Guest Article: Preparing for South Africa 2010

Here is the first of hopefully many contributions to Whenballmeetsfoot from Martin Cassidy, who will be writing on all things related to Australian football. As I live in Europe it is difficult to keep fully up to date with all of the happenings in the Australian league (thank god for the internet and SBS!) whereas Martin still has his finger on the pulse living in Melbourne and sitting in our old seat at Melbourne Victory games on the half-way line. Likewise with the national team. Martin's knowledge of Australian football is second-to-none in my experience so sit back and enjoy this, the first of many articles!

Vincent


Two matches played tonight, on opposite sides of the world, will pose some very serious questions for Australia’s credentials to qualify for South Africa 2010. In London an under-strength Socceroos squad faces a near full-strength and world-class Nigeria. The Socceroos go into this friendly with no fewer than ten possible first team players unavailable. Meanwhile in Gosford on the central coast of NSW, the Olyroos host Iraq in a must-win fixture to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

While Viduka remains uncommitted to the upcoming qualification campaign, the others unavailable for the Socceroos include Bresciano, Grella, Culina and late withdrawal Cahill, all of whom would feature in our best national team. Moore, Aloisi and Thompson were overlooked because the A-League does not adhere to the FIFA calendar, ironic considering the years of hardship endured for Australian teams struggling to have players released by their big European clubs; more so considering we need those clubs to release players outside FIFA dates due to the nature of Asia’s world cup qualification schedule. But that’s for another time. Therefore, Viduka’s natural replacement Aloisi again misses out, Thompson cannot fill the void and Kewell is just returning from injury. The positive aspect is a chance presented to Celtic striker Scott McDonald, having missed the Asian Cup and Argentina friendly, while Josh Kennedy has another opportunity to impress.

The midfield stocks are badly depleted with our best four all missing this match. Add to that the absence of Holman who has played in the hole behind the strikers, Cahill or Bresciano could have taken that role tonight, a fully fit Kewell would be the first choice there but instead that position, if utilised, will be filled by Nick Carle. Defensively, Moore has not played for the national team since this equivalent game against Ghana at the same ground last November. He would most likely still play as the second central defender if available but as was the case against Argentina, Michael Beauchamp will play alongside Lucas Neill. The other key absentee is Mark Milligan who is playing for the U/23 side and he would have had some chance of playing for the Socceroos tonight, even with all players available.

The Socceroos are further tested by the fact Rob Baan, FFA technical director, is taking charge of the group for the first and only time. Graham Arnold is now the Olyroos boss and Dick Advocaat was expected to be the incoming Socceroos coach, although that deal has today collapsed. Again, that’s for another time. Given the absentees, the confusion no doubt felt by the players over the Advocaat decision, and the quality of our opponent, it will be very interesting to witness how the experienced Dutchman Baan sets the team out. The 4-3-3 system normally used since Hiddink took charge may need to be tinkered with to accommodate the tall and short of Kennedy and McDonald. Assuming Kewell cannot start the game, I would expect a variation of 4-4-2 with Valeri behind and Carle in front of midfield. With an abundance of left sided players, Baan has an interesting dilemma in which of Chipperfield or Carney play defender and attacker, again assuming Kewell’s role is as substitute.

Regardless of pre-game speculation, Nigeria poses a massive challenge to the Socceroos. Among the four truly world-class African nations, they have incredible talent up front, combining skill, speed and strength. Late withdrawals Kanu and Utaka leave no problems for Berti Vogts who has Martins, Yakubu, Anichebe, Makinwa, Odemwingie and Ikechukwu to choose from. That’s a somewhat different selection headache than for Baan. John Obi Mikel adds further goal scoring potential from midfield and defensively they are solid, notably with Yobo and Taiwo.

The Socceroos of the 2006 World Cup were heavily influenced by the 2000 Olympic squad – Emerton, Grella, Bresciano, Neill and Kewell had he been fit, were all of that generation. In addition, Viduka came in as an overage player. The 2004 Olympians who reached the quarter finals included Wilkshire, Valeri and Holman, Carle was not selected while McDonald, Kennedy and Kisnorbo are also of that era, rising through the national youth teams. Their World Cup is 2010 and while all the missing midfielders from tonight’s Socceroos will be still in their prime for 2010, the opportunity for the generation following is tonight in those absences.

The next generation have their chance to stand up in Gosford. Entering this penultimate round of Olympic qualifiers, with only the group winner advancing, Australia trail Iraq on goal difference alone. Having already seen off Iran, this group of Olyroos has real potential and are worthy of an Olympic campaign. Unfortunately, so too is this Iraq side, featuring seven of the squad that won this year’s Asian Cup. That these two teams met in the quarter finals of the last Olympics demonstrates the difficulty facing Australia since the move to the Asian confederation. That Iraq defeated us in that match, as well as at the Asian Cup, presents a bad omen and a daunting task.

Australia faces two difficult matches tonight, one a must win, the other a game in which a strong performance is a minimum requirement. Fingers crossed it all works out.