Australia draw with Dutch in Sydney

October 10, 2009

As myself and the brains trust entered the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night, I asked them what they were looking forward to observing between the two teams.

”The Dutch backline, it’s all I want to see in action”

A fair enough request I suppose; when your defence reads with names like Boulahrouz, Heitinga, Mathijsen and van Bronckhorst, you would expect nothing less than the best.

The Dutch were at their clinical best against a solid Socceroos line-up, playing out a 0-0 draw in slippery conditions. Each pass had purpose, direction and emphasis; despite Australia dominating possession, the Clockwork Oranje were clearly in control for most of the game and had the best of the few opportunities for attack.

If not for the experienced and invigorated Australian defence, the Dutch clearly could have returned home with victory under their belt. Thanks to a lengthy World Cup qualification run, the Socceroos have turned into a defensive machine, conceding only one goal in their final group stage matches. This kind of resolve has laid the platform for a solid team that well deserves its 14th place FIFA ranking by getting results, no matter how ugly it may seem to some. It was that experience that allowed to keep the Dutch scoreless in this game; defenders were there at the last minute to block shots, pounce on loose balls and deliver quality ball to the attack.

Unfortunately, the Australian attack was disturbed early in the match when Vince Grella was substituted 15 minutes in after suffering an injury to this thigh off the ball. Carl Valeri came on for Grella and held his own till his own substitution in the 70th minute with Mile Jedinak trying to add a spark to the attack. There were good patches for the Socceroos, but not enough to create decent opportunities, thanks to our much predicted world class Dutch defence. Brett Holman had the best chance in the 87th minute down the right wing after a Kewell header on found Holman in space, but with Heitenga closing in with minimal angle, he chose power over placement and ended up sailing the ball over the bar.

The return of Brett Emerton after a long exodus recovering from knee surgery was a positive sign. Easily the best of the Socceroos in this match, he constantly troubled the right wing with quick runs and quality ball to the box. Captain Lucas Neill played the full 90 minutes despite not have played regular club football for a few months.

The likes of Wesley Sneijder and Klaus Jan Huntelaar had plenty of good ball originating from the counterattacks of their own defence, especially from their wing backs to the right sided wing of Dirk Kuyt. Perhaps the combination of the greasy conditions and desperate Socceroos defence played their part in keeping the visitors scoreless; the first time in 26 matches for the Netherlands.

Australia can take a lot out of this game, especially for Wednesday’s Asian Cup clash with Oman. From a solid defence can pressure and attack form to produce results. If the green and gold can maintain that mantra, their World/Asian Cup campaign should produce their potential on the field where it matters.

“It was a very good test,” Australian coach Pim Verbeek said of the match.

“Overall we can say this was a very good game, we know that we still have to improve, because you could see the Dutch team, more or less on every aspect of football, is a better team … so it’s a good lesson for us.

“I think it’s a very useful game, but it’s all about Wednesday, that’s what we’re going to focus on now.”

The result continued a good record against the Dutch after Australia won their last match in Eindhoven last year and drew the only other clash between the sides in 2006.

Also a point the brains trust and I extrapolated was the FFA’s bid for the 2018-22 World Cup given a good advertisement in this match. 40000 plus in attendance is a great crowd for Australian standards, but some may have questioned why it was played at the smaller Sydney Football Stadium and not the Olympic Stadium which has over double the capacity.

Stick 40000 out at Homebush and place doesn’t even look half full. The SFS was chosen because of the proximity of the seats to the pitch and its perception of a full stadium. These are the ideal images you want to be sending to FIFA and the world if Australia wants a World Cup in the future.

We can do it, having hosted an Olympics and a Rugby World Cup within the last 10 years, and now with a team in the top twenty in the world, we can put forward the notion of hosting the largest event of a sport that’s finally getting the respect it deserves in this country after so much adversity, both real and perceived.

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