Giving Samurais the Blues

Japan had been the undisputed powerhouse of the Asian Confederation right up until the Socceroos rattled and then rolled them in Germany at the 2006 World Cup.

The Socceroos, who would be changing Confederations after the tournament, thus signalled their intent to shake things up in the region. Unfortunately for Japan, Australia scares them and there’s something about Tim Cahill, in particular, that messes with their samurai warrior super cool, maybe it’s the mega tatt on his arm or the damage he does to the corner flag every time he scores against them, which is quite often.

Emotionally and historically, China also troubles them and one their  heroes who has retired from international football,  Shunsuke Nakumura of Celtic has never quite been the same since the team bus left without him a few years ago when they played China away. In fact, he still doesn’t order the chicken and cashews or speak with the team manager. For the record, North Korea is also a worry for them, but that’s a geo-political thing.

Japan has increasingly presented a brand of football as mesmerising and technically adept as that of a Teppanyaki chef’s prowess behind the hotplate. And like said chef, they perhaps spend far too much time stuffing around rather than making sure the diners actually get what they paid for.

While the country has furnished legends like Hideotoshi Nakata who was the first to play in Italy, Nakumura formerly of Celtic and now pretty boy Keisuke Honda who plies his trade with CSKA Moscow, Japan’s problem is that it just has not produced any strikers worth their weight in whale. Indeed, there is one school of thought that has argued that it was high time the nation directed some legitimate scientific research towards putting the ball in the back of the net instead.

At the last Asian Cup, such was the tension at the penalty shoot out in their Quarter final-revenge clash against Australia that then coach, Ivica Osim had to retreat to the dressing room as he feared his heart could not take the pressure. Fortunately for both Japan and Ivica, the country managed to slot home the winner. Japan’s pursuit of a third straight Asian Cup ended when it went down to South Korea in the semi final on penalties. It was also at that point that the nation finally understood that it did better in shoot outs when Ivica wasn’t watching.

Unfortunately for Ivica, the roller coaster ride of managing the most emotionally contained nation when you yourself have anger management issues did lead to a stroke and some time in a coma while in the top job. It then got awkward for the whole nation as it sumo wrestled with the moral dilemma of sacking him while he was coming in and out of consciousness imploring their Brazilian born player Tulio, to “go for the top corner.”  Such was the nation’s resolve however, that they did let him down gently, though to this day he still thinks he’s the gaffer.

Japan, nonetheless, is a very good, tidy unit who, as far as precision passing and precision hair sculpting go, can resemble Italy on a good day; though, unlike the latter and to its credit, does tend to run with a bit more intensity and attack the ball for the full 90. It’s perhaps no surprise then and maybe it was even their destiny that they employed Italian legend Zaccheroni to coach their national team after the 2010 World Cup. For this reason, the Blue Samurais can be a threat as they are able to exert enough pressure from midfield on any backline to get the job done.

This Asian Cup has seen them get off to a slow start, slowly gather momentum and even showing some real resolve to claw out victories. Maybe the hidden moral there is that they should eat more crab. The fact that they pumped Saudi Arabia 5 zip shows that they have come a long way, but the loss of Bundesliga boy Kagawa - who scored some crucial goals for them in this tournament - for the final will certainly be felt.  Though I’m privately hoping that they will still be knackered from the Sth Korea game, players like Endo and Honda were born ready and will no doubt keep our boys busy.

The Blue Samurais are fast and furious on any counter, but the fact that Holger has gone two prongs rather than opt to leave Super Tim going solo up front as Pim did, will give them plenty to worry about. And while the Socceroos no longer have Vinnie Grella to rattle Japan, big Sasa Ognenovski with a three day growth should more than compensate. The Socceroos have also been impressively mobile this Asian Cup and their new found ability to maraud should keep the samurai backline so busy that their tofu curdles and the whole squad turns to miso soup.

Geez, I hope we win.

Vinnie Venezuela

Australia declare at 4 nil against India in Qatar.

Most of us were expecting a “cricket score” when the Socceroos took on India at Al Saad Stadium in the Asian Cup Group C opener.

Watching the game I couldn’t help but think of our fierce rivalry with India on the cricket pitch and how fantastic it would be if we could build the same sort of tension on the football pitch.  Alas, I quickly realised it was a fantasy when I saw them line up for the national anthems.  There is no doubt that the collection of Australian footballers is impressive and should strike fear in the hearts of any rival at these championships.

