Today’s way fails to produce superstars
World Cup qualifier woes a Roo-d awakening to fact game should be doing better
THE inability on Tuesday night to score a handful of goals against visiting Thailand is not the reason the Socceroos did not receive direct qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Sure, goal difference in the end cost the team, but I’d say it was the 2-2 draw in Thailand in November and last week’s 2-0 loss in Japan that ultimately derailed qualification.
In 10 matches of World Cup qualifying, Thailand only secured two points – one against Australia. Simply unacceptable.
I also believe the Socceroos should have gone to Japan looking to get at least a draw, and then backed themselves to beat Thailand in the final game – two results that would have seen them through to the World Cup.
In the post-match analysis, while former Aussie goalkeeper and Fox Sports commentator Mark Bosnich was unloading on coach Ange Postecoglou, John Aloisi (a star of our 2006 campaign), made an interesting admission when comparing this crop of players to those of a decade ago.
Aloisi said: “We had better players back then. What Ange has done for Australian football, don’t ever underestimate.” My question is why. Soccer remains the No.1 participation football code in the country and the whole structure of the game in Australia has undergone a massive upheaval with the introduction of a national curriculum.
Over 10 years ago a new national league (the A-League) was unleashed and it has been fairly successful.
The game should also have more money with increased revenue from media deals.
And yet, the game continues to falter and the production of world-class players has been muted, at best.
Look at some of the players in the 2006 squad: Mark Schwarzer, Harry Kewell, Mark Bresciano, Vince Grella, Aloisi, Mark Viduka, Jason Culina and Tim Cahill.
These guys were plying their trade in the top leagues of Europe, and got there prior to the introduction of any national curriculum and without the cash being splashed around these days. They did it tough and took risks in foreign countries – they had a fierce determination to succeed.
Today’s Socceroos do not have close to that sort of representation at the highest level.
I am not saying a national curriculum is a bad thing, but if what the game has done in the past decade has not ushered in a new group of superstars, we need to look carefully at the systems in place and decide whether we are heading in the right direction.