Australia should embrace Group of Death

EDITORIAL: For the game in Australia, it's a great opportunity.

Yes, for some, the World Cup draw is a disaster. We're hearing the road is already over and we've no chance of the game enjoying the same impact as in 2006.

But drawing - and beating - the likes of Algeria or Slovenia doesn't have the same ring as the prospect of taking points from Ghana, Germany or Serbia.

Pim Verbeek's players now have a great opportunity to lift the credibility of the game to a new level.

Yes, victory over Japan lit up the nation (no matter how fortunate we actually were) three years ago, but can you imagine how success over a star-studded Germany or Ghana would be embraced by a public who know more about the lives of Chelsea stars Michael Essien and Michael Ballack than they do about David Carney or Mark Bresciano?

A win over such high class opponents, on the biggest stage of them all, would catapult this Australian team alongside the great sides of rugby and cricket. Verbeek's men would enjoy Steve Waugh-type status and the remaining doubts about ranking the nation's footballers alongside the greats of rival sports would be laid to rest.

This is what lies ahead for Australian football.

And given what Verbeek has already achieved with this team, the doomsayers will eat their words next June. Forget about the arguments about 'winning with style' and this team not being a match for the 2006 squad, it's all a thinly-disguised way for the soccer clique to take shots at Verbeek.

From the day after his appointment, when SBS chose to sit Philippe Troussier in their studio and tell us all why he was the better man for the job, Verbeek has been on a hiding to nothing with the soccer clique.

Not enough has been made of the way Australia successfully maneuvered through a first ever Asian World Cup qualifying campaign. None of Verbeek's critics had experienced such a task, not the quality of opponents, not the away day conditions and not the difficulty of pulling together a squad from all corners of Europe for games of such significance.

The success over China was an excellent result. Getting past Asian champions Iraq and Uzbekistan deserved greater attention. For me, Iraq should be going to the World Cup, they remain one of the region's outstanding teams. This campaign was nowhere near as easy as Australia made it appear.

We talk about Guus Hiddink handing Verbeek the impossible job of matching his 2006 success, but what about the poor sod in charge of the next qualifying campaign? How do you match what this current team has achieved?

The Australian public like Pim Verbeek. They've embraced him and his straight-talking ways. Just check around the soccer blogosphere and you soon realise the only people raising the doubts about our coach and his team are the gate-keepers.

Verbeek's players have been handed an opportunity to take the game - and themselves - to the pinnacle of sporting recognition in Australia. The doom-and-gloom can be left to those on sofas in TV studios.