The Indians on the other hand looked resplendent in their strip but looked more like a group of wily off-spin bowlers who probably had a doosra in their bag of tricks and would no doubt beat the Socceroos (and possibly our current Test squad) if a game of cricket broke out at the football, in fact I am sure of it. 

Given the state of Aussie cricket at the moment, it got me thinking about the Socceroos and the cricketing alter egos.

1. Lucas Neill – Solid in defence, plays straight, no frills, good tactician….Justin Langer
2. Sasa Ognenovski – Big and Scary will frighten the living daylights out of any attack….Matthew Hayden
3. Harry Kewell – Australian great, will score but best is behind him and probably needs to bat lower in the order….Ricky Ponting
4. Jason Culina – Creative type, covers the ground well, aggressive, prone to error….Mark Waugh
5. Brett Emerton – quick between the wickets, needs to put the lap sweep (back heel) away early in his innings, but makes runs….Mike Hussey
6. Luke Wilkshire – Finally realized that he belongs at this level and is a very handy all-rounder….Shane Watson
7. Mark Schwarzer – All time great keeper who can bomb the ball long….Adam Gilchrist
8. Tim Cahill – Can make the ball dance and lands them all the time – record second to none and is the X-Factor….Shane Warne
9. Mile Jedinak – Good record at first class level, needs a prolonged stint in the national team, in and out….Nathan Hauritz
10. David Carney – Impatient lower order player who is not that quick but swings the ball at pace – Max Walker
11. Brett Holman – Quick, erratic, impact player off the bench but has he element of surprise – Jeff Thomson

OK, OK… I was thinking about cricket more than I was thinking about the beautiful game but seriously Australia  were always going to win the game in a canter even though the Indians were plucky’ish, but it got me through the game….I did enjoy the wick….oops sorry… goals!

Bring on South Korea, I need to focus on the football.

Rodrigo Rodriguez

Close the Cold Case - Fossie needs to get excited about Angie

Whilst engrossed in the Brisbane Roar v Gold Coast M1 (aka Tropical Cyclone) derby on Boxing Day, a tight Fox Sports camera shot of Roar coach Angie Postecoglou involuntarily propelled me back in time.

Flashback to 2005 - I was kicking back at home watching The World Game on SBS TV when one of the great TV interview assassinations (figuratively speaking – don’t worry no one really died) was perpetrated.  

The accused was a younger, handsome, self-styled oracle of world football - SBS chief football analyst Craig Foster. The victim - the unsuspecting, not as pretty (at best ruggedly handsome), under fire, Young Socceroo coach Angie Postecoglou. The episode came to be known in Diego circles as the Ambush of Angie and to this day this Oz football ‘Cold Case’ remains unsolved.

Those football lovers who saw it don't like to talk about it. The events that day were embarrassing at best and at worst, no classier than any of the bitter public feuds that were synonymous with the old Soccer Australia in the 80’s and 90’s. 

With Angie trying to defend his record as coach of the kiddies (and his ability to coach full stop), Foster went for the jugular in a sort of warped George Negus meets Gordon Ramsay way and demanded the young coach's resignation on live TV. To Foster's indignation Angie refused and it got very ugly.

To this day 'Fossie' (see: With Ange, it's not personal – Craig Foster blog 27 October 2010) argues the attack was not personal and there is nothing wrong with what he did. For him it was all done for the good of the game and he stands by it.

No problem, as the oracle, Craig is entitled to his opinion. I however, as a humble football hack, disagree.

What I saw was a cheap, deeply disrespectful personal attack on a soft target that succeeded in shining little light on Postecoglou's alleged coaching deficiencies and specific tactical shortcomings.

It wasn't Foster’s relentless quest to ask the hard questions of an underperforming coach that, for me, was the issue. It was his total lack of respect in doing so that did not sit well with me especially since he more recently condemned both FFA 'Golden Tit' Frank Lowy and Fox Sports commentator Robbie Slater for not showing the requisite respect to the views of former Socceroos Les Scheinflug, Zejlko Kalac and current star Harry Kewell. 

In my mind there is no way 'Fossie' would have attacked some of his Socceroo contemporaries such as Kevin Muscat, Craig Moore or Mark Viduka with the same ferocity if they had been in the same situation and with the same coaching record as Angie.

