Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Shattered World Cup Dreams
Dammit!! How could we lose again? I couldn't believe the crap that was dished up by the England team and I was probably one of the many English fans who thought we actually had a chance of winning the tournament. I was really looking forward to this World Cup because Australia also qualified for the first time since 1974 and all of a sudden the atmosphere was fever pitch in anticipation of watching their beloved Socceroos perform on the big stage amongst some of the powerhouses of world football.
Unlike in 2002 when I was probably the only one in Australia who knew that a World Cup was taking place, this time it was the main topic of conversation, '...can Australia get through to meet England in the Final?', '...will Australia avenge their Ashes defeat by beating England at their national sport?' Yeah right, I had to laugh at the time - even placed bets with a few mates that England would have a resounding victory if they did meet Australia in the World Cup, if they didn't, then England would progress further. Well...fortunately I ended up winning the bet but had it been based on actual performance I might not have been that fortunate. It was hardly worth forcing myself to stay up late at night to watch them play - due to the time difference the games were televised here between 12am and 7am...so while the English fans back home were probably downing pints of beer everytime Beckham got foot to ball, I was sipping on a cup of hot chocolate making sure I didn't yell too loud to wake up the neighbours!Oh well, despite my team not winning it's always exciting to watch such a huge world wide event take place. The game of soccer itself won many new fans and followers in Australia and gained massive media coverage like never before as a result of their national side participating in the tournament...the talk is now on the possibility of hosting a future world cup in Australia. That prospect may be some time away before it eventuates... in the meantime I'll be following England's progress over the next 4 yrs hoping that they can get it right for the next big stage. In the short term, the dust has settled and all attention is now focussed on the upcomnig Ashes Cricket series which kicks off here in November - that could be an encounter I can't afford to bet on. I've got tickets to the Boxing Day test match, so keep your eyes and ears peeled... you might hear me shouting out as I'm dragged off the pitch!
