If success is all that separates confidence from arrogance,the 2-1 defeat Australia suffered in Japan should have been humbling. According to former Socceroos captain and Network Ten commentator Mark Milligan,it also should have been foreseen.
“If I am totally honest,[the winning streak] probably paved over a few cracks,” Milligan said. “When we came up against Japan,they just exposed a few of the frailties.”
That match sparked the downfall of the Socceroos’ hopes of automatic qualification. After romping past Taiwan,Kuwait,Nepal,China,Jordan and Vietnam on their record-breaking run,Australia won just one of their last seven qualifiers and none against the top two sides in their group. Before the match in Saitama,Australia were top of their group. After their next match against Japan six months later,they slumped to third and were consigned to the intercontinental play-offs before the group stage had even finished.
Their four games against Japan and Saudi Arabia were an acid test that showed few signs of gold in this generation of the Socceroos. One draw,three defeats,one goal scored and none from open play confirmed fears within the football fraternity that Australia’s player development had fallen behind the pace of its rivals.
“How many points did we take points off Japan and Saudi? One point out of 12. There you go,” former Socceroo Alex Brosque said. “A team like Saudi Arabia has improved while we have been in a steady decline since 2006.”