Luckily for 'Fossie' he will have the opportunity to prove me wrong as these guys have yet to embark on their coaching careers.

From all reports Musky will be first to take up the whistle and clipboard next season so I wish 'Fossie' the best of luck with his forthright analysis of Kev’s interpretation and implementation of a mobile, technically fluent, possession ladened Barcelona-like 4-3-3 or floating 4-2-2 formation. Heaven help Musky if he, as future Young Socceroo coach, ever loses to Laos or China. I await ‘Fossie’s’ interview with relish. I’m sure Muscat won’t take Craig forensic analysis personally.

The Diegos have interviewed Angie Postecoglou often over the last 18 years in his role as assistant coach to one of the legends of world footy Ferenc Puskas, as a multiple NSL championship winning coach with South Melbourne, as coach of the South Melbourne team that represented Oceania in the 2000 FIFA World Club Cup in Brazil, and as coach of Australian youth teams over the years. I was critical of his record as Australian youth coach and surprised when he was given the Roar job but never came close in an interview to delivering the level of disrespect shown to him by Foster. 

Fast forward to 2010. Happily for Angie he, as the ‘Cold Case’ victim, is alive and well.

He has installed in Brisbane Roar’s style of play the type of beauty that is only rivalled by Craig Foster's looks. Don’t just take it from me ask the experts.

After being on the end of a 4-0 shellacking at the hands of Roar earlier this season, Adelaide United and experienced former Eredivise coach Rini Coolen, described Angie's team as playing a European standard (not brand or style – there’s a big difference) of football. This is the highest of praise for a courageous young Australian coach who, for a long time, people had little faith in.

Craig Foster in addressing the Ambush of Angie in his blog on the 27^th October 2010 gives credit to Angie only for completing the coaching courses that have miraculously turned him from a supposedly dud coach into the most innovative Aussie coach of recent times.   

To me his praise of Postecoglou is underwhelming at best. Very little credit has been given to Angie for his innate ability to communicate and impart a successful style of play and get the best out of his team.

This is not something you learn merely by doing a coaching course. If it was that simple anyone could achieve what Angie has with his young team. I’m sure Pim Verbeek had all the necessary coaching qualifications and credentials and didn’t Craig want to run him out of town during the World Cup in South Africa? You either have it or you don't have it. In fact this is the difference between successful and unsuccessful coaches. 

Fossie it's time to close this ‘Cold Case’ for good.

You went a long way to nearly burying the career of one of our finest young Australian coaches five years ago. He has come back from the dead and you should, as widely read, watched and respected media professional, tell Australia that you are excited that one of our own is delivering the type of football that has put a snap in your shorts for many years. And you should do it with the same gusto that you slaughtered the guy with in 2005.

‘Fossie’ it is time you publicly hold him up as a model for all young Australian coaches to follow.

The Diegos certainly will.

Carlos Alberto Diego              

Becky Wilson - Wonder Woman out to Wipeout 'Wogball'

I’m not sure why I don’t know much about Rebecca Wilson. She says that she has been a sports journo for over 30 years (‘and a damned good one at that’ I can hear her scream) so you’d reckon that I, as an Aussie sports lover, would’ve heard something more about her.

I’m not familiar with much of her work but due to popular demand I’m about to bestow on her the much vaunted Four Diegos Soccer Hater of the Month Award. Forgive me if I don’t get my facts right but apparently, from what I have heard, it hasn’t got in the way of any article she has ever written about football so I guess she wouldn’t mind.

To prepare for the announcement I googled ‘Rebecca Wilson’ + ‘soccer’ and was blown away by a maelstrom of great stuff.

It was a wonderful, colourful cavalcade of reports about Bec’s penchant for DUI charges; hate, abuse and ill-informed comment by her on soccer; hate, abuse and informed comment by football fans about her and oh yeh …apparently sleeps with her boss (Bec’s partner is News Limited boss John Hartigan – good career move mate…time for the Diegos to ‘turn’ for Frank Lowy).    

Those who know about our Soccer Hater of the Month Award know that we take a This is Your Life approach to it all.

We don’t give this thing away ‘willy nilly’ you know. We like to drill down deep to uncover the inner bitterness and resentment; the need to spew anti-soccer bile all over unsuspecting readers and of course, at its most primal level, why the winner hates ‘wogball’.

