By Vince Rugari
It might not feel like it, given Australia’s modest position in football’s global pecking order, but there are few countries on the planet – if any – who can match the Socceroos’ incredible record at home.
Granted, there have been more than a few heartbreaking or even embarrassing moments on Australian soil that weary fans of the round-ball game have lived through and tried hard to forget. However, when it comes to the games that really matter – World Cup qualifiers – Australia truly is a fortress.
Graham Arnold’s Socceroos are facing a must-win clash against Saudi Arabia on Thursday night.Credit: Getty
Not since May 1981 have the Socceroos actually lost a live one. That was a 2-0 defeat to New Zealand at the SCG, a result that the late Herald journalist Mike Cockerill described as “probably the most humiliating in Australia’s World Cup history.” It was the last match overseen by coach Rudi Gutendorf – who was sacked the next morning – but not before then-Australian Soccer Federation president Sir Arthur George crashed his post-match press conference, accusing him of using injuries to key players as an excuse instead of accepting blame for his poor tactics.
The Socceroos did taste defeat in a 2008 qualifier – losing 2-0 to China in front of an incredible crowd of 70,054 at Stadium Australia – but it was a dead rubber. Pim Verbeek’s side were already through to the next round of qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and he took the opportunity to rest senior players and try out some youngsters in a contest with little at stake.
Rudi Gutendorf’s last Socceroos match as coach was also the last time Australia lost a live World Cup qualifier on home soil, in 1981.Credit: Antonin Cermak
Graham Arnold’s iteration of the Socceroos have already created their own piece of history in this campaign, stringing together a world record 11 consecutive World Cup qualifying wins. While most of them came against minnow nations they were expected to beat, the team was effectively in exile for the past seven victories, unable to play in Australia due to rigid border restrictions.
Those restrictions have now eased, allowing the Socceroos to finally play their first match at home in 763 days. On Thursday night, they will run out onto CommBank Stadium before a crowd of around 25,000 for their high-pressure showdown with Saudi Arabia rightly emboldened by their historic dominance in Australia and the 40-year record they simply must protect.
“We’ve been away for so long, and home advantage is a big thing in football,” said Socceroos forward Mathew Leckie. “I think history shows how strong we are at home. It’s tough for the other teams to also come over and play against us. We’ll definitely be coming out with a heap of energy and putting them on the back foot early, trying to control the game from the first minute.”
Arnold has some serious tactical and selection quandaries in front of him, which were exposed by last month’s 2-1 defeat to Japan. The Saudis are expected to sit back and play on the counter-attack, hoping their quick, technical attackers can carve up the Socceroos in transition, and so who Arnold picks in midfield to account for the injured Aaron Mooy and Tom Rogic will dictate how capably they deal with that challenge.
While this is arguably Arnold’s biggest test in his second tenure as Socceroos manager, the same can also be said of the “Green Falcons” under French coach Herve Renard, a two-time winner of the African Cup of Nations with two different teams.
They are the only team with a perfect record left in Asian qualifying and sit three points clear of Australia in Group B. However, they have played 11 of their 12 games since the onset of the pandemic in Saudi Arabia. The other was next door in Oman. They have also never won in Australia, and the expectation in the kingdom – particularly since they, too, are missing a handful of injured stars – is that a draw would be a terrific result.
Mathew Leckie says the Socceroos are eager to make the most of home ground advantage, which they haven’t had for more than two years.Credit: Getty
For the Socceroos, a draw wouldn’t do much. A win is crucial, and with wins also expected in their next three qualifying fixtures (starting with Tuesday’s clash with a struggling China in the UAE), it would put them in the box seat to qualify for Qatar 2022.
A defeat, however, would bring Australia right back to the chasing pack in Group B, erase the head start they gave themselves and immediately intensify the pressure and scrutiny on Arnold and his methods.
Arnold is typically keeping his cards close to his chest and seems to have spent just as much time managing the unique circumstances of this camp as he has toying with his starting XI this week. Some overseas-based players have not seen their families for two to three years and he has been careful to ensure they are emotionally settled before kick-off.
“Bringing the families in, or allowing the families to come in two days before the game for the boys to reconnect, I have seen a lot of emotion ... and [it’s about] getting rid of that emotion – quickly,” he said.
“Controlling that is something I’ve been working on extremely hard. I believe that the greatest energy that can be given to the players is to see their family, know that their family’s there behind them, but also their family [is] in the grandstand. That’s the best energy they can ever have.”
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