I barrack for Richmond in the AFL. After an extremely dark period, we have had a lot of success recently. I only say that to set the scene for the next sentence.
Australia’s victory over Denmark is the most satisfying fan experience of my life.
(Yes, I’m being a prisoner of the moment. Also yes, it is awesome.)
I bet that I’m not alone in feeling like this, at 9:20am AEDT, 5 hours after the game. There is no unifying force in this country like the Socceroos and when they are successful like they have been at the 2022 World Cup.
It doesn’t even matter that we’re (probably) not going to win the World Cup, the fact that we’re winning at the World Cup is extraordinary enough for me.
I’ve been trying to work out why the Socceroos mean so much to me when I am, truly, a football casual. I was an inaugural member of the A-League but let the membership lapse last year because I just didn’t get to enough games the last couple of seasons. I very seldom watch any Premier League Matches. I just have enough knowledge that I can chat about whatever is going on in the EPL with my mates who love it.
The point is, the World Cup shouldn’t mean as much to me as it does. And yet. There I was at 2am, waking up nervous. At 4 am, freaking out and begging that the referee blow the whistle before he spotted another phantom penalty that, thankfully was offside, and cursing at VAR for disallowing the Griezmann goal.
Then there I was, welling up at the final whistle, in disbelief that we had just won twice in a row at the World Cup. Keeping another clean sheet somehow and not even really giving the Danes any gilt-edged chances. I am seriously pondering whether Harry Souttar is the greatest Australian athlete of my lifetime. I am also wondering if Mat Leckie has had Phar Lap’s heart inserted into his chest. That guy is a racehorse that wouldn’t know the word quit if it slapped him in the face.
Why does it matter so much?
I think the answer is twofold.
The first reason is scarcity. FIFA has done virtually everything wrong basically for as long as I have had any awareness of what it is that FIFA does, other than make video games. The only thing that they haven’t done wrong is make the World Cup more frequent. It’s every 4 years. At least until now, it’s hard to get in, though I know this soon will change. We’re always the worst or second worst team in the group and yet I always talk myself into us getting out. What is the point of being negative about it? Give yourself some hope. You won’t be able to care about sport like this again for another 4 years. Just try to enjoy it.
The second reason is the 2006 Socceroos. This 2022 team is not that team. That team was brimming with excellent players who played every minute in big leagues that matter globally. They were not this team, dotted with bit part players at small European clubs or big roles at A League clubs.
But that’s not the point, the point is that the 2006 team imbued the World Cup with deep meaning for me personally.
Prior to today, one of my most treasured sporting memories ever was obviously that Aloisi penalty. I remember every detail of it. I was 10 years old, and Dad and I were watching upstairs on a small TV so we didn’t wake the rest of the family. At the time my sister was young, and mum was (is) indifferent.
I remember the shootout vividly. The Viduka miss, Schwarzer saves, and finally the Aloisi goal. But what I remember more than anything is crying. I cried more than I have before or since in any situation outside of a funeral or when I saw the Grand Canyon. Dad was in tears too. He was an immigrant, and the sport he liked the most was irrelevant to the nation he came to in the early 70s. He, his brothers, and the rest of the immigrants played and nobody else cared. But that sweep of Aloisi’s leg changed everything for everyone. Through his tears he told me to look at all the people, Aloisi sprinting around, Craig Foster having a conniption. Everything changed for the sport in that moment.
They made the World Cup matter to us, and now it’s all that matters.
Even though this team compares unfavourably to that team in terms of players on the park, this squad has as much heart and guts as any sporting team on the face of the earth. They don’t play champagne football, but they are lethal on the counter and if they get one they have, finally, proven hard to score against. That isn’t a coincidence. The only player from the 2022 Socceroos that would play in the 2006 team is probably Harry Souttar. He has had a mammoth World Cup and he apparently looks forward to a Premier League move.
It's almost like they can’t believe it either. Look at the photo attached to this article. Leckie looks steely, tough, empowered. Then look at McGree. He cannot fathom he just saw. He has a big dumb grin on his face. Straight down from his smile is the number 609. His Socceroo cap number. He is just excited to be there and will destroy himself physically to stay longer. These are the two faces of the Socceroos. Steely, determined, tough but also excited and full of belief.
Finally, I should talk about Graham Arnold. I have hated the way Arnold has set this team up time and again. Truly I hated his appointment. I viewed him as just a cheap option for the FFA. He has been dour, reticent to make changes, and stubborn. Since the France game, though, he has been perfect. He has made perfect subs at the right time, set us up beautifully against Denmark, but most of all he has his players believing. In a single elimination tournament, belief and momentum are as important as any magnets on a whiteboard and we have it in spades.
The man has a whole country believing.
I am seriously asking myself why we can’t beat Argentina? Has Messi ever seen a centre back like Souttar? Can’t think of any, not even a single swashbuckling Spaniard pops to mind.
Arnie has me asking, like I asked in 2017 for the Tigers, why not us?
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