Saturday Night's encounter between the Socceroos and Brazil was less shocking than it was expected. An uninspired Socceroos outfit made the long journey to Brazil only to be handed a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Seleção. Brazil pulled out all the stops in this goal fest and the matched ended with the Socceroos goalless. Not much needs to be said about Brazil, as they are quite clearly the strongest Footballing nation in the World at the moment. This became evident back in June/July at the 2013 Confederations Cup when they disposed of Spain quite comfortably in the Final. But as we turn our attention to the Mighty Socceroos, it was inevitable that (following the jubilation of the Iraq game in June) reality would soon kick in.
After a lacklustre Qualifying campaign, which saw the Socceroos lose to Jordan and draw twice with Oman, the Socceroos scraped through the Qualifiers with there dignity still intact but with the National team in tatters. Olger Hosieck no doubt has a huge task ahead of him with the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaching in 9 months. And, on the back of a mediocre qualifying campaign and a 6 nil pounding at the hands of Brazil, it is all uphill from here for Osieck and the Green and Gold. Part of the problem with this Socceroos side is the lack of depth in the Squad. Australia does not have a consistent Starting 11 team that can take the field every time they play an International match. And with the exception of Tim Cahill (who will soon retire) and Josh Kennedy, there is no clear cut Striker to bang in the goals on a regular basis. Gone are the days where players like Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Jonh Aloisi would lead the attack. So as the 2014 World Cup looms and Australia gets ready to join the rest of the 31 nations involved, I say crack open the Champagne bottle now and start celebrating, because this right here (Qualification) will be as good as it gets.
Written by Alex Stilianos.
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