who will be our Asian Cup superstar?

With the much-hyped tournament set to kick off this weekend, it's a question worth asking.

There was a time not so long ago when the Socceroos were almost a one-man team when it came to mixing ability with celebrity.

If Harry Kewell wasn't part of the team, let alone squad, the boys were unfortunately perceived as the Duderoos, second best also-rans who were largely anonymous, playing as supporting cast to cool Kewell.

But times have, thankfully, changed. Today, the Socceroos are marketed, and largely perceived, as a team.

Kewell remains the marquee name and receives the most attention from the wider world but he's no longer alone in the spotlight.

Big matches often bring out big performances from players prepared to step up to the next level.

With one penalty kick, and one bare-chested run around Homebush, the 2005 World Cup qualifier made John Aloisi a household name across the country.

So too, Mark Schwarzer and his shoot-out saves etched his face into the psyche of Australia, even if Guus Hiddink remained bizarrely unconvinced by his ability.

Schwarzer has star quality, that elusive X-factor, and since that November night has parlayed his profile into sponsorship deals and even co-written a book for kids.

Last year's World Cup in Germany was a spotlight catapault for Lucas Neill and Tim Cahill.

Long time friends, ever since their days together at Millwall, Neill was outstanding at the tournament and his role in that infamous penalty only added to his personal legend rather than detract from it.

Cahill's goals against Japan summed up what Australians like in a hero footballer.

Wind him up, let him go, get one in the net any which way and then follow it up a few minutes later with a sweetly struck drama-laden pile driver.

Hooray! Timmy becomes an instant hero to millions.

But does anyone else have the ability to step up at the Asian Cup?

The opportunity is there but does Brett Holman have what it takes to rival Tim Cahill as a big name player? Perhaps any comparison is unfair.

The Australian obsession with the English Premier League means that many players are, if not outright ignored, then at least overlooked by the public.

That's one reason why, despite excellent reputations in Italy, Mark Bresciano and Vince Grella probably don't have higher profiles at home.

If Bresciano played for Liverpool and Grella was Everton's midfield rock, they might equal Kewell's swaggering star status.

Holman plays for Nijmegen in Holland. You probably can't pronounce the club's name properly, even if you have heard of them.

They are an admittedly unglamorous club in a league where only three sides - Ajax, Feyenoord, and PSV - can be considered heavyweights.

So it's unfortunate that, even if Holman flourishes with the Socceroos, his current club status means that he won't be the next poster boy for the national team.

Not yet, anyway.

The Asian Cup may also provide a big opportunity for Nick Carle.

A favourite at Newcastle Jets in the A-League, Graham Arnold is likely to use Carle off the bench as a Cahill-like gamebreaker if things are getting a little tricky in the Bangkok heat.

Carle last month agreed a move to Genclerbirligi in Turkey, a no nonsense side that had success several years ago when Josip Skoko was an influential member of the team.

But Skoko has told me in the past that while the Turkish league is high quality, with big crowds, and the facilities are often better than what is experienced in England, it comes up as a big fat zero as far as creating a profile at home in Australia.

Two players with a lot of potential to kick through are Sydney favourite David Carney, who could be on his way to Charlton Athletic if a mooted deal goes through, and Patrick Kisnorbo.

With the Socceroos defensive cupboard seemingly bare, Graham Arnold intends to groom Carney as a left wingback and inherit Scott Chipperfield's role.

A defender, rather than a swashbuckling attacking midfielder, the door of opportunity has swung wide open for Kisnorbo, even if he plays for Leicester City in the English Second Division.

He has been constantly linked with a move away from Leicester - a team that seems marooned in mediocrity - and the Premier League beckons.

First, though, for all these players, is the Asian Cup.

Reputations are about to be made or broken.

The stage is there. We just need someone to step up.

• by Matthew Hall at 08:10 AM
• Comments (15)