Cloak & Dagger

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It is only a few days out from the start of the Olympic Games. It is rather ironic that the Olyroos Olympic campaign will most likely be determined in 90 minutes of football prior to the opening ceremony. We play Serbia on the 7^th and realistically, three points will probably be required for us to progress. Australia’s victory against Japan in the 2006 World Cup showed how much of an advantage it is to gain three points in the opening fixture against an opponent of similar calibre.

The build-up for these games can probably be described as ‘unfortunate’. The team has not enjoyed anywhere near the support that the Socceroos received in 2006, particularly from the media. The fallout from the exclusion of Djite and Burns has probably taken the shine off selection for the rest of the squad. For basically all the youngsters, this is the first time they will represent their country on a truly international stage with an international audience. But all the media can talk about is who won’t be there. The good thing is that I doubt this will affect how special the event will feel to those in the squad.

And then there are the unfortunate statements by Arnold that this is not his squad and he has been sent there to get results. He seems to be covering his own ass if the team fails or if we resort to ‘ugly’ football. On The World Game, Craig Foster has adopted a similar strategy, jumping on the comment that the squad has been selected for results and arguing that consequently, anything short of a medal would be a failure. Craig seems convinced that Arnold is incapable of getting the team to play decent football so he seems to be pre-empting his attack on Arnold if things go wrong in Beijing. Arnold knows that this tournament is about development as much as it is about results. And Foster would be a very happy analyst if we matched Argentina and lost rather than draw or won because we grinded out the game with negative tactics.

All this is a bit cloak and dagger and is really drawing attention from what we should be focusing on. How does this generation stack up against their international counterparts? I guess in answering this question, drawing Argentina is actually ideal because we will get a gauge of the gap between us and the very best. Will we be brave enough to try and pass through their midfield? Will our defenders have the tactical and positional awareness to track the runs of their players? Will we exhibit the same fearlessness that won us so many fans in Germany?

My biggest concern leading up to the opener against Serbia is our inability to score goals, particularly from open play. The three we bagged against New Zealand were all from set-pieces. In the last three games, we’ve only scored one goal. I haven’t watched those games and I’m not sure if we are creating chances but 1 goal in 180 minutes is concerning.

One final note: the rest of the world, well at least according to this Soccernet article, doesn’t rate us either. We’re rated 13^th out of the 16 teams.

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Filed under Australian Football, Football, Olympics, Olyroos, Soccer