Asian adventure pays off for the Socceroos
03/04/09 23:40 Filed in: Socceroos
We always knew the path through Asia would be good for the Socceroos and Australian football. More games against meaningful opposition, a real chance to avoid sudden death qualifiers just months before the World Cup itself, certainly no hostile last minute playoffs against hardened South American opposition, and a new and lucrative market for its players and the local game.
During and after our first Asian Championship we also experienced the more difficult aspects of the move to the Asian Football Confederation. The broad scope of its membership meant that the National Team would be playing in hot, energy sapping conditions one round, then playing a freezing China the next. Pim’s lads would face relentless distractions in between, ranging from flightless chickens on the playing pitch to monotonic and mesmerizing drones over stadium loudspeakers, to fly in fly out 48 hour jaunts to who knows where.
However, this week’s victory against Uzbekistan at a stormy Sydney Football Stadium brought the acute importance of our move to Asia to bear in no uncertain terms. We have all but qualified for the World Cup 2010 a full year before the event even starts. Even though the hapless Qataris have left us with a little more work to do, our qualification is all but secured and we have the best part of a year to prepare for our second successive World Cup campaign.
It’s a far cry from the painstaking playoffs that plagued us in the 80s and 90s and the emotion charged qualification path in late 2005. We now have a year of preparation that will include yet another potential windfall for the FFA as we draw the attention of other top flight national teams. Talk of a match against the Dutch in Sydney or Melbourne has already started, and no doubt many a savvy promoter has pondered an Australia vs England matchup to build the excitement up towards South Africa 2010. The side will have time to consolidate combinations and experiment with variations in formation and approach (two up front, anyone?). In the mean time, there is still the Asian Cup qualification to keep the edge on and remind us all that football is a funny game and there are never any certainties no matter who you are or who you play.
However it pans out, the team that runs out for Australia at World Cup 2010 will have a solid preparation under its belt. We won’t be left wondering just what these Socceroos are capable of achieving. We’ll be watching in South Africa.
During and after our first Asian Championship we also experienced the more difficult aspects of the move to the Asian Football Confederation. The broad scope of its membership meant that the National Team would be playing in hot, energy sapping conditions one round, then playing a freezing China the next. Pim’s lads would face relentless distractions in between, ranging from flightless chickens on the playing pitch to monotonic and mesmerizing drones over stadium loudspeakers, to fly in fly out 48 hour jaunts to who knows where.
However, this week’s victory against Uzbekistan at a stormy Sydney Football Stadium brought the acute importance of our move to Asia to bear in no uncertain terms. We have all but qualified for the World Cup 2010 a full year before the event even starts. Even though the hapless Qataris have left us with a little more work to do, our qualification is all but secured and we have the best part of a year to prepare for our second successive World Cup campaign.
It’s a far cry from the painstaking playoffs that plagued us in the 80s and 90s and the emotion charged qualification path in late 2005. We now have a year of preparation that will include yet another potential windfall for the FFA as we draw the attention of other top flight national teams. Talk of a match against the Dutch in Sydney or Melbourne has already started, and no doubt many a savvy promoter has pondered an Australia vs England matchup to build the excitement up towards South Africa 2010. The side will have time to consolidate combinations and experiment with variations in formation and approach (two up front, anyone?). In the mean time, there is still the Asian Cup qualification to keep the edge on and remind us all that football is a funny game and there are never any certainties no matter who you are or who you play.
However it pans out, the team that runs out for Australia at World Cup 2010 will have a solid preparation under its belt. We won’t be left wondering just what these Socceroos are capable of achieving. We’ll be watching in South Africa.
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