Fear no more, future of the Socceroos is bright
Our chances of progressing beyond the group stage are officially over, but despite the fact Australia went down 2-3 to the Dutch in the match of the tournament. Our next four years have left us with hope, promise and a lot to be proud of.
From the start of the match, Australia were out to once again show not only the world that we could take it to the best, but to show us Australians that the way they represented us against Chile was no one off and the future for Australian football is bright. I could not have been more prouder of the efforts Australia displayed against Chile in our opening match, but then we faced the Dutch.
I’m sure for many, expectations weren’t high but hopes were. My belief would not be tainted nor deterred, for when you have no belief you may as well not even begin to try. What Australia did for 90 minutes was believe and never stopped fighting. Sure! There will be moments in the match where the Aussie players will rue those missed opportunities, for we were a real chance of winning. But they need to be reminded that what they have achieved thus far, no one could accuse them of ever not trying. Remember, we were only given 0.1% of going the whole way!
0. It would be fair to say that we have played with much more conviction than our soon to be opponents, Spain. There is still everything to play for against the Spanish outfit though: pride, passion, conviction and belief. And given the way Spain have played in this tournament my expectations should be higher, but let’s not forget they are still the now soon to be previous World Cup winners. Winning a World Cup is no fluke.
Unfortunately we’ll be without what I regard as Australia’s greatest ever footballer, Tim Cahill. It would have been nice to see him play one more time but at least his last World Cup goal will always be one to remember. His efforts won’t ever be forgotten, but now another Aussie will get the chance to show his pride in the Australian jersey as our boys look to give it one last hurrah before preparations begin for the 2015 Asian Cup. As history comes to pass the scoreboards will not provide a true reflection of what Ange Postecoglou and Australia have achieved.
Less than a year ago our Socceroos were bombarded with constant criticism. Some warranted and some not so much. Our future was bleak as development of future stars had not even begun, but the biggest issue that required addressing was the pride in our jersey. Robbie Slater, I believe, summed it up the best when he said our players were playing not for the team but instead it was all about what they could achieve. “Robbie Slater fears for Socceroos future”: http://youtu.be/vBdWAz_pKws I believe it is now safe to say that we need not fear for the future of the Socceroos but watch and enjoy as we have the potential to build into something greater.
A football nation that all fear to verse.
Google+
