Australia's World Cup Run Sows Seeds Back Home Down Under
June 28, 2006
The Socceroos' last 16 dice with three-times champions Italy ended with a cruel last-minute penalty that gave the never-say-die Aussies no time to launch another of their trademark fight-backs.
Instead they leave Germany fortified by the country's best-ever achievement in two World Cup campaigns, spanning 32 years.
Back in 1974, Australia's soccer administrators botched the opportunity to cash in on playing at the World Cup. But this time the game is so much better placed to take its rightful place among the mainstream of Australian sports.
Soccer, so long largely the domain of Australia's sizeable immigrant communities, has seized the national consciousness with thousands staying up into the early hours of the morning, following the Socceroos on television, either at home, in pubs or at large outdoor venues.
The Australians' unforgettable come-from-behind win over Asian champions Japan, outplaying world champions Brazil for long periods in a 2-0 loss and their late equalizer with Croatia to advance to the second round captivated the home audience.
It may have ended bitterly with defender Lucas Neill, for many Australia's player of the tournament, judged to have brought down Fabio Grosso for Italy's gut-wrenching penalty, but the die has been cast back home.
Australia's domestic league inundated with registrations
Australia's A-League clubs are reporting keen demand for membership tickets for the new domestic season, which kicks off on August 26 with several of the old guard Socceroos expected to return home from Europe and play out their careers.
The saturation media coverage pushed all of the other codes -- such as Australian rules, rugby union and rugby league -- off the front and back pages while broadcaster SBS Television enjoyed massive ratings for its early morning match telecasts.
One pressing problem for Football Federation Australia is who will replace the irreplaceable Guus Hiddink as national coach.
Dutch master Hiddink leaves legacy but also a gaping hole
Recruited at considerable expense 11 months ago, the master Dutch coach transformed the Australian national team into a confident passing team which more than matched much higher-ranked opponents at the World Cup.
Hiddink, who now becomes Russia's head coach, instilled a sense of belief into the Australian players, along with a much-needed tactical and technical organization and a team bond that was obviously apparent in their matches in Germany.
Australian officials, greatly impressed by Hiddink's influence, want another high-profile international coach to take the Socceroos further.
Australia can expect to improve considerably on its 42nd rating when FIFA issue its next rankings after the World Cup.
Socceroos focus on next step into the big league
Australia's next international incursion will be qualifying for the 2007 Asian Cup finals and beyond that the 2008 Beijing Olympics before attempting to gate-crash another World Cup party in South Africa in 2010.
By that stage many of Australia's long-established stars, among them skipper Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Mark Schwarzer and John Aloisi, will have left the national team, but the challenge will be to unearth new young talent and nurture them towards the next World Cup.
An extraordinary World Cup statistic is that Australia only led in a match for three minutes in their six hours' of playing time in Germany.
Yet despite all of that, the Socceroos were a few seconds away from taking flagging 10-man Italy into extra time and probable victory for a place in the last eight.
Australian soccer has come a long way in a very short space of time and the challenge now is to take it to the next level, both domestically and internationally.