Aussie fans enjoying the battle of Titans in Brazil Photo: rmoriz
The Socceroos lost 3-2 against Holland in Porto Alegre on Thursday morning (AEST). In a highly entertaining game, Australia once again boosted their potential in the eyes of the global sporting public in the world’s number one sport.
It was the game that said ‘we have arrived’ to everyone else at the World Cup, as well as the hundreds of millions keeping abreast of tournament results around the world.
After going down 1-0 in the 20th minute, most had expected Australia to be headed for a massive defeat following the 5-1 drubbing of history-making world champions Spain.
But in a dramatic turn of events, Tim Cahill provided a spectacular goal that rattled the Dutch and had everybody sitting up and paying attention. And like against Chile, coach Ange Postecoglou had his team taking the game to their opponents in a fearless and effective manner that put their opponents on notice.
Australia were looking very confident indeed and were rewarded for their efforts with a 54th minute penalty which captain Mile Jedinak scored for a deserved 2-1 lead.
However, a defensive lapse gave Holland a sight on goal that was taken advantage of by their star captain Robin Van Persie.
Amazingly though, the Socceroos continued to slightly edge out their Dutch opponents and had a clear sight on goal to take a 3-2 lead, but once again they wasted a glorious opportunity to justify their performance on the scoresheet. To add insult to injury, an immediate attack at the other end saw a goalkeeping blunder by Matt Ryan give Holland a 3-2 lead instead.
Although the Socceroos continued to trouble the Dutch, the game eventually ended up 3-2 to a much relieved Holland.
The upside to the game is that the Socceroos continue to bridge the gap between them and the footballing superpowers, adding another stepping stone towards joining ‘the big boys club’ of world football.
The next hurdle that needs to be overcome is the perennial ‘almost, nearly and should’ve’ element that has plagued the Socceroos psyche and results for decades.
Postecoglou, our most successful domestic coach, is more than doing his part. Let’s hope our attitude in Australia shifts to the positive and supportive one that it needs to be. As our home grown talent and flourishing domestic league continue to grow and become the mainstream phenomenon it deserves to be, the Socceroos can leave the past behind and finally achieve the success they deserve and we can all enjoy.
