2006-06-27 15:31:24Australian
Start 2010 World Cup planning now: Guus
Tuesday Jun 27 15:39 AEST
Scott Chipperfield (R) came close to putting Australia on the board after 31 minutes, but from close range fired straight at Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon (L). (Picture: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)
Guus Hiddink has signed off with a call to start planning immediately for the 2010 World Cup or risk wasting the breakthrough achievements of his 2006 Socceroos.
As his shattered players struggled to deal with their round of 16 exit from the World Cup on a controversial last gasp penalty to Italy, a proud Hiddink urged Australia to seize the moment.
Inevitably that means rebuilding a Socceroos squad containing only five players aged 25 or under, amid fears there is a dearth of talent coming through to replace the old guard.
After shaking up world soccer to gain a ranking among the top 16 nations, as many as five of the Socceroos are believed to be considering international retirement.
"Maybe you have to take a little step back and start building up with a big part of this team, but you have to look at the age of the players whether they can be there for 2010," said Hiddink, the departing Dutch master coach.
"You must not go for a half a year or a year, you must make a new project towards 2010 through the Olympic Games in 2008."
Fullback Stan Lazaridis has already signalled his intention to quit the national squad, with captain Mark Viduka, who turns 31 in October, defenders Tony Popovic and Craig Moore and goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac also possible retirements.
Viduka was non-committal about his future following his side’s gutting exit from a tournament which has promised and delivered so much for Australian soccer, yet ended in the sort of heartbreak so familiar to the sport.
"I don’t want to know about it at the moment," Viduka said after a disputed penalty slotted by Italy’s Francesco Totti guided a 10-man Italian side into the quarter-finals.
"A lot of players will stay on, but there’ll probably be a lot who’ll finish."
Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who will turn 34 in October, indicated he was keen to remain involved with the Socceroos set-up, as was fullback Scott Chipperfield, 31 in December.
Australian soccer has plenty to build on despite the cruel exit, with a legion of new fans as the nation watched captivated by a campaign packed with drama.
The Socceroos have won world football’s respect after shedding a once dour image to play enterprising, attacking football, and beating Asian champion Japan, as well as matching world champion Brazil, three-time World Cup winner Italy and 1998 Cup semi-finalist Croatia.
British newspaper The Times called the Socceroos’ the tournament’s No.1 over-achiever.
And most pundits say Australia’s performance to qualify second in its group and make the round of 16 will put the team down in history as the surprise packet of the 2006 tournament, like Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal four years ago.
"The big win is not just that the team made a very good impression in this tournament against the biggest teams in the world, but the momentum has to be used to establish football now in Australia," Hiddink said.
"It has become the No.1 sport regarding attention now and they will use this momentum to make a good structure and be there in 2010.
"Being very close on a disputed penalty to go to the last eight in the world - it is a tremendous achievement.
"We did a great job - Australia can be proud."
It is arguable that Australian sport has never witnessed any one sporting tournament with four more dramatic episodes.
Tuesday’s instalment was no different. The day started with Socceroos star Harry Kewell sensationally arriving at the stadium on crutches - his ankle affected by gout, of all things.
It ended with Socceroo Lucas Neill sprawled on the ground, Italian Fabio Grosso crashing over him, and Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo awarding a penalty in the last seconds of injury-time which sent Italy into the final eight and Australia home.
In between, the Socceroos had more than matched the more-fancied Italians everywhere but in front of goal, while Italy had been reduced to 10 men when centre-back Marco Materazzi was harshly sent off for a clumsy, but not malicious tackle on Marco Bresciano.
Kewell’s skills were sorely missed with no player able to break down the superb Italian defence around the goal.
Hiddink said there was no doubt in his mind the Socceroos had been dudded by the penalty decision which went against them.
"If you see the replay, there was no doubt it was not a penalty," Hiddink said.
"That’s bitter to see that in the last second.
