The ghost of Holger Osieck is the only thing that can stop the Socceroos

The last time the Socceroos lost a match by five goals, it launched the careers of both Ange Postecoglou and Maty Ryan.

It was 2013, and Australia had just sealed a spot at the World Cup in Brazil. Josh Kennedy was the saviour, thanks to his iconic late header against Iraq in front of 80,000 people in Sydney. But there was no saving the unpopular Holger Osieck, who was sacked three months later, despite delivering Australia’s third successive qualification.

The Socceroos were a bit on the nose with the public. Osieck had allowed the ageing “Golden Generation” to hang on for too long, and his style of football was hardly inspiring. Later that year, in their wisdom, Football Federation Australia scheduled back-to-back friendlies, both away, against Brazil and France. Rare chances for them to measure up against true global yardsticks.

6-0, 6-0.

Critics accused the Socceroos of making the Australian game look like a “joke” on the world stage with their “spineless” performances, and several players of outstaying their welcome in the team. As soon as he returned to the team hotel after game two in Paris, Osieck was dismissed, and moves were immediately afoot to get the federation’s No.1 coaching target, Ange Postecoglou, out of his contract at Melbourne Victory, thus setting in train a series of events that would soon lead to Postecoglou taking over and regenerating the squad, Mark Schwarzer’s retirement, and the handing over of the gloves to Ryan, who will win his 100th cap on Wednesday morning (AEST) by hopefully contributing to what would be one of the best moments of his career.

For that not to happen, the Socceroos would need to turn in a stinker the likes of which they have not had in 12 years. Not since that day in Paris. Or that other day in Brasília. That is how bad they would have to be to miss out on the 2026 World Cup from here. That is how long ago they last lost by five goals or more.

A lifetime ago: Lucas Neill and Holger Osieck in 2013.Credit: Penny Stephens

That is the sort of heist Saudi Arabia has to pull off in Jeddah.

It is an unfathomable thought on multiple levels. So far in this qualifying phase, the Saudis have scored only six goals in nine games – so to do it, they’d essentially need to reproduce that whole output in one match. Only twice before have the Socceroos ever lost a competitive match (not friendlies) by 5-0 or worse, and not since 1997.

And say what you will about coach Tony Popovic’s tactics, and whether they’re to your liking, but if nothing else, this is not an easy team to score against.

“I mean … in life, anything is possible,” Ryan said.

“You can’t take anything for granted. By no means is the job finished. We want to continue the momentum that we have. Momentum in life and in football is an incredible thing – I’ve witnessed both positivity and negativity in momentum in regards to results and performances in football.

Maty Ryan.Credit: AP

“We’re on a great run at the moment. We want to continue that. I think it’s important that we just stay focused and stay present in what we’re doing at the minute. The results will come.”

After the high of Aziz Behich’s wonder strike in Perth on Thursday night, the Socceroos had to curb their celebrations due to the machinations of Group C. The only way the Saudis can replace them in second position – which carries automatic World Cup qualification – is by overhauling Australia’s goal difference buffer of +8. Unfathomable, but not impossible. A four-goal win wouldn’t cut it because, according to FIFA rules, the next tiebreaker when teams are equal on points after goal difference is goals scored. Head-to-head comes after that.

So what changes when you know your opponents not only have to beat you, but by that many goals?

“For me personally, nothing changes,” Ryan said.

“I just want to go out there. We’re all competitive in here. I mean, the chit-chat amongst the boys is that it’s a great opportunity for us to go out and earn another cap for our nation, and to secure qualification by beating Saudi away would be the perfect way to do that. So that’s what we’re fully focused on at this minute.”

Assuming that happens, this will be the third successful qualification campaign Ryan has taken part in. This is also the only one in which his position as Australia’s No.1 goalkeeper has ever been in significant question, but he appears to have well and truly reclaimed that mantle after Popovic’s decision to start Joe Gauci for the first matches of his tenure.

In typically modest style, he used the qualifier “if selected” when talking about the prospect of bringing up a milestone that only two players before him have ever reached.

Indeed, Ryan, 33, is on track to become the most-capped Socceroo of all time should he retain that position through to next year’s World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, with only Schwarzer (109) and Tim Cahill (108) ahead of him.

“I’ve obviously been fortunate enough to be part of a few campaigns now, and it’s no easy task to qualify for a World Cup,” he said.

“To be in the position we are right now, being a strong one, to go and have it right on our fingertips right now, it gives meaning to us footballers as to why we want to play. When you’ve got that success at your fingertips, you obviously want to take that final step to go and achieve it.

“In that regard, I’m just approaching it as any other game and just trying to create another lifelong memory.”