South American Futbol - Libertadores, Sudamericana, World Cup 2010

I can hardly believe my eyes. Australia is going to the World Cup.

Having lived in Australia practically my entire life, I have seen the Socceroos go from one failure to another. From being eliminated by Argentina in qualification in 1994, to a repeat performance against Iran in ’98, to a heartbreaking loss to Uruguay in ’02 — I guess that’s why most Australians haven’t been transformed into passionate Socceroo fans.

But Wednesday morning’s penalty shoot-out victory over Uruguay was nothing less than extraordinary. Images revealed that soccer was finally able to unite a country that has qualified for the World Cup only once, in 1974 — at least more than it ever has in the past. But Australian soccer still has a long way to go.

Like the U.S., Australia prides itself on being a melting pot of cultures. That has a lot to do with why the Socceroos haven’t found the outpouring of support that most other national teams thrive off of. With so many diverse nationalities in “the lucky country,” you can understand why a large portion of the population supports other nations’ teams.

I guess I fit into this category. Although I was born and raised in Australia, my parents are Uruguayan, and I was pulling for a Uruguay victory — after all, instead of “footy,” I was brought up with the achievements of “La Celeste.” There are thousands, maybe millions of similar cases, and I can guarantee you that a large percentage of the 82,000 fans that packed Sydney’s Telstra Stadium on Wednesday still see the Socceroos as their No. 2 team.

Would there have been so much Aussie support if, instead of Uruguay, the Socceroos faced England, Scotland, Italy, Turkey, Greece or Serbia and Montenegro in the playoff? I doubt it.

Just take a look at some players of the Australian squad: Marco Bresciano, Mark Viduka, Ljubo Milicevic, Stan Lazaridis, Tony Popovic, Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill — all players with no Aussie background whatsoever. Earlier this week, the Uruguayan press announced that only one player in the Australian squad can rightly consider himself as a full-blooded Aussie. It’s a startling statistic when you compare Australia to Uruguay, a country that despises foreign intervention.

I’m not trying to say that Socceroo players aren’t Australian. I’m just trying to point out that cultural diversity may be one of the reasons why soccer has lacked recognition among Australians.

That said, there are more obvious reasons why people like me can’t say that they have always been loyal to the Socceroos.

Soccer may be the No. 1 sport in the world, but like in the U.S., it doesn’t rank high in the Australian consciousness. On the eve of the second leg of the Australia-Uruguay playoff, I was invited to a local Montevideo radio station to give my thoughts on the Australians and Uruguayans alike.

I was astounded when asked how Australia as a whole lives days before and after such a crucial encounter. Does the match paralyze the nation? Do they celebrate on the streets? Does it dominate the television coverage? Does victory call for a public holiday?

Um, no way. It isn’t anything like it is in Uruguay; it’s like any normal day. People might watch the match or parts of it, they might read a bit about it in the newspaper – and yes, they somehow manage to go to work. It’s a sad fact but I can pretty much guarantee you that a large percentage of the population didn’t have any idea that a match of this magnitude was actually taking place in Sydney. Imagine how the listeners of this radio show took my response. By contrast, I’d guess that at least 95 percent of Uruguay’s 3.4 million inhabitants tuned in to Wednesday morning’s heartbreaking defeat.

I was then asked to discuss soccer’s position in Australia’s sports hierarchy. Well, Australian-rules football comes first, followed by cricket, rugby, tennis, horse-racing, swimming, hockey, basketball — maybe even baseball — and yeah, I guess soccer would come next. Think that shocked anyone tuning in? I mean, we’re talking about Uruguay, a nation that eats, drinks and lives soccer.

But there are signs soccer is on the upswing Down Under. In 2005, Australia re-launched professional soccer in the form of the new-look A-League, which has, so far, lived up to expectations. In the past, Australian soccer was run by people with little understanding of the world game, and the funding was miniscule.

Things have drastically improved to the extent that soccer officials are confident that in a few years’ time, Australia’s biggest names will be lured to the national league, and those upcoming stars won’t be desperate to move abroad. The A-League is likely to become popular, and officials hope that massive funding will enable its clubs to attract international stars. Plans are premature for now, but don’t discard this possibility in the near future. Now, the fact that Australia is headed to the World Cup can only help the process.

That truly is the biggest achievement yet. Socceroo head coach, Dutch tactician Guus Hiddink, has accomplished what countless other coaches couldn’t during the past 30 years. A berth in the World Cup is the ultimate soccer prize, and Australian fans must be wondering how far their team can go.

At the ’02 World Cup, Hiddink guided South Korea to the semifinals. It was an astonishing feat that shocked the world, but will he be able to motivate the Australians to such great heights? Time will tell.

The one thing I’ve learned over the past few months is that the days of automatically writing off the Socceroos are over. I thought I had seen it all. Maybe there are more surprises waiting in Germany next summer.

Gregory Sica

Article at Si.com