Team History:

Australia does not have a strong football history or root. Although the Australia national team was formed in 1922, the Socceroos failed to taste a chance in the World Cup for their first 2 attempts. 1974 and 2006 were Socceroos only appearances in the World Cup final stages.

This lack of achievements was not due to the low quality of Socceroos players, but due to their geographical location. Australia is too far away from America and yet they are also too far away from Asia. Australia had no chance but to practice with other fellow Oceania countries. And since the competition in Oceania is not tough at all, Australia is subjected to various playoff and additional matches before the team is admitted to play in the world’s standard.

The most ridiculous episode was the 1994 World Cup, where Australia was subjected to play six additional matches after the team had topped the Oceania qualifying table. The first two matches were home and away with its only competitor in the Oceania zone, New Zealand. Then Australia was matched against Canada and finally against Argentina. This was really unfair because Canada and Argentina were only required to play fewer games than Socceroos.

Of course being in a low competitive zone yields little benefit to Australia. The team had written its name in history by scoring the world’s biggest win when they defeated American Samoa 31 – 0 at Coffs Harbour. Of course the whole match was regarded as a joke and due to Australia imbalances in Oceania; finally the team has been included in the Asia zone starting from 2006.

Despite being shunted away in an uncompetitive zone, Australia itself still managed to yield legendary players either by Australia standard or even by European standard. One of the notable players was Robbie Slater, who was the famous right winger who took Blackburn Rover to seize the Premiership title in 1995.

Another notable player was the famous defensive midfielder, Paul Okon, who was one of the most famous Australian soccer players in Italy. Having played for Lazio and a number of Italian teams, Okon was one of the most successful Australian players in Serie A.

Australia was also often gifted with superb goal keepers. Mark Bosnich has earned quite a reputation in the Premier League before he ruined it by committing drug offences. Bosnich was famed due to his clean sheet percentage which was in the top five in the English Premier League.

All the above players were part of the 90’s squad of the Socceroos. The 00’s squad is more powerful since more and more Australians are playing in Europe. Although some of the newer players might not have been as famous as the previous, they have considerable fame in their respective league. Of course this does not includes high profile stars such as Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer and Mark Viduka who are considered top notch players even in European standard.

They have proven that claim well in the 2006 World Cup. Socceroos advanced to the next stage before the team was beaten by Italy 1 – 0 through a controversial penalty kick.

Team News

It was likely that the Socceroos would play without striker, Mark Viduka in the Asian Cup. Viduka had withdrawn following a demanding season for Middlesbrough. However nationality won in the end and Viduka has confirmed his place in the Australian Asian Cup side. The news was greeted enthusiastically by the Socceroos fans as well as Asian Cup spectators in general. Viduka is ranked among the top players in the Asian Cup tournament.

Socceroos also displayed confident results in their friendly matches. Despite the climate problem which some of the players pointed out Australia flattened Singapore 3 – 0.

Key Players

All the Australian players who play in Europe are key additions to the national squad. Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Mark Schwarzer, Lucas Neill and Mark Bresciano are the basis of the Socceroos squad. Their defense line commanded by Lucas Neill, guarded by Mark Schwarzer and aided by Vincent Grella in the midfield is one of the best in the Asian Cup.

The attacking midfielders led by Mark Brescianto and Harry Kewell will also ensure a constant supply of crosses and passes to front man Mark Viduka. Playing against teams ranked lower than Australia the team is expected to progress well in their first Asian Cup.

The Socceroos are coached by Graham Arnold who replaced Guus Hiddink after the World Cup. Arnold led the Socceroos to qualify for the final stage of Asian Cup by winning all matches comfortably.

Expected Result

This year will mark Australia’s debut in the Asian Cup. Socceroos are expected to display spectacular performance, having believed to be of a higher standard than most of the Asian Cup participants. And the team is even favored by a lot of pundits to claim the Asian Cup in its debut!. Throughout the history of the Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia is the only team who were able to claim the championship in its debut.

Australia will face Oman in the first match and then Iraq and Thailand consecutively. They are expected to win all the three matches although not easily. Their toughest opponent is likely to be Thailand and Iraq. Although Thailand is not a well known country for soccer, the host has shown spectacular performance in their friendly matches. Iraq will always be a tough nut to crack since the team will likely to fight with all of its might in the deciding second match against Australia. 

Climate will be one of the Australia main opponents. The hot humid Bangkok climate will surely sap away a lot of the player’s stamina. All of the Socceroos players are used to playing in milder climate such as in Australia or Europe. Iraq, Oman and Thailand sure have the leading advantage in term of climate adaptability.

You can watch Australia live in their Asian Cup debut. All of the tournament games will be available with live Asian Cup soccer inside our dedicated member’s area.