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Saturday, August 18, 2012
Socceroos struggle in Scotland
John Duerden
"S**t, what happened?" were the first words Australia head coach Holger Osieck said to his Thailand counterpart, Winfried Schaefer, after the Socceroos had come from behind to snatch a late win in a 2014 World Cup qualifier last year. As the final whistle sounded in Edinburgh on Wednesday to confirm a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Scotland, the German's words may have been the same, but the sentiment was probably not.
There was a time when a loss against the Scots would have been expected, but that time has passed. Scotland no longer supplies top English clubs with their best players. In recent years, Australia has been more successful in this regard - but that era also seems to be at an end and the future, beyond the short-term, is uncertain.
As the English Premier League kicks off the European season this weekend, there is a distinct absence of big-name Australians in big clubs around the old continent. Apart from Brett Holman's move to Aston Villa, there has been little to get fans at home excited. It is a stark contrast to 2007, when Australia, playing in their first Asian Cup, landed in Bangkok and local fans were delighted to see so many familiar faces from the big leagues.
Just a few years ago, there were genuine stars such as Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka. Lucas Neill was turning down Liverpool, and there were regular Premier League performers such as Brett Emerton and Mark Schwarzer. Vince Grella joined Emerton at Blackburn after spending time in Serie A. Midfield partner Mark Bresciano starred for Parma, Palermo and Lazio, and then there was Tim Cahill, a mainstay at Everton for eight years and the scourge of many an English defence.
Only Schwarzer still plays at the top level, with Fulham, though with the big four-oh fast approaching, his time is limited. Kewell is struggling to find a club in the English Championship, Emerton is in Sydney, Bresciano is in the UAE, Neill has been without a club since being released by Abu Dhabi's Al Jazira - though is set to move to Qatar - and Cahill is now a New York Red Bull. The golden generation is fading.
There is no problem with all of that: time, after all, moves on. In this instance, however, it is standing still as far as the national team is concerned. Just as there are no Aussie replacements for the veterans in the big leagues, there don't yet seem to be any challenging the old guard for their places in the national team - at least in the mind of Osieck, the man who matters.
Losing to Scotland would not be a big problem if it had been a game that was all about taking a look at some exciting prospects. There was no blooding of youngsters at Easter Road, however - the starting XI contained just two players under 28.
"I considered it a very good test to check on some individuals - and I got it, what I wanted to see...or, let's say, what I didn't want to see," Osieck said. "I won't give you any names, but there are definitely going to be some changes. I think there are lot of guys that had not been here that definitely will help the team in the upcoming qualifiers.
There may be changes for next month's World Cup qualifier in Jordan, but few expect that they will come in the shape of promising - if untried - teenagers. There is talent in the A-League. Perhaps there is not a young player to match Kewell at his best, but there must be some who have a chance of matching Kewell as he currently is. The likes of Tom Rogic may not be ready for 2014, but Osieck won't know for sure unless he chances his arm. Either way, there can be little long-term harm in gently introducing such talent to the top level.
If Rogic was Japanese or Korean, he would have a better chance. Korea won the Olympic bronze medal last week with a team containing youngsters with extensive international experience. Five of the starting XI that defeated Team GB made their senior debuts as teenagers. Those stars sat out this week's friendly win over Zambia and watched five others make their debuts.
Rogic has already caught the eye of Chinese and Korean clubs, and is likely to be heading north before long. This movement of Aussie players to Asia and not England is often cited as further evidence that the talent stocks are not what they were but that is unfair. In football, Australia is now part of Asia, and its engagement with its continental rivals is growing all the time. And if the events of the last month have proven anything, it is that the top Asian leagues are capable of producing young players able to match those in any country.
As a man who led Japan 's Urawa Reds to the 2007 Asian Champions League title, Osieck should know that better than most. That was part of the reason he got the job two years ago, but at least as important was his experience with young players. The years he spent in charge of youth development at the West German FA in the 80s appealed to an Aussie federation looking for new talent to be groomed after the 2010 World Cup.
It hasn't really happened. Osieck seems to be focusing on the World Cup and not much else. Even with just two points from the opening two games of the final round of qualification, and tricky trips to face Jordan and Iraq to come in September, there is confidence that Australia will qualify for Brazil 2014. But how it will do in the tournament is a different question - Australia had the second-oldest squad of any of the 32 in South Africa and will surely occupy top spot in Brazil. The real question is what happens after that tournament, but it is not one that seems to be troubling the head coach.
The confidence in qualification is not misplaced. It should happen. It needs to happen, as failure would be a disaster Down Under with the domestic league still finding its feet. Two clubs have folded in the last two seasons, and much rests of the success of new franchise West Sydney Wanderers.
On the day before the Scotland defeat, that team was in the news even though it has yet to play a game. Some of its alleged fans attended a pre-season match featuring city rivals Sydney FC, and trouble ensued. It was not much, but enough to get a media not exactly dominated by football fans interested in a spicy story.
It has not been a good week for Australian football. At least there should be a World Cup to look forward to but, after that, things seem uncertain.