LOL!!!!

These people will stop at absolutely nothing.

In your profile you write: “Fuck’em if they can’t take a joke ” So re-reading your post I took it in that light (and also after a sleep).

But let’s me explain why (I think) us soccer supporters are a sensitive lot.

Australian soccer fans have suffered years of humiliation. You probably heard of that great book by the great late Johnny Warren called: Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters. As you can see from the title that was the perception of soccer (and still is in many instances) in Australia. A sport which really did not belong here. It was soft (so suitable for sheilas and poofters) and really played by ethnics rather than ‘real Australians’ (wogs).

Compounding this was that soccer was truly its own worse enemy in regards to how it was administered. Maybe it was not corrupt but it was not far from it. If anything it was run by well meaning but incapable people.

For years any potential reform was stopped by internal fiefdoms and factions who seemed more interested in their own little patch than furthering the sport.

The sport was mainly followed by NESB Australians. And despite everything we must be grateful that they kept the flame alive (and producing quality players). But unfortunately it did alienate the mainstream and of course was punctuated by ‘disturbances’ between some fans of some teams that brought to the grounds century old grievances that nobody except them cared about.

Then to finish this dismal picture off, we were in the confederation of Oceania. A Confederation that gave Australia no meaningful competition. FIFA regarded us as a nuisance placing Australia in playoffs with other Confederations to qualify for the World Cup after easy win against Tonga or the Solomon Islands.

You can see how this was an absolutely depressing and desparate situation for Australian soccer fans. Add to this the near misses against World Cup qualification with Iran and the debacle against Uruguay in 2001. You can see that the mental health of the average soccer fan was seriously affected.

Depression and anger go hand in hand. Years of anger welled up because of this situation, apparently with no solution because no one cared.

In fact quite the opposite. Instead of commiseration, as we would if a team of another sport lost, we got scorn and derision. It is a well know fact that Champagne was popped every time Australia missed yet another World Cup qualification.

As I think you would Ken, I pray that the polls are right that the Howard Government is turfed out at the next elections. However there is one thing I will be grateful to them. The institution of the Crawford report which instituted a change into the administration of the soccer. The old guard was swept out, and a proper administration structure was instituted, and soccer people with talent, like Frank Lowy who would not touch soccer with a ten foot pole came back to the fold.

And the runs are on the board (to borrow from another sport). The A-League is so far a success, we qualified for the World Cup for the first time in more than thirty years and instead playing in the backwaters of Oceania we are now part of one of the biggest Confederations in the world where the sport is followed by millions. And not only in the national teams. Next year Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United will participate in the Asian Champions Cup with exposure that no other Australian club team could dream about.

Regarding the World Cup getting there was a huge achievement. But getting past the group stage was something extraordinary. Mexico which is not a bad team when it comes to soccer took quite a few world cups to achieve what Australia achieved in Germany. And while as you said we won only one game, achievements such as drawing against Croatia, one of the countries that belong to the royal entourage of world soccer, to progress to the next stage was almost like a victory.

So, I am sorry for the long post Ken. But I just wanted to explain why sometime we react a bit strongly when we perceive that someone wants to put us back ‘in our box’ like we were all those years ago. Maybe we are too sensitive, I guess we are tired to continoulsy have to defend our sport after all these years. Even when we think that finally we deserve some respect. Nothing extraordinary, just being treated like any other sport would be nice.

Some commentators which are attached to other codes seem to be incredibly irritated by the coverage by this ‘foreign’ sport called soccer. And would like anything better that it would go back to the insignificant, badly adminsitered joke of a sport that was before. Any failure is trumpted :”See? It was all a mirage. Soccer is a joke in Australia - we knew it would not last…it is a phase….it’s just fashionable etc etc.”

As an example Australian women’s tennis is in dire straits at the moment, having lost the Federation Cup playoff and being relagated out of the World Group. I don’t read commentators stating that this proves that tennis in Australia is a waste of time with derision and scorn towards the sport itself. If anything there are stories about how womens’ tennis can be resurrected.

I hope for a day when Soccer in Australia will be treated like any other sport, without the hostility of some journalist and therefore not having the feeling that its rightful place in Australia’s sporting landscape has to be defended anytime there is a bad result (which is part and parcel of every sport).

And I also hope the day will come when people can take the piss out of soccer the same way the piss is taken out of every other sport.

Cheers

Guido

Oh and: 4-0!

Your comment about arrogant tourists is curious. Ask an Indian cricket fan what they think of the Aussie cricketers, or the Balinese what they think of foody players of the eggball variety on their off-season trips. Pot, kettle, black.

Oh, and the reason some soccer fans engage in this hubristic BS is to stick it up those (like you) who attack our game at any given opportunity. Every sport receives negative publicity in this country, but soccer the sport is criticised, something that fans of other sports never have to endure. This is why some soccer fans are bitter, in exactly the same way that the anti-soccer forces. There is undoubtedly an anti-soccer agenda in some sections of the media and public, like yourself, who loved nothing more than when the game was shooting itself in the foot.

The fact that you’re celebrating an Aussie sporting team performing poorly has revealed that you are in fact un-Australian.

Get used to soccer, because it’s here to stay. Not to take over the other codes, but to co-exist. If you can’t put up with that, I’d suggest crawling back to your rock.

None of these things (except the club vs country thing) are the “type” of Australian soccer.

However I am sorry to say that football in Australia (ok…let’s call it soccer for now) has not resumed ‘normal’ service as you would call it.

The days of incompetent and almost corrupt administration under Soccer Australia are gone. The Football Federation of Australia is a competently run body headed by an ex-AFL chief administration. The A-League is going great gun with fantastic attendances.

Internal divisions in teams when things are not going well are not only relegated to soccer. You just have to see what has happened to teams such as St.Kilda, or Melbourne recently.

I know that the ‘ethnic brawl’ comment is tounge in cheek. But it seems from that comment that you are somewhat irritated by the fact that after many years of being badly admistrated and being treated as a second class code, soccer is getting some positive publicity. Would you like soccer to remain a marginalised sport which is played only by ‘wogs’? Because that is what is implied by the general flavour of your post.

I don’t like cricket one bit and bores me. But nevertheless I am happy if the cricket team wins, because it still represents Australia. I would think that anyone would be happy for an Australian team, whatever the sport it plays, to be successful. I can’t fathom why anyone would celebrate its failure. And if, as you say, you have anything against soccer, I would think that would be your position as well.

Anyway, we seems to be back on track. And I hope you will be hoping for a good result against Japan (a match which will be quite hard to win) on Saturday.