Mark Bosnich says Socceroos must focus on Honduras or risk learning cruel World Cup lesson
AUSTRALIA’S World Cup playoff failures have become sporting folklore and it’s why the Socceroos simply can’t think beyond Wednesday night, writes Mark Bosnich.
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THE Socceroos know they are 90 minutes away from the World Cup, but it’s at the point when you are so near that qualification can be so far away.
Coming back from the first leg in Honduras with a 0-0 draw means the fans can dare to dream of Russia 2018. But the players can’t think beyond Wednesday night.
In 1993 and 1997 we travelled in hope for the second leg of our play-offs, having earned draws in the first legs against Argentina and Iran respectively.
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SECOND LEG: SOCCEROOS READY TO CARVE PLACE IN HISTORY
The fact in both cases our team coming up short in the second leg has become part of Australian football lore, but those results also show how narrow the margins are.
In neither case were any chickens being counted; it was more a situation of climbing almost to the summit of the mountain but succumbing to a nose bleed.
I don’t think this current Australian side will fall to the temptation of thinking the hard work is done, not with a leader like Mile Jedinak there to emphasise how much work there is still to do.
But the crucial difference is that in 1993 we were playing Argentina, with Maradona in his pomp. In 1997 it was Iran, with an exceptional generation of players.
I can’t see a similar threat from Honduras, who looked like a poor team frankly – though in part that was down to the best away performance under Ange I can remember for a long time.
Even so, Chile and Holland must be watching Honduras and cringing that they are not at the World Cup, but this team might yet be.
Personally I don’t think they will make it through. The first leg, at home, in front of a capacity crowd, was clearly Honduras’s best opportunity.
But still, 0-0 is a dangerous scoreline for Australia. We don’t have an away goal, so if Honduras were to breach our defence and score, suddenly we have to make the running even more and go through by winning.
A playoff can be a brutal occasion; twice I have been in squads that learnt that the hard way. The 2017 side needs no greater motivation than making sure history is on their side.
