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rewind 2006
perfect
day
e 1 2, 2006
ay Jun st day in
Mond te
as t h e grea history as
w ootball World Cup
a lia n f
Austr o o
a
s won time so far.
cc er y
the So e for the onl ers in the
am lay
finals g f the main p emories
o
Some share their m r
drama e
h Ton y Harp
wi t T is a maelstrom. Australia, six minutes from disaster moments
earlier, have scored their first goal at a World Cup finals to level
their opening match with Japan at 1-1. The scorer, Tim Cahill, has
tripped an opponent in Australia’s box, miraculously avoiding a
penalty and red card. Guus Hiddink, jacket long abandoned, heat
flushing his face, is waving that meaty right arm towards the Japan goal. The
Socceroos, now playing with five attackers, surge forward. In the stands,
20,000 Australians, fuelled by all-day beers, hoarse from singing in the
Kaiserslautern main square and drowning out the fans in blue, are going stark
raving bonkers in the fierce sun. At home, in the middle of a winter’s night,
millions of Australians – some who grew up with football meaning all, others in
their Wallabies jerseys – lean towards the screens. The ball finds John Aloisi
on the edge of the box and he lays it back into Cahill’s path.
One touch, two touch. Left post, right post . . . NET!
We lose our minds. Temporary mass insanity: from the players, to the supporters,
from ground zero of Fritz Walter Stadion to the far reaches of our country and
Australian enclaves across the world. We emerge from our joyful tears, and a
frightening overdose of adrenalin, when the final whistle blows, and look at each
other like fellow amnesiacs, as if to say, “how the hell did we get here?”
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“The whole of
own ways of dealing. Archie Thompson sits next to Jason Culina and they share is no rousing speech, not yet anyway, just a calm general telling his soldiers the six or
S IX-and-a-half months after the drama of Australia’s penalty shootout win over
Uruguay and World Cup qualification, the team assembled in Mierlo, the
a joke and a conversation while others stare out the window, deep in a cocoon of
sound from their headphones. Down the back sit the guys who want to make it feel
seven key strategies to remember before their battle. As the players go through their
lengthy warmup, the fans stream in and turn up the volume, taunting the Japanese
Netherlands. With three weeks to go before the finals, their Dutch leader Guus
Hiddink hammered them with intense fitness training before warm up games Australia can like it’s just another game – Craig Moore, Tony Popovich, Zelko Kalac and Lucas
Neill. Just mates hanging out. Hiddink is in the front seat – he’d probably drive if
with their songs – “Sing when you’re whaling, you only sing when you’re whaling!”
When the players return to the rooms, Hiddink talks again, phrases you hear at every
P LAYERS love game days and not just because they get to put their training into
practice. Game day is sleep-in day. But there was no hazy half sleep for Mark
Schwarzer that morning. When he woke up, his mind went from 0 to 100 in a blink.
It’s something that lives with you more than
the game, which is all a blur.”
Commentator Simon Hill, who called the game
of bodies and as he lays on the ground the
ball rolls into the net.
“I’ve seen those given as fouls nine times out
“It had been seven months of build up since the game against Uruguay and we for SBS, was also stunned by the river of gold jerseys of 10,” says Hill in the call. “The Aussie fans are
knew if we were to have a chance of progressing we had to win that game,” says flowing uphill and into the stadium. “I’d been at the absolutely furious and they have every right to be.
Schwarzer. “The anticipation was enormous, waking up feeling excited, anxious. Oceania qualifiers against Fiji and Tonga and there were He’s been barged out of the way!”
The first time we got together was lunch and you could tell it was a big day. There about 300 people there,” says Hill. “Nobody gave a shit. Harry Kewell and Vince Grella are in the face of Egyptian
was a lot of tension in the air.” “There’s Tim Cahill playing at the sports complex in Adelaide in front of nobody referee Essam Abd El Fatah while Schwarzer shakes his head in silent rage. “It was
As lunch ended, butterflies soared. “Some players are a little more nervous and I’m thinking ‘Jesus, this is embarrassing’. The transformation from that on to the disbelief and not just from me,” Schwarzer says. “You could see it was a foul on the
than others, but how do you define it?” asks Moretti. “Is it someone who keeps Uruguay game and then there’s 20,000 Aussies in a stadium, in Germany, cheering big screen. It’s always tough to get on with it when a decision goes against you but
getting up and sitting down, or someone who just looks like he’s shitting himself? on the Socceroos, that was something that will always stick with me – sitting there on that scale it’s even more difficult.”
