After the euphoria of the World Cup, 2006 would always be a difficult year to top. It set high standards for interest and enthusiasm for the game, and the question was whether that could be maintained in 2007. With the move into Asia not really taking full effect for the major national teams until this year, there was still a new path ahead and a fascinating journey to travel. Despite some doomsday opinions from some commentators preoccupied with their own agendas, 2007 proved not only a match for 2006, but maybe exceeded it for the football fan over the full year.
Being one of the few people that actually believed the "Asian Cup will not be easy" mantra that so many commentators espoused, only to then quickly forget in their quest to rubbish the team and the coach after the early exit, the Asian Cup proved almost as fascinating as the World Cup itself. It was wonderful to see the team struggle. Who really would have cared had they waltzed through the group stage and the early knock-out games and then maybe lost the final? To see them playing for their lives is exactly the stuff we need to see. The last minute goal to escape with a draw against Oman, levelling against Iraq only for the defence to unravel and concede two more goals and lose, then the tense opening to the must-win game against Thailand before finally confirming advancement to the knockout phase on goal difference thanks to a triple-treat of goals in the second half to add to the one just prior to half time. If that wasn't enough, the team opens the scoring against Japan only to concede just minutes later, have a player red-carded, and then lose on penalties. Great stuff. Anyone that thinks otherwise is a fool and watching sport for the wrong reason.
In similar dramatic fashion, the women's team, the Matildas, captured the imagination of the public. Not so much that they won their first ever game (against lowly Ghana), but in the style they played. Constantly they would concede goals, only to turn the game around and score at the end. Last minute goals against Norway and Canada, the latter with whom they had to draw to advance, typified their game. Not just goals, but great goals. If that wasn't enough, now in the knockout stage, they were the first team to score goals off Brazil. Two-nil down, they managed to equalise. When they conceded another to great strike, they never gave up. Striker Lisa De Vanna capped off a memorable tournament for the team by being named in the Fifa team of the tournament. Germany went on to defeat Brazil in the final with a classy 2-0 victory.
In probably the most highly accomplished team to ever visit these shores, Argentina's visit to Melbourne's MCG in September produced a dazzling display of exquisite skill and panache as only Argentina could promise. Almost at 100% full strength, and with the sensational Lionel Messi in superb touch terrorising the Australian defence, it was a display of football that will be difficult to forget. To top it off, Australia more than held their own in the 1-0 loss, and were unlucky not to score when a Bresciano free kick not only hit the bar, it bounced down into the back of the goal-keeper, bounced back onto the bar, and then harmless out of play. Had to be seen to be believed.
From the moment Sydney stunned Shanghai Shenhua with two early cracking goals, to the finale of Sydney needing to win against Urawa in Japan to top the group and reach the knockout stage, the ACL proved a great journey and an exciting spectacle. Adelaide did not let Australia down either with some cracking goals and being highly competitive. A great endorsement for the A-League and skill level of domestic Australian players, despite the comments of some commentators. It must be remembered the Australia teams were playing fully professional and experience Asian teams in the bigger Asian countries of Japan, Korea and China, and also against teams that featured high quality imports. The success with the Australian teams and the greater commercial reach they encompass also means the ACL is likely to increase, allowing for 3 or even 4 Australian clubs to participate. Under-pinning the ACL, is, of course, the A-League itself. It is going from strength to strength with crowds and TV up, and new teams dominating the league. Last year's grand finalists of Melbourne and Adelaide did not even make the finals. Three of the top four teams are yet to win the title and two of them yet to play in a Grand Final. With Central Coast succeeding this year, it now means three different teams in the three seasons of the competition have won the premiership plate.
While the team disappointingly saw little coverage in their early and most vulnerable stages of qualifying, they rallied after finishing second in their preliminary group behind Saudi Arabia and then topping the final group that involved an Iraqi team with many players from their championship winning Asian Cup team. DPR Korea and Lebanon were the other two teams, and it came down to needing to defeat Iraq (home) and then at least draw against DPR Korea (away). They succeeded. Not before conceding early in that final game against Korea, only to equalise with 15 minutes to go. Played in freezing temperatures, and on an artificial pitch, they showed great character to become the first male team to qualify for an Olympics or World Cup via Asia. The U17 and U20 team had both failed the previous year.
This match proved the best of Australia's internationals in terms of Australian victories. Not just for the consummate performance on the pitch, but for David Carney's cracking long-range goal. He flicked it up and hit it home from 25 metres on the volley. Apparently he practices these at training, and it's great that finally one went in. His expression afterwards was priceless.
Without dwelling too much on the negatives on what was a superb year, the delay in hiring a coach in replacement of Guus Hiddink proved not only a joke, but an unfair burden on caretaker coach Graham Arnold. He was placed in an invidious position of not having complete authority over the players and, in turn, received unfair and unjust criticism for the Asian Cup exit. The mark of the man was that he still took much of the blame, and it was a nice triumph for him to qualify the Olyroos for the Olympics in response. While the response from traditional soccer-haters in the mainstream press was predictable, it was the treacherous turn of traditional supporters of the game that provided much of the criticism. SBS really should rename their TV show and website from The World Game to The Whinging Game for all the good they do. Fuelled mostly by agenda now than any realistic commentary of the game, it's a shameful display. Especially for fans without pay-TV and not inclined to read the newspapers, unfortunately that is all they get.
World Cup qualifiers. That's all that needs to be said. They kick off in February with the game against Qatar in Melbourne. We probably don't want the struggles to the degree that the team sufferred in the Asian Cup, but with our nemesis, again, Iraq, along with China and Qatar in just our preliminary group, it promises to be highly competitive. The team needs to finish in the top two before moving onto a final group of 5 teams. From there, the top two teams qualify directly, with the two third-best teams play-off for the right to face the Oceania champions for another spot.