It has been just over a month since Australia was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and it's time that we look back on a tough but exciting campaign for the Socceroos. Australia went into the World Cup as the lowest ranked footballing nation of the tournament but after some strong performances and exciting individual efforts, the Socceroos left the competition receiving plenty of plaudits. Although Australia weren't able to win any games, they were far from being the worst nation at the World Cup. New coach Ange Postecoglou walked away satisfied and excited by the prospect of what is to come in the next few years, the transition process was well under way. The squad landed in Brazil with a weakened side due to the many injuries that occurred in the months leading up to the start of the tournament but like Australia has done so many times, the team rose up to the occasion and delivered performances that the fans could be proud of.
Chile 3 - 1 Australia, 13 June 2014, Arena Pantanal, Cuiaba (Sanchez 12', Valdivia 14', Cahill 35', Beausejour 92')
Before the World Cup began there were many doubts over who would make the starting lineup for Australia due to all the injuries the squad had to deal with. That question was answered when the Socceroos came out to play their first game of World Cup 2014, lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, it was Ryan; Davidson; Spiranovic; Wilkinson; Franjic; Milligan; Jedinak; Oar; Bresciano; Leckie; Cahill. In the opening stages of the match you could tell the Australian players were nervous and their World Cup inexperience showed. As expected, Chile dominated possession and most of the play. The Socceroos uncharacteristically sat deep and deployed a more conservative style of play, something that we are not good at. Unfortunately the match came down to the first 15 minutes, it was simple to analyse, Australia gave Chile too much respect and freedom and they were punished in quick succession. Alexis Sanchez scoring the first and Valdivia with the second soon after. After roughly 30 minutes Australia settled into the match but of course had a fight on their hands being two goals down.
In the latter stages of the first half they really pushed Chile all the way and on the 35th minute mark they had something to cheer about. Tim Cahill scored from a likely source, a header off a great cross from the right flank. The Socceroos went into half time with their heads held high and well in the game. The second half was a bit of a roller-coaster ride, both teams continued with their game plan and shared dominance throughout although it was always Australia who were chasing the game. Mark Bresciano had a great chance to equalise when he fired a driven shot on target from a late run into the box at the far post, however the goalkeeper made a great save down low. As the match went on Australia were forced to push more bodies forward in search of the goal which unfortunately never came. This meant that the Socceroos left gaps at the back that Chile could exploit on the counter-attack and on the 92 minute Beausejour scored and sealed the win for Chile. Australia were unlucky not to get a draw out of this game but such a weak start was always going to make it complicated. They still put up a stronger fight than many expected.
Netherlands 3 - 2 Australia, 18 June 2014, Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (Robben 20', Cahill 21', Jedinak 54', Van Persie 58', Memphis 68')
Australia's match against the Netherlands was the most interesting and most exciting. For their second match, the Socceroos kept the same shape but Mark Milligan and Ivan Franjic were unavailable due to injury, the lineup was Ryan; Davidson; Spiranovic: Wilkinson; McGowan; McKay; Jedinak; Oar; Bresciano; Leckie; Cahill, while the Netherlands started with their 3-5-2 formation. The match was extremely open with end to end action throughout, which explains the high number of goals. Unlike the match against Chile, Australia started with more confidence and set out to attack from the first minute. The formation each side put out meant that each player had a clear opponent they had to mark, Australia's centre backs were up against Robben and Van Persie, the full backs up against their wing backs, the three attackers against Holland's back three and in the middle it was 3v3. Essentially, the match was a contest of 1v1 battles all over the park. Australia were playing more positive football with the three attacking players constantly threatening and Bresciano making penetrating runs from deep. However, Robben struck first with a swift counter-attack down the left channel to take the lead. One minute later Tim Cahill scored one of the best goals of the World Cup with a volley from a McGowan long ball that hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced in. At half time it was a surprising 1-1 scoreline, the Socceroos were looking strong.
The second half continued where the first left off, end to end action and both teams going punch for punch. The Netherlands changed their formation to a 4-3-3 when Van Gaal realised that he needed an extra man at the back to stop the quick Australian forwards who were finding space too easily. However, on the 54th minute the unthinkable happened, Australia earned a soft penalty (not that I was complaining), Jedinak put it away confidently and all of a sudden the Socceroos were beating a team who had just defeated the previous world champions 5-1. Unfortunately it's times like these that Australia's inexperience on the world stage begins to show. We weren't able to control the match after that and with the quality players that the Netherlands have on their hands they pounced. A few minutes after Australia took the lead, Van Persie equalised to make it 2-2 and soon after that Memphis became the youngest Dutch scorer at a World Cup to make it 2-3. Australia didn't have a reply. This match left the fans thinking of what could have been. Mathew Leckie's golden chance to make it 3-1 was heartbreaking to watch again and again. Australia had the chances to win the match but like I said earlier this was a matter of winning 1v1 battles across the park, it was simply a matter of the Netherlands having the more skillful players. Australia will have to mature as a footballing nation to come out victorious in these types of encounters.
Australia 0 - 3 Spain, 23 June 2014, Arena da Baixada, Curitiba (Villa 36', Torres 69', Mata 82')
Australia had now been officially eliminated from World Cup 2014, the match against Spain was a strange one in that Spain had also unexpectedly bowed out of the competition by this stage. This created some doubt as to what Spain team was going to come out and also how they would react to their premature elimination. Unfortunately their best version came out to play that day and the match was heavily one sided. Australia lined up in a very energetic and attacking looking 4-2-3-1 with Ryan; Davidson; Wilkinson; Spiranovic; McGowan; McKay; Jedinak; Oar; Bozanic; Leckie and Taggart. The Socceroos were trying to press hard and high up the pitch as that is exactly what had got Spain unstuck in their previous two games, we actually held off the opposition for the longest out of the three group games. However, about half an hour into the match the Australian players began to drop their intensity, you could tell that the first two group games really took a toll on the team. Furthermore, our main weapon Tim Cahill was suspended for this match from too many yellow cards therefore Australia's plan A became unstuck. Spain began to take control of the match and on the 36th minute David Villa struck to put them ahead 0-1, ironically Villa had just signed to play for Melbourne City. The half time scoreline remained at 0-1 with Spain looking comfortable.
The rest of the match continued in much the same way. Spain looked more like the Spain of old, playing high up the pitch and maintaining possession with ease. They also looked at attacking Australia's main weakness, the full back areas. This meant that Ryan McGowan and Jason Davidson found it difficult to go on attacking runs, something that was essential to most of our plays. Ange Postecoglou made some early changes to rotate the players more but nothing could stop a Spain side determined to put their embarrassing performances behind them. Spain scored two more goals and the match finished 0-3. Australia didn't play too badly but a combination of fatigue, the absence of some key figures and the fact that this match was a dead rubber produced a lethargic and uninspiring performance. The World Cup was over, it was time to go home.
The 2014 World Cup was always going to be tough for the Socceroos as they were handed the most difficult group they've ever had. Although Australia lost all three matches there were a lot of positives to take from the tournament. Ange Postecoglou was able to get the team playing an effective and attractive brand of football. We didn't completely embarrass ourselves as many thought we would. We weren't the worst team at the World Cup and probably the most exciting nation from the Asian confederation. Most important of all, the newer, younger players of the team had a great tournament and consolidated their spots for the future. Tommy Oar, Jason Davidson and Mathew Leckie being our best performers. In hindsight, the World Cup was always going to be a tournament where Australia could look at building a new squad, to cement the transition from old to new that we desperately needed. After all, this January the Asian Cup is coming home, a trophy we must win at all costs.