All you can do is look in their eyes to see if they’re up for it. That’s what coaches thinking ‘wow, the game has made it, we’re there’.” Kewell almost levels in an instant, his shot grazing the bar. On the sidelines,
are looking for.” The bus pulls up and the players walk into a Groundhog dressingroom, set up Hiddink has grabbed a TV monitor. Trying to rip it around to watch a replay of the
The hotel lobby is quieter than you might expect. Families, friends and agents are exactly to Hiddink’s command. The medical staff get down to work with massage Japan goal, he shoves a FIFA official. The feeling of anger is intense, boos rain down
barred on match days and fans are kept well out of reach. This is not the time for and strapping while some players stroll into the bright sunshine and onto the from the stands and injustice nauseates those on the bench.
nabbing autographs or photos on your smart phone. perfect playing surface. Inside, Schwarzer begins his long process of stretching “As football people you looked at each other and said: ‘What the hell was that,
The bus door opens half an hour before departure. Some players are on early and conditioning and core exercises as the coaches put up their technical sheets it was a foul, why are we being robbed?’” says Moretti. “You don’t mind copping
and settle down with their iPods and a magazine. Others step on just as the driver and scribble diagrams on the marker boards. a Brazilian goal and there’s 30 passes and it hits the top corner, but there was a
is about to pull away for Kaiserslautern. The 23 players, and the staff, all have their An hour before kickoff, just before the warmup, Hiddink sits the squad down. There feeling that this is an injustice. When Hiddink saw the TV screen he just confirmed
Australia 3
Japan 1
Monday, June 12 2006
1
Shunsuke Nakamura
wastes a freekick in
5
Mark Viduka shoots
twice from a narrow
21 24
Naohiro Takahara
skims a shot just
Viduka’s backheel
puts Mark Bresciano
26
GOAL 0-1. Japan lead
as Schwarzer comes
28 42 45 52
Harry Kewell skips
away down the right
Bresciano catches
Japan cold with
Schwarzer approaches
the ref to discuss the
Bresciano
is replaced by
Kaiserslautern, a good position angle, bringing two wide of Mark in on goal but the for Nakamura’s cross and fizzes a shot a freekick that Japan goal while Tim Cahill
Germany smart saves Schwarzer’s goal shot is too close and misses in a clatter which scrapes the just misses at Hiddink has words
minute by minute... to the keeper who of bodies. The crossbar the far post as the officials
saves well Socceroos cry foul leave the field
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Australia’s journey to
the stadium was intense, and thought is going through your head. It was an
says Mark Schwarzer amazing time, especially when you look back on it. We
all share it. Everyone remembers a snapshot of feelings
and moments in the match. I remember around the 78th
minute, I just slumped back in my seat thinking all that work, all
that energy, was going to come to nothing.”
Australia, with group matches to come against Brazil and
Croatia, knew that while a draw wouldn’t eliminate them, they
REFLECTIONS ON GUuS
would likely need a win to progress.
“There was internal despondency,” says Moretti. “You didn’t want
to say it, you didn’t want to show it too much, but there was definitely
this feeling of: ‘it’s all over’.”
to the rest of us: ‘blatant foul’.” Hiddink, though, showed no doubt. He made changes and stayed on his feet,
Gary Moretti Australian team manager
At halftime the mood hasn’t cajoling, driving and maintaining his brave face. The players are glancing at their
cleared. “I saw the ref as I ran off leader, seeing no signs of panic. Instead, they see a mask of authority, leadership, “He was a step removed from a lot of people. He positioned himself at the top
and said ‘I can’t believe you didn’t calmness and control. Yet their frustrations mount. Viduka blasts a freekick through of the hierarchy. He only discussed technical things with his two lieutenants,
see the foul’,” Schwarzer recalls. “He the wall and it’s saved, brilliantly. Cahill and Josh Kennedy join the fray and then with Graham Arnold and Johan Neeskens, and then he might share a lighter
said he made a mistake. Everyone makes a quarter of an hour to go, Graham Arnold pulls Aloisi aside and briefs him on his moment with some of the other staff. But generally he didn’t really entertain
mistakes and the one satisfying thing is that role. “The direction was pretty simple – go join Dukes up front and score a goal!” the other staff. He came in six months beforehand so he didn’t really have other
he acknowledged his.” The referee has since says Aloisi. “At that stage there wasn’t much direction. We already had Kennedy objectives to achieve.
