“Meet the rising stars of Asia” was the message as the Olyroos team bus pulled into the stadium prior to their match against Jordan to decide who would make it into the business end of the Under-23 Asian Championships and Rio Olympic qualifiers.
Alighting from the bus, the Australian players went straight to the dressing room with manager Aurelio Vidmar following suit via the media walk. The media walk can be one of hope, of embarrassment, confidence or even jubilation, depending on how a team did in its last match.
After going down to the UAE through an own goal and defeating newcomers Vietnam, the walk should have been one of confidence, one of strength, one of ‘we’re on track’, but that was not the vibe.
“How is your preparation for this match?” a Qatari journalist asked Vidmar.
“Excellent, everyone’s in a very good mood, everyone’s fit, so we know it’s going to be a very difficult game tonight, Jordan only need one point and we have to win, so that will be a very interesting game,” Vidmar replied.
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Considering the UAE match, perhaps “everyone’s in a very good mood” was not the best answer. Focussing on improvement and better communication in the front third, holding the ball up for players to get into better attacking positions and better movement from players to get in behind may have been the better option.
“So you will win today?” the reporter asked.
“We’re confident we will,” Aurelio Vidmar said, even though his facial expression lacked confidence and belief.
“The team is ready?” the reporter quizzed once more.
“Yes, 100% percent ready. We had a very short preparation again, they are all fit and they are ready to go.”
The ‘very short preparation’ comment once again alluded to the fact that the team was not ready.
Vidmar is a terrific man. He knows the game. Yet prior to the match, one could tell he lacked conviction, lacked belief and looked terrified.
Vidmar used 21 players from his 23-man squad, making changes for each of the games that followed the opening loss to the UAE. That is another hint of poor preparation, showing players were not tested enough for him to make sound judgement. Either way, it was obvious that this team was a team that was not ready to represent the nation at the Rio Olympics.
Jack Duncan, Scott Galloway, James Donachie and Giancarlo Gallifucco had played 129 minutes of club football between them all season and Connor Pain has not started for Victory in over a year, yet still got the nod in that crucial opening match.
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In the lead-up to the London Olympics, the team did not score one goal in six matches and in the recent draw against Jordan, managed just one shot on target.
The fact of the matter is that the Olyroos have scored two goals in nine qualifiers and both Vidmar and his assistant Paul Okon have led the program unsuccessfully over three Olympic qualification campaigns and an Under-20 World Cup – a disturbing, worrying thought.
You do not have to be Einstein to see where the problem lays. Technically, the 4-3-2-1 attacking style of play is not going to be effective if you dominate in possession, but lack the fortitude and technical ability to penetrate the opposition back line and score goals.
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