Few who followed Australia’s World Cup qualifying campaign can have honestly believed that the Socceroos would make the final 16 in Qatar in 2022.
Of course in today’s world as expected there are now plenty coming out saying that they always knew this group of players had talent, and they believed in them and the coach. A quick search through earlier social media posts or articles online will prove that this is quite simply not true.
This writer for one admits that prior to the team playing their opening game he did not believe that this group of players would win a game in Qatar. Following their performance against France in that opening game where there appeared to be a lack of Australian fight and commitment, those thoughts were reinforced.
Then came the game against Tunisia and what appeared a complete turnaround. Although, with hindsight what this team was building up to had in fact already started happening. Graham Arnold and his coaching staff having clearly realised that what this team lacked in talent they were going to more than make up for with unity. A shared belief amongst the whole squad, and having everyone buy into a game plan based around discipline, hard work, teamwork and every single player doing the job given to them to the best of their ability.
To have managed to pull together a whole squad they way they did was truly remarkable. Some have said it was even more remarkable when you consider that the World Cup Finals is the ideal shop window for any player to showcase their talent and set themselves up for life with a move to a big club. None of the Socceroos who took to the field in Qatar put their own careers ahead of the aims of the team. That is truly special, and something to be proud of and worthy of great respect.
As we have seen the media has gone into overdrive, and so too to be fair the coach, claiming that this group of players should usurp the team that played in the 2006 World Cup Finals as the “Golden Generation.” Riding the wave of emotion following the side progressing to the round of 16 many have jumped on board the bandwagon and agreed that they are the new “Golden Generation.”
Maybe it’s time for a little perspective.
First of all the Socceroos that qualified for Australia’s first ever World Cup Finals in Germany in 1974 deserve a great deal more respect than maybe they have been given in this argument. After all many forget that back then only 16 teams from the five Confederations qualified for the finals. It was very different to the 32 that compete today, and the almost unthinkable 48 that will compete in 2026.
In 1974 there was no National competition in Australia. The National Soccer League came after the World Cup qualification. All 22 of the players in Rale Rasic’s squad were semi-professional players playing in state league competitions. Of the 22 players that represented Australia for the first time eight players were born in Australia, six in England, three in Scotland and what was then Yugoslavia, and one in Germany and the other in Hungary. When one considers Australia’s migration policy after World War II this comes as no surprise, and it was this influx of migrants that gave the game life, and kept it going for many years.
Zaire who famously qualified for Germany in 1974 had a professional league which had been created in 1958. Even Haiti had a national competition which had been contested since 1937. Which makes the achievement of this group even more remarkable. Not only did Australia not have a national competition, the players were not full time professionals, yet they had managed to qualify for a tournament with only 16 teams competing for the biggest prize in football.
Australia would lose 2-0 to East Germany and 3-0 to West Germany before keeping their first World Cup Finals clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Chile. West Germany would go on to become World Champions, and only lost one game, to East Germany; the only time the two ever met in International competition.
As most will know the Socceroos had to wait a very long time before their next World Cup Finals appearance. A period of 32 years, and the number of teams contesting the finals had now risen to 32.
This time in the 23 man squad there was only one player born overseas, Archie Thompson who was born in New Zealand. There were 14 players born in New South Wales, five born in Victoria, two from South Australia and one from Western Australia.
Australia had in these players early years had the National Soccer League which had commenced in 1977, but folded in 2004. The A-League did not commence until August 2005, just ten months before the first game of the FIFA World Cup Finals being hosted in Germany again.
Luckily most of the squad in this era were playing football in the top leagues of Europe. Only three players, Michael Beauchamp, Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan were playing in the A-League. Nine players were playing for English Premier League sides, one was in the English Championship and one in Division One. Three were playing in Serie A in Italy, one in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands, one in the Allsvenskan in Sweden, two in the Swiss Super League, one in La Liga in Spain and one in Germany in Bundesliga 2. So 17 of the 23 squad players were playing in the top leagues in Europe.
In the tournament itself they beat Japan 3-2 lost to Brazil 2-0 and drew with Croatia 2-2, which was enough to see them progress to the round of 16. Here they would play Italy, and in the fifth minute of time added on conceded a penalty that saw them bow out of the competition. The team had won one, drawn one, and lost two. They had scored five goals and conceded seven.
Once again they lost to the eventual World Champions in Italy.
Fast forward to Qatar 2022 and the squad representing Australia this time around – which was a larger squad of 26 – there were eight players born overseas; some it must be noted have been developed in Australia having migrated as children. Nine players come from New South Wales, six from Victoria, two from South Australia and one from Tasmania.
This time around there is only one player with an English Premier League side, Garang Kuol who has just signed for Newcastle United. There are three players playing in the English Championship, and six in the Scottish Premier League. One is with a Serie A side in Italy, and one with a Serie B side. Two are with Danish Super League sides and one with a La Liga side in Spain. Two players play in the Bundesliga 2 in Germany and two in the J2 League in Japan. While one plays Major League Soccer in the USA. Which means that there are seven players from the A-League. The same number that were in the World Cup squad in South Africa in 2014.
In Qatar, Australia lost 1-4 to France, before beating Tunisia and Denmark 1-0. This was the first time Australia had won two games at a World Cup Finals. It was also the first time that they had kept two clean sheets. They progressed to the round of 16, which, if people are honest few predicted. Here the dream came to an end as they went down 2-1 to Argentina. Will history repeat and this team lost to the eventual World Champions?
They had played four games won two and lost two. They had scored four goals and conceded six. The team in 2006 scored one more, but conceded one more. They only won one game as opposed to this team’s two, yet both bowed out at the same stage of the competition.
Coming into this tournament Australia was ranked 42 in the world. In 2018 Australia was ranked 43, in 2014 they were 62nd in the World, in 2010 their highest going into a world cup at 20, while in 2006 they were also ranked 42nd.
In terms of the performance on the pitch, which is judged by results, this squad has been the most successful, there can be no debate on that. Once again huge credit to the players and coaching staff who proved the old adage to be true, ‘a team of champions will beat a champion team.’
Football is a game of opinions, and many will say and believe that this team is the greatest World Cup team Australia has produced.
For many the 2006 side is the “Golden generation” not just because they qualified for a World Cup finals after a 32 year wait, and that they progressed to the Round of 16, but because this generation saw Australians plying their trade in the top leagues around the world. These players were in the main not just squad players, but in the starting line up week-in-week-out. They helped put Australian football on the map. Their success opened the door for the next generation, however regrettably a number of contributing factors has not seen Australian footballers match that presence since their era.
If this team really needs a similar name, should it possibly be “The believers?” For they believed in each other when most doubted them. They believed as one and achieved as one. With their performances they restored a belief in many, that Australia even if light on talent can still match it with the best in the world, that competitive spirit is very much alive and ignore it at your peril. They made a nation suddenly believe.
Ultimately do they really need a name? For those who watched will never forget their efforts, their discipline, and that togetherness.
Should we even be comparing them? Every team since 2006 has lived in the shadow of those great players, but in 2022 in Qatar where the shadows were long, these players stepped out of that shadow, and wrote a new chapter of their own in the Socceroos history. Does that need a name?
Hopefully their legacy will be that as a country we can now come up with an effective development model. If that happens and people do not get blinded by this teams success who knows what could be achieved.
