Forget England, we want to play the Yanks.
By Greg Prichard & Michael Cockerill.
Bring 'em on ... Aussie matchwinner John Aloisi and (inset) US coach Bruce Arena.
Leading football figures in Australia are staggered by the arrogance of US coach Bruce Arena's dismissal of the Socceroos as likely World Cup easybeats.
Former Socceroos stars Robbie Slater, Alex Tobin and Craig Foster variously described Arena's comments as naive, ignorant and laughable, and Sydney FC striker Dwight Yorke joined the chorus as FIFA announced the seedings for the tournament in Germany in June. The World Cup draw will be made on Saturday.
Arena, whose team has achieved a FIFA world ranking of eight due largely to a system widely regarded as flawed, told Sports Illustrated's website: "The last time around [in the World Cup], the easy games were China and Saudi Arabia. This time around you'd probably say Australia and Trinidad & Tobago are the weak ones."
Arena seemed to grudgingly concede Australia and Trinidad & Tobago had some claims to being there, adding: "But Australia has basically all of its players in Europe, and Trinidad have a guy [in Yorke] who was arguably the top striker in soccer."
Trinidad & Tobago star Yorke last night bristled at Arena's suggestion. "The manager of the American team is entitled to his opinion," he said. "Hopefully when he comes up against one of us we can shove the words right back in his face. America was in our [qualifying] group. They know they were very fortunate to beat us. They are not a brilliant team like they are making out to be … we've been playing them for years, they are not that special."
Foster laughed when told of Arena's comments. "I just wonder where he's coming from," he said. "He's got the right to voice his opinion, but it's laughable to suggest we rate that lowly. He'll have to eat his words if we come up against the US. There's no issue we can beat them. We can beat any team on our day."
Slater said he would be delighted if Australia and the US were grouped together. "I would rather the Socceroos got into a group with the US than any of the other teams that may be ranked in the top tier," he said. "And that's not being disrespectful, that's based on fact.
"We have nothing to fear from the US. I would back us against the US - any game, anywhere.
"Our squad has a lot more quality than theirs and I would back [Socceroos coach] Guus Hiddink against any coach.
"I think [Arena's] comments might just show what he knows about the real world. I find his comments naive, but it doesn't surprise me, coming from a US coach. I mean, where has he been?"
Tobin, who captained Australia in their most recent game against the US seven years ago - 0-0 draw in San Jose - said: "I'd say he just doesn't know a lot about Australian football. I'd dismiss it. I think Australia will be very competitive at the World Cup. I'd be very, very confident about Australia knocking off the US, with all due respect to the US."
The seedings are:
Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, Mexico and England.
Australia are in pool two with Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Tunisia, Ecuador and Paraguay.
Pool three consists of Croatia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.
The US are in pool four with Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago.
Each of the eight four-team groups in the draw will consist of one team from each tier, with Serbia & Montenegro in a special pot. There had been concern about the formulation of the seedings. England and the Netherlands were worried they might miss out on a top-tier spot to the US.
The seedings were based on a blend of results at the past two World Cups and FIFA rankings for the past three years. The US have had good results at recent World Cup tournaments but always had easy routes to qualification through the weak CONCACAF group, compared with Australia's task of having to beat the fifth-best South American nation.
Australia beat the world 18th-ranked Uruguay in a two-leg play-off to qualify for the finals. The most recent result for the US was a 1-1 draw with 61st-ranked Scotland in a friendly in Glasgow last month. The Socceroos are ranked 49th, ahead of four other World Cup finalists.
Slater described the rankings as "very misleading". "It's based on the number of games you play and win, rather than who you actually play," he said.
Foster thought Arena was underestimating Australia based on results from years ago. "I hope he keeps underestimating us, because he'll get a shock if we play them," he said.
Australia a weak Cup team: US coach.[/color]
United States coach Bruce Arena has added fuel to the Socceroos' World Cup campaign, labelling Australia one of the two weakest teams in the 2006 tournament.
Arena said Australia and Dwight Yorke's Trinidad and Tobago shaped as the two easiest games in Germany next year despite the Socceroos being ranked above four other sides that have qualified for the tournament.
The coach's comments are sure to give the Socceroos ample reason to hope they are selected in the same pool as the Americans when the World Cup draw is completed in Liepzig, Germany, on Saturday morning (AEDT).
Former Socceroo skipper Alex Tobin, who captained Australia in its last meeting with the US seven years ago (a 0-0 draw in San Jose), said Arena's comments came down to "ignorance".
"I'd say he just doesn't know a lot about Australian football," said Tobin, now development manager at A-League club Central Coast.
"They don't get a lot of information about our football and we don't really get a lot about theirs.
"I'd dismiss it. I think Australia will be very competitive at the World Cup.
"I'd be very, very confident about Australia knocking off the United States, with all due respect to the US."
Positioned 49th in FIFA's most recent rankings, Australia sits above fellow qualifiers Ghana (50), Trinidad and Tobago (51), Togo (56) and Angola (62).
The Socceroos overcame 18th placed Uruguay last month to earn their first berth in the World Cup finals in 32 years.
In an article published on the Sports Illustrated website, Arena said: "The last time around (in the 2002 World Cup) the easy games were China and Saudi Arabia.
"This time around you'd probably say Australia and Trinidad and Tobago are the weak ones."
"But Australia has basically all of its players in Europe, and Trinidad have a guy (in Dwight Yorke) who was arguably the top striker in soccer."
Arena guided the United States to the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup and to eighth spot in the world rankings.
Tobin admitted the US had improved dramatically over the past 10 years, but said they had been helped by having a far easier passage to the World Cup finals than the Socceroos.
While Australia's qualification has essentially come down to playing a two-legged playoff every four years, Tobin said FIFA had virtually guaranteed the US a spot in the finals by offering automatic qualification to the top three teams in CONCACAF - the North American, Central American and Caribbean zone.
Tobin said there were no countries in the World Cup that could be written off as easybeats.
"You look at Togo and you look at Angola, and go, 'okay we don't know them well, but on the flip side they beat Cameroon, they beat Nigeria and all those other countries that you expect to be there, so there must be something in their ability as well'."
