2006 World Cup Qualifying Zones - Play Offs

World Cup 2006: The Last Chance Saloon Opens its Doors

Sean O'Conor

With the doors to Germany 2006 now largely closed, two-legged play-offs on the 12th and 16th of November represent the last chance saloon for ten nations hopeful of qualifying for the World Cup.

Perennial underachievers Spain aim to postpone Slovakia's first final appearance by at least another four years, the Czech Republic, the best team at Euro 2004 and always flying high in the FIFA rankings must defeat Norway over two games and 2002 semi-finalists Turkey hope to avoid making it a hat-trick of third-placed teams who have failed to qualify for the subsequent World Cup finals by overcoming Switzerland.

A first-time participant will emerge from the CONCACAF/AFC tie where Trinidad & Tobago aim to quell Bahrain's surge and banish memories of 1989's ‘Shot Heard Around the World', when all the ‘socawarriors' had to do was draw at home to the USA in their final game, but lost to Paul Caligiuri's 30-yard missile, which sent the Americans to Italia '90 instead.

Bahrain can count themselves lucky to even have the chance of playing the CONCACAF fourth-placed team for a place in Germany after FIFA generously, and somewhat suspiciously, ordered their 1-0 loss to Uzbekistan on the 3rd of September to be replayed. The Japanese referee had failed to order an Uzbek penalty to be retaken. The replay finished 1-1, the return match 0-0 and so against the odds it was Bahrain who went through.

“We were robbed", irate Uzbek FA official Alisher Nikimbayev told Reuters, adding acerbically, "Unfortunately, we don't have enough proof to say that FIFA would rather see a rich Arab state like Bahrain play in the World Cup." Uzbekistan may now exercise their long-held desire to join UEFA, a possibility offered them by UEFA Lennart Johansson in 1992 but kyboshed by the republic's politicians.

Yet the most intriguing tie of the final round is probably the rematch between Australia and Uruguay.

The Socceroos' fruitless quest for qualification has assumed tragic proportions in recent years with a Terry Venables-coached Australia memorably, and heartbreakingly, squandering a two goal lead in Melbourne in 1997 to let Iran in instead and the false hope of a 1-0 win over Uruguay in Melbourne in 2001 ending in a 3-0 mauling in the second leg in Montevideo.

To prolong the Aussies' woe, FIFA, having at first dried their tears by promising the Oceania champions (read Australia) an automatic place in the finals in December 2002, sensationally withdrew it again in June 2003, following an inept showing by New Zealand at that summer's Confederations Cup and pressure from the South American confederation to stick to the 2002 qualifying format.

President Sepp Blatter's u-turn, which he breathtakingly excused by pleading, "you win some, you lose some", was too much for Australia, who reacted by taking the nuclear option of leaving Oceania to join the Asian Confederation in time for the 2010 finals.

Defying FIFA and the world atlas by changing regions was an extraordinarily bold move, but given the way Soccer Australia's Basil Scarsella stormed out of the 2003 FIFA meeting and the ocean of bile poured upon Sepp Blatter by the Australian media following the decision - "Soccer's Saddam Hussein" according to one radio station - the FIFA President was in no mood to strain relations further with the Antipodeans.

In June 2005 in the wake of another depressing Australian showing, this time in the Confederations Cup, Blatter announced two months ahead of schedule that FIFA had ratified a transfer of confederations for the newly-named Football Federation of Australia.

The Aussies have seriously outgrown their region in the past decade, a mismatch proved by the record and absurd 31-0 scoreline they racked up in a 2001 qualifier against American Samoa.

Whilst Uruguay had the likes of Brazil and Argentina to battle in order to reach this play-off, Australia's regional ‘final' saw them run out 9-1 aggregate winners against the Solomon Islands. Competing in the Asian Confederation for a place in South Africa 2010, Australia must therefore fancy their chances of bagging one of the four automatic places in a region that produced South Korea, Japan, Iran and Saudi Arabia for Germany 2006.

The memories of Australia's participation in the 1974 Finals are now a distant memory and the absence from football's greatest stage of players like Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka in their prime seems as sad a loss for the World Cup as that of Wales' Ian Rush and Ryan Giggs, not to mention world soccer stars such as George Weah and George Best.

This time Australia have the slight edge of having the second leg of the play-off at home and will be hoping that Sydney's Olympic Stadium, now named Telstra Stadium, will lift the hoodoo of two consecutive failures playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

But the recruitment as coach of Guus Hiddink, South Korea's miracle worker in 2002, appears the real masterstroke, yet should Australia lose to Uruguay again, it will surely go down as a mere four-month footnote in the CV of a great coach and yet another chapter in Australia's misfortunate football history. Indeed, many football fans seem blissfully unaware that PSV's famous manager is coaching Australia on the side.

"Now it's official: the soccer gods hate Australians", declared Sydney's Morning Herald following news of Sepp Blatter's reneging on the promise of an automatic place two years ago.
"Someone, somewhere in Australian soccer must have done something awful in a previous life," it went on, with only a mere hint of irony.

Australia can seem cursed at times and four years on from their last agonizing near miss, the Socceroos now have another chance to defy the soccer gods. The hour is ripe for revenge, but Uruguay once more, and history, are against them.

Sean O'Conor

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