Key questions as Socceroos review World Cup showing

Did we achieve or did we fail?

DISAPPOINTING SEND-OFF: Tim Cahill's role was too late at the World Cup. Picture: Robert Cianflone

THE World Cup continues to power on with upsets and top quality games.

However it will do so now without our Socceroos who failed to qualify for the next stage.

What do you make of our performances?

Did we achieve or did we fail?

Did the coach do a good job?

Which players stood up and which players didn't?

What does the road look like going forward?

These are just some of the questions that need to be answered.

On the positive side we unearthed a future star in Daniel Arzani.

The Socceroos also did fight to the death against powerhouse nation France.

Unfortunately we didn't achieve the results we went to Russia for and now the fallout will start.

People will blame the coach who seemed to change the way we had played previously, turning us into a more defensive unit.

Keeping goals out is very important but scoring goals also goes a long way to victory.

The Socceroos attack didn't score a goal from an open field during the whole tournament.

Did he botch the send-off so richly deserved for Tim Cahill by not injecting him into our campaign earlier?

Bart's short rein as coach will not go down in folklore.

We will all look to incoming Aussie coach Graham Arnold to turn this talented team into a force that can firstly perform well on the world stage and start the process of qualifying us for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Arnie has a big job ahead of him.

Ben the best

ARGUMENTS have raged all year whether Ben Simmons should win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

It is now official, with Simmons becoming the first Australian to lift this huge honour.

Simmons had a sensational season with the 76ers taking his previous low positioned side into the second round of the playoffs with 15.8 (points), 8.2 (assists) and 8.1 (rebounds) season averages.

He now has his name alongside players the calibre of Wilt Chamberlain (1959/60), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (69/70), Larry Bird (79/80), Michael Jordan (84/85) and Lebron James (2003/04).

Quick thoughts

HERO of the week: While NSW wrapped up the Origin series, we got our first glimpse of star Kalyn Ponga on the Origin stage and he didn't fail to deliver. He has a huge future.

Villain of the week 1: Jeremy Cameron, from the GWS Giants, for his sickening elbow on Lions player Harris Andrews. Five weeks is not a long enough punishment for his crime.

Villain of the week 2: The faceless keyboard warriors and their disgusting comments and threats hurled towards Queensland halfback Ben Hunt. While it wasn't his best game he didn't deserve such vile comments.

Did you know? 1. New York Giants star quarter back Eli Manning's real first name is Elisha.

2. Deion Sanders is the only person to play in a World Series and a Superbowl.

Bomber's best: Last week I tipped Mexico to keep winning and they did with victory over South Korea 2-1.

This week I see reigning AFL premiers Richmond Tigers clawing ahead of the second-placed Sydney Swans tonight.

Originally published as Key questions as Socceroos review World Cup showing