Over half a million Australians braved the cold of the early dawn on a Tuesday morning to witness what many thought to be the improbable, as Australia qualified for its fifth consecutive world cup finals appearance, overcoming Peru in a dramatic penalty shootout.
I say improbable because it was never impossible. Australia approached the match on an even keel with the fifth ranked South American side and as is the beautiful simplicity of football, it was eleven versus eleven. In a one-legged play-off you could throw the form guide out of the window, though try telling any rusted on Australian fan that.
Despite dominating large parts of the match in front of a dominant Peruvian crowd, Australia struggled to capitalise and became increasingly under pressure as the match raced towards the conclusion of regular time, into extra time and finally to the dreaded penalty shootout.
Though impressed with the physical and proactive approach in the early stages, there was always a thought that the failure to score in regular time could come back to bite Australia where it hurts most, with every missed opportunity increasing thoughts of the worse-case scenarios began filling the minds of Socceroos fans.
As the match wore on, the bigger picture came to mind – What effect would World Cup qualification actually mean for Australia and what a world of pain we were entering if we did fall at the final hurdle? Was it a return to the bad old days, where Australian football huffed and puffed and almost qualified?
I’m old enough to remember the failed qualification campaigns prior to 2005 where many school friends with their various immigrant backgrounds had a team to follow, for us Socceroos believers it was World Cup or bust, simple as that.
There was no bandwagon to jump on, we’d simply dust ourselves off and simply go again at the next chance to chase what seemed an impossible dream.
A coaching decision edging on absolute insanity by coach Graham Arnold saw Mat Ryan replaced with three time Socceroo, Andrew Redmayne. So insane that it just might work?
Out went one of our greatest keepers with time spent in some of the biggest leagues, in would come the ‘grey wiggle’, and he danced his way across the goal line in attempts to thwart the opposition penalty kicks, the reaction on the twittersphere was swift and harsh, including (in retrospect) my own ridiculous take.
I take it all back… https://t.co/bAhbvoRzsg
— Blayne Treadgold (@BlayneTreadgold) June 13, 2022
Let’s be honest it was a decision that could have been career suicide for Arnold and the wiggle-like antics of Andrew Redmayne could have seen Australia football become the joke of the world had they not pulled it off.
Fortune, with a healthy pinch of shithousery, favoured the brave on this occasion.
For all of the criticism Graham Arnold copped this would turn out to be one of the bravest coaching decisions we’d ever seen. We were later to find out it had been planned all along with the help of goal keeping coach, John Crawley.
On this occasion it wouldn’t just be a win for Australian football, or the Socceroos who were adamant they had a point to prove it was a win for football’s bank account, securing its immediate future for the years to come.
The penalty shootout win will see $17 million into the Football Australia (FA) coffers, $14 million of that as reward for the qualifying for the group stage of the World Cup finals. A welcome windfall following some lean years for the sport.
More importantly the win has seen the Socceroos shoot up in the popularity stakes, becoming front and back page news as well as the leading story on many TV and radio news and sports programs throughout the week, and rightly so.
Football Australia’s Chief Executive, James Johnson said the win “goes beyond finances”, and he’s right it’s imperative that football rides these qualification coat tails.
“Across Tuesday, the Socceroos trended Number 1 across Australia on both Twitter and YouTube, and was the most searched term across all categories on Google – reflecting the pride, the intrigue, and the popularity of the current squad and the Socceroos rich history, which has been one hundred years in the making”
“This is an incredibly exciting period for Australian Football with our Matildas contesting the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in August, then the Socceroos are off to the FIFA World Cup in November, before our Matildas take centre stage on home soil as Australia co-hosts the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 with New Zealand,” he said.
Despite the ‘unbundling’ of the A-league from Football Australia to independent control under the Australian Professional Leagues, A-league clubs will also benefit from the World Cup as they’ll be compensated for any player selected in a qualifying nation that has played with the club within the last two years.
Although much of the windfall for Football Australia will be absorbed by wages and operational costs, the estimated profit will be around $5 million and is expected to go towards the proposed national second division to come under FA’s control in the coming years as well as a women’s Australia Cup competition.
The moment captured the attention of the nation and the evidence is clear that a strong passion exists for Australian football including our national teams and throughout grassroots participation. Now is the time to consciously connect the varying levels of the game including the struggling, now independent A-league.
Andrew Redmayne is one of the most recognisable sporting people in Australia right now.
Football Australia, Sydney FC, the A-leagues and their affiliates should be doing their utmost to wheel him out at every opportunity, ensuring a clear concise plan to not only make names like Andrew Redmayne household ones, but also their clubs and the communities they represent.
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