"But overall when the emotion goes down, we can very proud of what this team has achieved in the last four games."
©AAP 2006
Scott Chipperfield (R) came close to putting Australia on the board after 31 minutes, but from close range fired straight at Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon (L). (Picture: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)
Guus Hiddink has signed off with a call to start planning immediately for the 2010 World Cup or risk wasting the breakthrough achievements of his 2006 Socceroos.
As his shattered players struggled to deal with their round of 16 exit from the World Cup on a controversial last gasp penalty to Italy, a proud Hiddink urged Australia to seize the moment.
Inevitably that means rebuilding a Socceroos squad containing only five players aged 25 or under, amid fears there is a dearth of talent coming through to replace the old guard.
After shaking up world soccer to gain a ranking among the top 16 nations, as many as five of the Socceroos are believed to be considering international retirement.
"Maybe you have to take a little step back and start building up with a big part of this team, but you have to look at the age of the players whether they can be there for 2010," said Hiddink, the departing Dutch master coach.
"You must not go for a half a year or a year, you must make a new project towards 2010 through the Olympic Games in 2008."
Fullback Stan Lazaridis has already signalled his intention to quit the national squad, with captain Mark Viduka, who turns 31 in October, defenders Tony Popovic and Craig Moore and goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac also possible retirements.
Viduka was non-committal about his future following his side’s gutting exit from a tournament which has promised and delivered so much for Australian soccer, yet ended in the sort of heartbreak so familiar to the sport.
"I don’t want to know about it at the moment," Viduka said after a disputed penalty slotted by Italy’s Francesco Totti guided a 10-man Italian side into the quarter-finals.
"A lot of players will stay on, but there’ll probably be a lot who’ll finish."
Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, who will turn 34 in October, indicated he was keen to remain involved with the Socceroos set-up, as was fullback Scott Chipperfield, 31 in December.
Australian soccer has plenty to build on despite the cruel exit, with a legion of new fans as the nation watched captivated by a campaign packed with drama.
The Socceroos have won world football’s respect after shedding a once dour image to play enterprising, attacking football, and beating Asian champion Japan, as well as matching world champion Brazil, three-time World Cup winner Italy and 1998 Cup semi-finalist Croatia.
British newspaper The Times called the Socceroos’ the tournament’s No.1 over-achiever.
And most pundits say Australia’s performance to qualify second in its group and make the round of 16 will put the team down in history as the surprise packet of the 2006 tournament, like Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal four years ago.
"The big win is not just that the team made a very good impression in this tournament against the biggest teams in the world, but the momentum has to be used to establish football now in Australia," Hiddink said.
"It has become the No.1 sport regarding attention now and they will use this momentum to make a good structure and be there in 2010.
"Being very close on a disputed penalty to go to the last eight in the world - it is a tremendous achievement.
"We did a great job - Australia can be proud."
It is arguable that Australian sport has never witnessed any one sporting tournament with four more dramatic episodes.
Tuesday’s instalment was no different. The day started with Socceroos star Harry Kewell sensationally arriving at the stadium on crutches - his ankle affected by gout, of all things.
It ended with Socceroo Lucas Neill sprawled on the ground, Italian Fabio Grosso crashing over him, and Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo awarding a penalty in the last seconds of injury-time which sent Italy into the final eight and Australia home.
In between, the Socceroos had more than matched the more-fancied Italians everywhere but in front of goal, while Italy had been reduced to 10 men when centre-back Marco Materazzi was harshly sent off for a clumsy, but not malicious tackle on Marco Bresciano.
Kewell’s skills were sorely missed with no player able to break down the superb Italian defence around the goal.
Hiddink said there was no doubt in his mind the Socceroos had been dudded by the penalty decision which went against them.
"If you see the replay, there was no doubt it was not a penalty," Hiddink said.
"That’s bitter to see that in the last second.
"But overall when the emotion goes down, we can very proud of what this team has achieved in the last four games."
©AAP 2006