The Idle Thoughts Of A DayDreamer

Well, the FIFA World Cup begins in less than a week now. However, you would probably have to be living under a rock not to know that. Here in Australia the excitement is building to a fever pitch! After 32 years, the Aussies are finally back at the biggest event on the planet. The previous heartache of failed campaigns has been finally erased. Argentina in ’93… Iran in ’97… Uraguay in ’01. Doesn’t matter. Because we are at the big show in 2006!

A little history on Australia’s road to the World Cup. Now we found ourselves as the biggest fish in a very small pond. To say that the Oceania qualifcation group was a joke was an understatement! Australia would routinely win matches by 20 goals on its way through the qualifaction process. But that was were the real fun always began…

USA 1994:
In 1993, Australia wins its Oceancia Group. In a playoff against the other group winner, NZ, Australia win 4-0 on aggregate. However, Australia is then forced into a play-off with Canada, the CONCACAF 3rd round runner up. The two legs ended with a 3-3 scoreline, with Australia winning on penalties. Enough to get the World Cup? Huh! Australia then has to play yet another play-off, this time against Argentina who were South American group 1 runners up. With a Diego Maradona led Argentina, the Aussies lose 2-1 on aggregate and miss out on going to the World Cup.

France 1998:
This one was pretty simple. Win the OFC qualifying tournament, play-off against the forth placed Asian Confederation team, and hey presto! Didn’t quite turn out like that though… Australia had to play Iran over two legs with the winner progressing to the World Cup finals. Australia, under coach Terry Venables, tied the away leg 1-1. The return leg saw Australia two goals to the good. However, Iran managed to score two late goals and went through on the away goals rule. Heartbreak…

Japan/Korea 2002:
By now, Oceania had been given full confederation status within FIFA. As with all other confederations, that would mean a spot in the World Cup for the qualifying winner(s). Hell no! Instead, the winner gets a play-off against the fifth placed South American team. Australia won its group easily: 22-0 against Tongo and a world record 31-0 win against American Samoa. The team went on to win the confederation by beating NZ. Next oppenent, Uruguay. The first leg, played in Melbourne, resulted in a 1-0 win. The players received an extremely friendly welcome in Montevideo for the return leg. They were spat on, bricks hurled through the windows of the team bus. Nice! Anyway, a 3-0 loss… more heartbreak.

Germany 2006:
This one was supposed to be really simple. Win Oceancia and you’re off to the World Cup. Hang on… but the South Americans got their knickers in a twist, and our place was taken away from us. After being stooged by FIFA, Australia was forced once more into a play-off with the team that finished fifth in the South American qualifying group.* Once again, the friendly people of Uruguay would be our oppenents. However, with the Dutch maestro Guus Hiddink as our new coach the story would have a different ending. The first leg saw a Dario Rodriguez header give the hosts a 1-0 win. The return leg also finished 1-0, this time to the Aussies following a Marco Bresciano goal. Down to those damn penalties. In the end, it was goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer who made two saves in the penalty shootout, who was the hero. End result. We are going to Germany!

Below is the video of the historic penalty shootout. If you haven’t yet seen it enjoy! If you have, relive one of the greatest moments in Australian sport…

“I’m sick of us saying, ‘When are we going to qualify for the World Cup’? When are we going to win the World Cup? … Call me a dreamer.” — Johnny Warren

Check out SBS’s tribute video to Johnny Warren here.

* I wanted to use a much stronger language, but I’ve been swearing way too much lately and am making an effort to clean up my language. To quote Roy And HG, we were given the “hello sailor” treatment!