Our destiny lies beyond this World Cup
Like many others I have been reflecting on what this World Cup has meant for Australian Football. The conclusion? The journey is just as important as the end result.
32 Nations fought long and hard for qualification and a chance to grace the fields of South Africa in the hope of snatching an elusive win, the chance to dream of taking the scalp of a Germany, Spain, Italy or Brazil. Socceroos fans around the country and the world dreamed of a repeat performance, and maybe, a better performance than last time, or maybe just a bit of Karma.
But, if I could take the liberty of getting all Les Murray-esque for just a moment, Football is not always a game that rewards hope or delivers justice. It is often a cruel master that punishes weakness and inadequacy as relentlessly as it deals out inexplicable results, undeserved victories and little reward for massive effort. Like life itself, the best and most gracious do not ways come out on top. A mirror to society, and a reminder that yes - life is hard. A team game, that requires a melding of minds beyond the 11 players on the field, the subs on the bench or the manager steering the tactics. And so many variables to throw off the best laid plans...vuvuzuelas, Jabulani, Pim Verbeek etc.
Cruel Master.....
So when there is imbalance, uncertainty, a chink in the armour, lack of resolve and just downright poor decision making, we get results like the one for the Australians against Germany at this World Cup. Football, however, like life, can also spring a surprise and turn of fortune like no other sport. As football fans we know this, and this tension is what addicts us to the game.
What the Australian general sporting public are also beginning to realise, though, is that as one tournament comes to a close, so many new opportunities arise for the game. The talking points are massive no matter what the results. New managers, Asian cup campaigns, a new set of qualifiers to play, new young stars emerging, a new A-League season - these just scratch the surface of what we have to look forward to seeing and reading about. The implications of Australia as a respected world football nation, as we now undoubtedly are, mean that our football destiny is not tied up with making the second round of a tournament, or playing friendlies against England to a sell-out SCG. The exposure the game gets from being part of a massive world movement should sustain it in perpetuity.
Our destiny lies beyond this World Cup, and in fact it lies beyond any World Cup. It is tied in to the swelling tide of momentum that simply comes with being part of World Football..
So was I disappointed we did not make the round of 16? Yes. But this World Cup lacked the overwhelming urgency for success that lingered over Germany '06. It was not do or die for the game in Australia, because with every year that passes, with every event, it is becoming clearer that we are mixing comfortably into the company of other nations who love the game.
So it eased the pain. We should enjoy the ride, and look forward to the next four year journey and all that it throws our way.
This article appears in Half Time Heroes World Cup Review Edition
Get it!
Cruel Kewell World
For proud Aussie fans watching World Cup 2010, it hurts, because the slow motion and stills give us the real answers. There is movement of the hand, but it seems to be associated with an attempt to chest the ball. Look at his head though - perfectly still - he has no idea, the ball is coming so quickly. Deliberate - no way! Unfortunately however, if the arm is extended from the body, it is deemed that way.
Harsh, harsh luck. Whatever the case, proud Socceroos, you can hold your head high.
images via Videos : Ghana v Australia : The World Game on SBS
Footage Found: Aus v Chile WC 1974
If you are trying to put faces to names, the line up looked like this:
- [1] Jack REILLY (GK)
- [2] Doug UTJESENOVIC
- [3] Peter WILSON
- [4] Manfred SCHAEFER
- [5] Colin CURRAN (-83')
- [6] Ray RICHARDS
- [7] Jimmy ROONEY
- [8] Jimmy MACKAY
- [11] Attila ABONYI
- [12] Adrian ALSTON (-65')
- [20] Branko BULJEVIC
- Substitute(s)
- [21] Jimmy MILISAVLJEVIC (GK)
- [22] Allan MAHER (GK)
- [9] John WARREN
- [10] Gary MANUEL
- [13] Peter OLLERTON (+65')
- [14] Max TOLSON
- [15] Harry WILLIAMS (+83')
- [16] Ivo RUDIC
- [17] Dave HARDING
- [18] John WATKISS
- [19] Ernie CAMPBELL
Rale RASIC (AUS)
Rumour: Socceroo's World Cup strip revealed?
Pop on over to their site for a sneek peak.
Found: England World Cup Bid - Secret Weapon
Great shot of Bob Marley on Tour in 1973, stopping in at the local sports store to admire the wares. A big football fan, Bob Marley named his first son Ziggy after a soccer term that meant to zig-zag and dribble the ball. Anyone got a credit for this photo? - it’s a cracker......Don’t let the Pommie bid team see this image, it might push their bid over the edge.
Australia's World Cup Bid 2018-2022 Launched
The Blatant vested media interest trying to blemish Cahill & the World Cup Bid being launched today was thinner on hairs than a Pim comb over. Just another Dinosaur trying to divert attention away from yet another NRL scandal. The fact that the telegraph editors RANG Buckley to DEMAND an enquiry is absurd! "We demand you make this a story!". Let’s see the CCTV footage. Let us see the Police Investigation. At LEAST get Chk Chk Boom Girl to fake an eye-witness account!
If the dinosaurs at Murdoch Press don't understand the sport and cannot cover it, their job is threatened and they become irrelevant, so the next best thing they can do is to bring it down. Same old story. Meanwhile, a successful World Cup bid would bring in multiples more revenue to the country than most major sporting events combined.
Click below to watch the official film. Its a cracker.