Sorry to be so frank on the last point but that’s what it’s always about isn’t it?

It’s the whole Johnny Warren ‘Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters’ thing all over again. We’ve seen it all before …an ignorant, arrogant, ill-prepared, narrow minded, ‘lemon chicken’ loving Aussie journo who wants to save us all from the evil of a foreign game that’s just not Australian … blah blah blah.  

In this respect ‘Becky’ is very unoriginal.

As a self-styled cutting edge journo couldn’t she have dug up some stories about a soccer player who had his balls licked by a dog on Mad Monday? A group of A-League player’s gang-banging a drugged up 16-year-old for fun? A scandal involving the Socceroos betting against themselves? An A-League salary cap rort or two? What about an A-league captain sleeping with a teammate’s missus? There’s surely an A-League player somewhere who is doing the dirty on his wife with a tacky Aussie bikini model and circulating the salacious photos on his iPhone to his mates? Now these are stories that say something about the culture of the game they emanate from.

Multicultural Australia renders Bec’s ‘They’re a Weird Mob’ view obsolete. Bec you’ve won but you’ve got to lift your game mate. The whole xenophobic ‘hard sell’ thing is boring.

Yes Bec I hear you when you say ‘but Carlos soccer is a scary, foreign game racked with corruption, simulation and cheating - its unAustralian’ and that ‘all soccer fans are mad ethnic hooligans who, when locked up in a football stadium together, just want to cut each other’s throats’ (according to ‘Bec Wilson ABS statistics’ more people have been raped, pillaged and murdered at Australian soccer games than all of the world wars combined – rumour is that the Aussie soccer war crimes tribunal in the Hague is Bec’s  next riveting front page story so stay tuned).

Becky, although left wanting on the creative writing front, you do beautifully meet all the award criteria: 

• Xenophobic – tick
• Uninformed – tick
• Unoriginal – tick
• Try-hard journo trying to get attention – tick
• Unknown by the Diegos for any credible journalist work – tick
• Sleeps with the boss and gets the gig – tick……oops hope I haven’t just outed Neil Mitchell, Ray Chesterton or Peter FitzSimmons.

Anyway Becky ‘Wonderful wondrous Wonder Woman working worldwide to wipe out wogball’ Wilson - for your fine but hackneyed work in the category of Soccer Bashing  - congratulations you are the Four Diegos Soccer Hater of the Month……now that’s done I’m off….there’s some ethnic violence I need to fuel at the soccer…Bec you want to come along? You might need your Pope Mobile.

Carlos Alberto Diego

“Fossie”, this is no time to get rid of

Ben Buckley and Frank Lowy

Let me make something clear straight off the top - I am a fan of Craig Foster.

A more patriotic, “blood and guts” Socceroo you could not find and as a football analyst and an advocate for the game in this country he has no peer.  Johnny Warren would be resting easily knowing that in “Fossie” his spirit still lives. For me no higher accolade can be bestowed on anyone in the game.

Having said that I have an itch that I need to scratch and on this occasion “Fossie” is the flea.

In short I have a problem with “Fossie’s” ‘Target Ben Buckley and Nursing Home for Frank Lowy’ campaign in the aftermath of Australia’s World Cup bid failure.

The thrust of his campaign is that Buckley lacks the passion because he is not one of us and should go; Lowy is too old and showed disrespect to a couple of legendary Socceroos so he should be transitioned out (incontinence bag and all) and more former players should be calling the shots at the FFA.

Let me address the last point first.

Since 1993 the Diegos have interviewed literally hundreds of Australian footballers at home and abroad and loved every minute of getting to know them, their thoughts on the game and an idea of what it’s like to be playing at the top level. They are a source of pride for us in victory and defeat and some of the best moments in our lives are as a result of their magnificent performances for Australia.

Players are good at what they do – playing the game. They are passionate, dedicated and committed to being the best they can be on the field of play.  They love playing for their country and we know about the enormous sacrifices they have to make to pull on the Green and Gold.  Players at the top level are elite athletes who have been born with or have developed a talent to play the game. Not all are tactically aware and not all are that coachable. They are just really good at what they do.

For many, without football they would be living unremarkable lives. When the boots are hung up and the jock strap is folded away some go on to have successful careers in coaching, in the media or in business. But the question is - are there any former players that can do a better job running the FFA and all that it entails (which includes a World Cup bid, a Socceroos World Cup campaign and a national competition in a sophisticated and cluttered sports market) than Ben Buckley and Frank Lowy? 