denied he made such an admission. on, Viduka on, Cahill on and Harry on, so he was just making sure he got as many He knew how to man manage each of his players – some he
Hiddink was reportedly paid a million bucks to players in the box as possible. He didn’t need to tell us what to do.” Aloisi entered would put an arm around, others he would keep at a distance
take Australia into the World Cup. It’s possible he the battlefield, full of hope. “There was never a stage I felt we were gone,” he says. and fire them up and others he just worked on them the way
earned a fair whack of that salary in just a few seconds
at the break, with a show of power and seniority that his
“We knew we were fit and we thought we could run over the top of the Japanese in
the last 15 minutes and that’s what ended up happening.”
he wanted to work. It’s totally different to what we have
now. Pim Verbeek is a very smart people person – it
“He knew how
predecessors in the job would not have had the gravitas to execute. As the officials Moretti still couldn’t see it. “As an official and not the head coach, I just had that wasn’t that Guus was bad at it – it was a different to man manage
walked off, Hiddink waited for them on halfway. “He reminded the referee that it
was a foul, that we were 1-0 down because of him and therefore he had to even
internal despondency; it was out of my hands. And of course it was all about to
change, you just didn’t know.”
modus operandi, but he still got the maximum out of
the boys. We were all there to win, whatever it took. his players – some
things up,” Moretti says. “There’s obviously a lot of psychology in play and the Before a big match Hiddink liked to leave
he would put an arm
officials just looked at him. Also, Hiddink did it, not in an aggressive way. He stood
there with one arm folded and the other hand resting under his chin in a pensive W ITH 83 minutes, 46 seconds gone, Lucas Neill throws in to the heart of the
box from the left-hand touchline. Japan’s keeper, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi,
one or two positions open, leaving doubt in the
players’ minds and that was certainly the case around, others he
position, so as not to be threatening to the referee.”
Upstairs Simon Hill put down his microphone and tuned into the mutterings of nearby
so good for so long, comes off his line but fails to clear and Cahill sweeps the ball
home through a jungle of legs. Cahill, the boxing Socceroo, starts beating up on the
in Kaiserslautern. He liked to play the players off
against each other a little bit, maybe get one player
would keep at a
Australian fans. “I remember (actor and comedian) Santo Cilauro coming up to me at corner flag as his teammates rush in. Their celebration crawls up the sideline towards who was upset with the uncertainty to fire up to get the distance”
halftime and me thinking ‘oh God, it’s Santo Cilauro, and getting ready to say ‘I love the Australian bench. The players, though, are keen for more and as the celebrations performance to double or triple when he was unleashed. He
your work and you’re a funny guy’ but he didn’t let me say anything,” says Hill. “He was continue, Aloisi, still fresh, sprints over to Hiddink. would keep a player on the bench if he knew he would get a
absolutely filthy that the goal had stood. I love that, that’s what football brings out in “I asked him if he might want me to drop back a bit because we had all the strikers on better 30 minutes out of them when they came on. He knew how
people. The guy’s there going ‘stuff what I do for a living, how the hell are we going to and he said ‘no, we’re going for it’,” Aloisi recalls. “He didn’t think 1-1 was good enough to get a positive reaction. There’s no doubt he knew what effect he would have
get back into this game?’” and he wanted us to go and win it. I thought that was brilliant because he could see the on Tim Cahill by leaving him off the field that day.”
The players are talking about the call down the tunnel and into the rooms but the momentum had shifted towards us and that it was going to be our day.
din settles quickly so they can attempt to relax and recover from fatigue. Hiddink “Nine times out of 10 a coach would have got one of the forwards to drop back
Simon Hill FoxSports commentator
moves on too, now that the “what if we’re one goal down?” scenario is a reality. and help in midfield, for the shape of the team. I’ve never heard a coach in that
When they return to the field it is all Australia, yet they can’t make inroads. “As time position say: ‘Nope, I want everyone to stay forward’. Brilliant.” “Hiddink was always terrific value and he was absolutely at his best form
went on, the glances, to each other, were starting,” says Moretti. “They were starting Japan, wilting in the furnace, rally for a final charge. Defender Yuichi Komano surges leading up to and in the 2006 tournament. The last game before the Japan
to look at the clock and starting to think maybe it’s not going to be. into the box and past Scott Chipperfield. Reaching the byline, the ball under complete match was the Liechtenstein friendly, which they won 3-1. They weren’t
“On the bench, we’d all removed our suit jackets and were just in shirts. Hiddink had control, Komano dribbles back inside and Cahill, on a yellow card already, brings particularly brilliant in that game, and the training sessions noticeably kicked
this gruff look and had lost the tie. He was standing a lot more. A rollercoaster of emotion him down with an outstretched leg. It’s a penalty and a second yellow card. Except up a notch after that.
