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Shattered
June 26th, 2006
I have maintained that reaching the second round was Australia's realistic
goal at this World Cup and that anything more would be a bonus.
Nevertheless it's impossible not to be shattered by today's match in
Kaiserslautern.
You almost certainly watched the Italy-Australia game, and the way it
ended, so there's no point raking over every little detail.
Yes, I and other Aussies are delighted that we reached the last 16. Most
people expected us not to. But today we showed that we were capable of
going further.
Does anyone seriously doubt that, if we had beaten Italy, we could have
won a quarter-final against Ukraine and reached the last four?
After watching the Socceroos control most of their match against a top
football nation, I am certain that, had it not been for the ridiculous
decision to award Italy a last-minute penalty, Australia was bound for the
semi-finals.
That's often the way it goes in football. The triumphs make you ecstatic;
matches like this are devastating. I haven't forgotten - and will not
forget - that the Socceroos gave us that extraordinary night in Sydney
last November (against Uruguay), the amazing win over Japan, and the
action-packed draw against Croatia that clinched a place in the second
round. They were all great celebrations for a nation starved of football
success.
But to end this way... It's hard to put it all into words.
I said that I wasnīt nervous before the game and it's true. Other
Australian fans probably felt the same way. Before the game, they were all
singing and enjoying themselves in good old K-Town. We seemed to have more
fans too, though our numbers were swelled by locals who wore green and
gold.
It wasn't so relaxed before the match against Croatia - until we reached
the stadium, we were fairly quiet that day.
Fortunately I was sitting in the middle of the large Australian
contingent, elevated over the far corner flag, to the right of screen.
That was us that you could hear making all the noise throughout the game.
Before the late penalty was awarded to the Italians, their fans only sang
twice. I find that quite odd because the noise at Serie A matches is quite
phenomenal.
We have a bit of an advantage. With Australia's tradition of producing a
lot of pop and rock music, each Socceroos match has been preceded by a few
Aussie favourites blaring over the sound system. Down Under is always
played and everyone knows the words and sings along.
A big cheer went up when Mark Schwarzer's name was read out and no Aussie
player had his name sung more times. Everyone was relieved to see him back
in the penalty box.
Australia was forced to make two more changes with Brett Emerton suspended
and Harry Kewell injured. Marco Bresciano and Luke Wilkshire were the
replacements.
The big interest in the Italian team was the omission of Francesco Totti
and the inclusion of Alessandro Del Piero. Of course, Totti would come on
and score from the spot.
The Aussies didn't make one of their wobbly starts and controlled more
early possession. But the Italians occasionally showed that they could be
dangerous in attack and Schwarzer was forced to make a couple of good
saves in the first half.
Although the decision to award the late penalty was completely unjust,
Australia really should have capitalised when Italy was reduced to ten men
early in the second half.
The Italians sat back and defended well, as you'd expect them to, but the
Socceroos didnīt make full use of their advantage. Guus Hiddink was also
too conservative. Not long after Marco Materazzi was sent off, it was
obvious that Australia was in complete control of the game. The decision
to bring John Aloisi on should have been made much sooner. (The
introduction of Josh Kennedy might have unsettled Italy's defence as
well.)
After Italy won the match with its last kick, most of Australia's fans
stayed in the stadium long after the final whistle. We were probably
trying to make sense of it all - if there was any sense. We lingered in
the stadium after the match against Croatia in Stuttgart but for
completely different reasons.
I don't need to tell you how I felt - you must know. The silence was
broken by my phone nearly going into meltdown with calls and text messages
(and thankyou to everyone that tried to get in touch with me). I did speak
to some friends back home who cheered me up a bit but later, back in the
heart of K-town, Aussies were crying into their beer.
The Australian World Cup finals story ended, as it began, in
Kaiserslautern. I still love the place and although I was crushed by our
elimination and its manner, I was glad that I could reward a couple of
locals with my Socceroos scarf and flag. We have been made so welcome
here. I almost felt like a local at the bar I frequented - it was near
Stiftsplatz, a square that saw many Aussies partying on match days.
When I and other Australians left, people said that they hoped we enjoyed
our stay and begged us to return to Germany. Don't worry, we will.
Iīm not leaving Ludwigshafen until Wednesday so I donīt need to rush to
plan my next move. I might be able to snatch a ticket to one of the
quarter-finals. If I succeed, I'll tell you which quarter-final it is
tomorrow.
The World Cup continues but Australia's remarkable story has now ended.
It's been an unforgettable ride.
Thank you Socceroos. Thank you Guus.
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