We saw this week that after 18 months Sydney Rovers, a proposed expansion team headed by a consortium of football people who have forged successful careers in business, fall over because it was unable to raise the required $5 million licence fee. These weren’t fruit shop owners. This was a consortium lead by the likes of Ian Rowden, former Young Socceroo and Saatchi and Saatchi marketing guru and Charlie Yankos, my all time favourite Socceroo and successful businessman in his own right.

I’m not denigrating the efforts of Ian and Charlie, in fact I applaud them for having a go but it made me ask the question - if these celebrated business minds could not rustle up enough cash to get a new A-League team up in West Sydney – the heartland of Australian football – how could they ever run the FFA? “Fossie” might know other former footballers who could but I find it hard to believe that they would be better credentialed than these guys.  

Yes the A-league is struggling and yes we were blindsided in our quest to get the 2022 World Cup but could any former footballers have done a better job? Are there any with the courage and vision to bid for the cup in the first place; source $45 million from the Federal government needed to fund it; endure and complete tough negotiations with other codes; and garner more than one vote in a political process that was at best dodgy? Also, could they have done all this and also ensured that the A-League flourished back home and the Socceroos were in good shape for a World Cup?

The fact is, no Australian sport has ever had to bid for the biggest sporting event in the world and simultaneously run a truly national domestic club competition and national team World Cup campaign. The AFL, NRL and Cricket Australia have never had to do it and they are the biggest, most financial and resource rich sporting organisations in the country.

“Fossie” is right, Ben Buckley hasn’t played the game and he is not a passionate media performer but does that mean he is not passionate about his job or where he wants the game to be? Do you honestly think that Frank Lowy, the man who singlehandedly rescued the game and has poured millions of his own into it, would appoint someone to the role of CEO of the FFA if he wasn’t convinced he wasn’t the right man for the job?

Ben Buckley is an elite sports administrator who has just undergone a crash course in FIFA politics and the machinations of world football at the top level courtesy of our failed World Cup bid.  It was a painful lesson but the knowledge and experience gained can now be used to help the game grow to another level. Which former player or anyone else for that matter brings this type of experience to the table? It makes no sense to get rid of him now.

What the game needs now are experts in administration, marketing, game development and community engagement. We need to win mainstream hearts and minds. Players will play their part, but not in running the game. They will be the heroes and the source of great inspiration for the next generation of young kiddies.

Yep...Buckley and Lowy took their eye off the A-league ball but does that mean they should be replaced, and if so, by who?

Craig has already ruled himself out because of his lack of experience in running sport.  “Fossie”, should we now ask Harry Kewell, Craig Moore, Les Scienflug or Zeljko Kalac?  

Carlos Alberto Diego

Open Letter to Scott McDonald

Dear Scott,

Hope you are well and that you’ve resisted the pre-game KFC temptation. I could’ve been anything if it wasn’t for the KFC temptation but I digress.

The real reason I’m writing is because I’m worried for you.

Not because you’re short of a quid or two. Not because you’re short of a kilo or two (thanks to that damned KFC). I’m not even worried that you are short full stop. No I’m worried because your Nullarbor sized goal drought at international level for the Socceroos may be getting to you.  

Yep 18 games without a goal for the Socceroos when you are selected in the team as a clinical goal poaching ‘prong’ is not a flash record. However embarrassing this record may be, up until recently, I have been impressed with the way you have attempted to stay positive. But I noticed in your bemused look after each of your ‘open goal’ fluffs against Poland last time out for Australia, that you might be starting to believe that your first goal may never come.

I suppose Pim endlessly referring to you as ‘Scotty Mac’ during his reign and him being wedded to ‘one prong’ up front formation is hard to put behind you. The psychological scars can linger for a long time….I know - I’m still dealing with Max Vieri getting a game for Australia and not me.

Yes I know that life has not been easy.

NIKE has done nothing to help you hide your love handles with their cutting edge, aerodynamic, ventilated and reverse ducted heated Socceroos shirts and for heaven’s sake you have to play and train under Gordon Strachan at Middlesborough on a daily basis.

For a long time the two little men your head were a cranky Scot who sees no sense in playing international football and a narrow minded Dutchman who sees no sense in playing international football with two prongs. I and the other Diegos really feel for you.