They’d done their basic fitness training in Mierlo (Netherlands) where he
63 66 68 74 83
killed them and then eased off but a couple of days before the Japan game it
got very, very intense. He started playing the media games as well because the
Japanese had accused the team of being physical and he was determined the
referee wasn’t going to be swayed by that.
I remember Josh Kennedy scored in that game against Liechtenstein, his
first international goal. Everyone started talking about ‘should they play Josh
with Viduka? Should they play him instead of Viduka? Was he the next big
Craig Moore Kennedy, unmarked Viduka smashes a free John Aloisi Kawaguchi thing?’ Guus, at the next training session, absolutely slaughtered Kennedy,
is replaced in the box, just fails kick under the leaping replaces Luke saves from almost as if to bring him down a level or two. He was calling him all sorts of
by Josh Kennedy to get a head on wall and Yoshikatsu Wilkshire a blistering names telling him ‘you’re not as good as you think you are’. It was real Freudian
a corner with the Kawaguchi makes an Aloisi freekick psychology, fascinating to watch.”
net gaping unbelievable save
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‘That feeling, it’s euphoria
. . . the Australians have cleared and the ref is pointing for a corner. The Japanese and a sense of relief’
protest as Cahill, his eyes bulging and pulse soaring, chugs water from Schwarzer’s
bottle at the near post. “It was a 100 per cent penalty,” says Moretti. “If the gods
were smiling on us, that was the payback for the Schwarzer incident.”
Schwarzer adds: “I had a good view and the referee could have easily given a
penalty but I think he took pity on us and thought ‘I’m not going to make a line call
against Australia again’. In hindsight, you think the referee’s made that call because
of what happens beforehand.” The referee is right there and does nothing. Was this
magic trick – a penalty disappears into thick air! – Hiddink’s greatest gift to Australia?
“So, what do you say: Schwarzer talking to the referee, the Hiddink comments at
halftime, the referee seeing a replay of the first-half incident at halftime in his room, did
they play a part in him paying it back?” says Moretti. “In general football school of thought
the rough calls even out with the blessed calls.”
S O now we’re at the moment. Having been down their end, having been that
close to defeat, Australia are attacking again. Jason Culina heads the ball down
84 86 88 89 92
Of course I wanted to start and against the somewhere near the halfway. I was looking
Japanese I thought I had a good opportunity for Mark Viduka because I thought it might just
to do so because we all thought I could cause be us two, or maybe Harry Kewell overlapping.
them problems, physically, up front. Dooks made a bit of a run and I could see he It was the greatest feeling and it meant a
So I was disappointed but felt certain I would might have been offside. So I just kept dribbling lot to share all of it with that group. We had
come on as a sub. I had to make sure I was and running at my man. I knew I was fresh. I been together for so long: eight to 10 years
ready and confident that I would do well when think he thought I was trying to get it onto my together, some of us. There were a few – Craig
GOAL 1-1. Cahill, already on Takashi Fukunishi GOAL 2-1. GOAL 3-1. Aloisi I came on. You prepare yourself like you are stronger left foot so he tried to move me over. Moore, Viduka, Josip Skoko – that I went to the
Cahill sweeps a yellow card, trips shoots narrowly Cahill takes sprints through going to start the game and make sure you’re It opened up really nicely for me and I took it Australian Institute of Sport with when we were
home the equaliser Yuichi Komano in wide from the edge Aloisi’s pass and and puts the game ready because you could be on after 15 minutes through the inside and before the other defender 16, so we really had grown up together. It was
after Kawaguchi the Australian penalty of Australia’s area after a couple of beyond doubt if there’s an injury. I was concentrating, watching could close me down I struck it quickly. That’s a close team and we were all going through the
misses Lucas area but the referee touches smacks it with a perfect the game, watching the players I would face probably what caught the keeper off guard. It same experience, for the first time, together. Not
Neill’s long throw waves play on in via both posts left-foot shot
when I came on. was one of the best feelings I’ve had and I was one of those players had played at a World Cup
Even when we were down 1-0, I felt we so happy my mum Helen was there to see it. before so it was new for every one of us.
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