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History for Mainland FC

All Whites vs Socceroos | Tues 9th Sept | 7:00pm | Go Media Stadium (Auckland)

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Posted September 10, 2025 06:42 · last edited September 10, 2025 06:46

MetalLegNZ
Australia are ranked where in the world compared to us... we are not a like for like nation in football.

People are passionate, I get that. I remember Winston Reids WC goal and my euphoria better than my wedding... as I assume many on here do.

But... I also know where we are in the world of football. Oustide Chris Wood we don't have 1 player in a top 5 league. Not 1. 

Any belief that we should be doing so much better than what we are now is misguided and unrealistic.
Yes we could be doing a bit better - we could for example recruit a foreign coach of good quality that might do better with the team we have.  That would likely be a single WC cycle though, many other countries do just that.
Football is not the No.1 sport here and there is no particular expectation among the general public of us winning at sokkah that could provoke national soulsearching, extra resources, etc. to lift us in our rankings and win more games against non-OFC teams.  So we are a middling footballing nation at best.  
I still remember the shock and resignation in Uruguay when they were eliminated from the WC 2006 playoffs by the Oceania representative (Australia).  The comments in El Diario were that this was just a matter of Australia having better resources as a rich country (private charter flight, etc), because they could not believe it was just a matter of them not being able to beat Australia on the field.   They lifted afterwards and claimed the fourth place at the 2010 finals, such was their resolve to improve.

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Unknown editor edited September 10, 2025 06:46
MetalLegNZ
Australia are ranked where in the world compared to us... we are not a like for like nation in football.

People are passionate, I get that. I remember Winston Reids WC goal and my euphoria better than my wedding... as I assume many on here do.

But... I also know where we are in the world of football. Oustide Chris Wood we don't have 1 player in a top 5 league. Not 1. 

Any belief that we should be doing so much better than what we are now is misguided and unrealistic.
Yes we could be doing a bit better - we could for example recruit a foreign coach of good quality that might do better with the team we have.  That would likely be a single WC cycle though, many other countries do just that.
Football is not the No.1 sport here and there is no particular expectation among the general public of us winning at sokkah that could provoke national soulsearching, extra resources, etc. to lift us in our rankings and win more games against non-OFC teams.  So we are a middling footballing nation at best.  
I still remember the shock and resignation in Uruguay when they were eliminated from the WC 2006 playoffs by the Oceania representative (Australia).  The comments in El Diario were that this was just a matter of Australia having better resources as a rich country (private charter flight, etc), because they could not believe it was just a matter of them not being able to beat Australia on the field.   They lifted afterwards and claimed the fourth place at the 2010 finals.
Unknown editor edited September 10, 2025 06:45
MetalLegNZ
Australia are ranked where in the world compared to us... we are not a like for like nation in football.

People are passionate, I get that. I remember Winston Reids WC goal and my euphoria better than my wedding... as I assume many on here do.

But... I also know where we are in the world of football. Oustide Chris Wood we don't have 1 player in a top 5 league. Not 1. 

Any belief that we should be doing so much better than what we are now is misguided and unrealistic.
Yes we could be doing a bit better - we could for example recruit a foreign coach of good quality that might do better with the team we have.  That would likely be a single WC cycle though.
Football is not the No.1 sport here and there is no particular expectation among the general public of us winning at sokkah that could provoke national soulsearching, extra resources, etc. to lift us in our rankings.    I still remember the shock and resignation in Uruguay when they were eliminated from the WC 2006 playoffs by the Oceania representative (Australia).  The comments in El Diario were that this was just a matter of Australia having better resources as a rich country, because they could not believe it was just a matter of them not being able to beat Australia.   They lifted afterwards and claimed the fourth place at the 2010 finals.