I know it’s been tough but you have to snap out of it mate.

I urge you to find the joy the in football especially when you’re wearing the green and gold. You score goals for fun in club competition so there’s no reason why you can’t do it on the world stage.

Pull out the tapes of your goals for Celtic against AC Milan and Manchester United in Champions League and play them over and over again and you’ll find the joy. Think back to your Cranbourne days when you debuted as a 15 year old and fathers were throwing their daughters (and at times wives) at you in gratitude for your goals and you’ll find the joy. Go clubbing with Wayne Rooney and the Diegos will guarantee that you find the joy.

Scott if you find the joy everything will be alright.

Let the Diegos be the little men in your head and you will be banging in the goals in no time.

Some free advice - always remember the Diegos motto: When you find goals hard to come by ….don’t freeze, inoculate against this goal disease – just score for fun and then tuck into a dozen pork buns.

No need to thank us – just dedicate your next hat trick for the Socceroos to the Diegos bro.

Love to Gordon and the boys at the Boro’.

Regards

Carlos Alberto Diego

So Sven who's your Daddy?

Let’s pretend for a moment. I’II be Frank Lowy and you (the reader) are a fly on the wall.

The Westfield Shopping Centre boardroom is the venue. I'm sitting at the head of my boardroom table - the site of numerous firing and hirings. In fact the blood of Pim Verbeek, John O'Neil and a multitude of shopping centre execs still still oozes from the oak. Outside in the foyer pacing and furiously swotting (googling Wikipedia for Australia, Aussie slang and Mel Gibson on their iphones) are the prospective applicants for the Socceroo coaching position.

The sweaty palmed shortlist includes Sven Goran ‘Lock up your Daughters’ Eriksson; Phillip ‘The White Witchdoctor on the Dole’ Troussier; Paul Í’ve always wanted to coach Austria’ Le Guen; Frank ‘I’m Dutch you know’ Rikjaard and Marcelo ‘It’s a little known fact but I had great, great grand dad with a little Dutch in him’ Lippi.

Let’s keep pretending that each of these Aussie coaching hopefuls knows how to coach the Diegos way – an exponent of multi-prong formation, a disciple of the free-spirited 4-4-2 or, dare I dream it, 4-3-3, and importantly a despiser of the sieve defence.  

It’s up to me to find the right man to take Aussie football, manifestly in the form of the Socceroos, to the next level – a world cup quarter final or beyond.

I have my list of job interview questions ready. Of course I’ll trot out the standard fare.....What are your hobbies? Have you undergone a police check? What position will my grandson play? Who will always be your daddy? These questions are strategically designed to lull them all into a false sense of security.

Why should I lull them in a false sense of security you might ask? I want them to drop their guard. I want them to bare their soul. I want them to shed any skerrick of pretence for when I ask them the money question ‘what are your thoughts of the Australian A-league and the players playing in it?’ I want to know what they really think.

Why is this important? It’s important because the next Australian coach has got to have faith in our boys and know how to get the best out of them irrespective of whether they play at home or abroad.

He needs to see the good qualities in the players, be excited about working with them and coach to their strengths. He needs to have an absolute faith that irrespective of the level, pedigree and celebrity of the opposition that he can find a way to win and instil confidence in his Aussie boys that on any given day, with the right preparation, coaching and circumstances they can match and beat anyone in the world.

Through his criticism of the Australian A-league and his ridicule of some of his players in the Dutch press during the World Cup it was clear that, when the blow torch was applied, Pim Verbeek had little faith in his Australian players.

I need to know that our new coach believes he can win with the players he has at his disposal. I need to know that he can build a team capable of attacking intent and not fixated on ‘parking the bus’. I need a coach who is not fearful that the team will be embarrassed if given licence to express itself.

The Socceroos gutsy draw against Ghana in the group stage, playing with 10 men for most of the game, showed what we all already know – that Australia, with its back against the wall,  is an enormously spirited group that never says die.

Our win against a very good Serbian team, when there was so much on the line for both teams, showed that we can beat highly credentialed opponents playing our own brand good attacking football. Unfortunately Pim discovered this too late.

Verbeek’s panic selection of no recognised strikers in the starting line up against the Germans in game one sent out the clear message that we could not compete with our Bavarian friends on any level.

Our coach effectively conceded the game before the ball was kicked. He showed his true colours – his thoughts that Australian footballers aren’t good enough. This was an untenable situation that can never happen again.

Terry Venables once famously said that had his Socceroos qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France they could’ve given the big guns a shake and won the competition. Deluded you might say but El Tel was a huge believer in the players and what was possible. The players loved him and played for him. It didn’t matter to him whether they were playing in the old NSL or for clubs overseas. Had it not been for the tragic events that transpired against Iran in 1997 who knows how far Venables’ faith in the players could’ve taken that Socceroos team.

I need a coach who will find a way to win with Australian players. I don’t want to hear about how things are better overseas. I don’t want to hear that we should be realistic about where we are at. The win against Serbia showed that Pim got it wrong. I don’t want limits. I don’t want boundaries. I want a coach who is absolutely convinced that he can win games and score goals with Australian players.

So Sven who’s your Daddy?

Carlos Alberto Diego

Soccer is as Australian as it gets

Four Diegos 'Soccer Hater of the Month' Award goes to those in the media who, whilst entitled to their opinion, the Diegos like to expose for being unashamed, overt haters of the world game.

Winners of this award tend to hold privileged positions in that they have the opportunity to shape the opinion of a radio, TV or print audience of many millions daily. They get paid to fuel biases, be provocative and tap into deep prejudices all in the name of freedom of speech and the right to express an opinion.

Commercial realities dictate that these people need ratings and to peak public debate to stay alive. Their performance and ability to keep their highly paid jobs are measured by AC Neilson media rating figures, talkback calls, emails and sms.

A favourite topic rehashed over and over by Soccer Haters in the media is that the game of soccer is 'unAustralian', 'wogball' if you like, and that it will never gain a foothold in the Australian market.  The fact that according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sweeny surveys and AC Neilson ratings for over a decade, soccer/football has already secured a deep and permanent foothold in the Australian market seems to have been missed or ignored by their teams of producers and researchers.

Soccer Haters in the media love the topic because it’s guaranteed to get a massive response without much work or real understanding. Big responses to this topic translate to ratings and yes more money through advertising and maybe a contract upgrade when negotiations with their employers come around.

They have no care that this debate perpetuates cultural stereotypes, feeds xenophobic attitudes and divides the public. In fact they love that it does ....very clever especially when the listener, viewer or reader numbers are down.....or Radio MTR comes along.

Our winner this month is 3AW Melbourne radio show host Neil Mitchell, author of the article JUST A SOCCER RUSE in the Herald Sun in Melbourne on Thursday July 1 2010 (see below). In his article he argues that soccer will never become a premier sport in Australia because it does not reflect the nation's values and the unique Australian culture.

Now I as a Diego don't have Mr. Mitchell's money. I don't have Mr. Mitchell's high rating radio show or social, public or political connections. I don't have his weekly column in Australia's highest selling newspaper and I probably don't have his intelligence.

I have no right to position myself as the man of the people as Mr. Mitchell does....hell I don't even have his hair! But one thing I can match him on is that I am just as much an Australian as what he is and guess what ....I love soccer.

Strange thought that - an Australian loving soccer.

That is an Australian from Italian descent who has been a Western Bulldogs member all his life. An Australian who has worked with other Indigenous Australians and culturally marginalised, new arrival and refugee groups teaching about Australian values across all sports including AFL, Cricket, Rugby, Basketball and Soccer.

An Australian who was shaped forever as a kid watching the brave 1974 Socceroos play in their first World Cup and bursting with pride at the inspirational performances of the current generation of Socceroos in both the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

An Australian who is proud in the knowledge that hundreds of thousands of Australian families from diverse backgrounds, yes including an enormous number of those from anglo backgrounds, come together and unite weekly throughout the country to support the game of soccer at all levels from grassroots to the A-League.

An Australian who has witnessed the presence of great Australian values of respect, teamwork, loyalty, fair play and leadership displayed through the game of soccer daily in our schools and weekly in the many hundreds of soccer clubs throughout our nation.

Soccer ‘unAustralian’? There’s plenty of evidence that it isn’t. The opposite is true - its as Australian as it gets.

Hey Neil before you go with this as your next talkback topic why not venture out of your studio, the leafy suburb where you live and go and watch some soccer games. You'll find that you will encounter a cross section of the real Australia and you’ll see Australian values are thriving my friend.  

Carlos Alberto Diego