Abandoned, ignored and searching - Socceroos' perilous path to the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Just after hopes about the central government in Canberra to bow to the pressure from football, or in North American English, soccer-loving fans and the FFA, the news arrived with a shocking blow: again, the government and FFA failed to finalise an agreement. That meant October will again see Australia play home away from home: its base in Doha will be again used for the qualification.

No one feels more pain than Mathew Leckie, who has to shoulder a huge responsibility as the new captain of the Aussies after the retirement of Mark Milligan, the last member of the Golden Era of the 2000s. It was the pandemic restriction in Down Under that hampered the planning of the Oz for the World Cup in Qatar. During the September perpetration, Australia gathered an exclusive overseas-based squad, with only Rhyan Grant the A-League man on the odd. Australia did perform at its best, winning 3-0 and 1-0 over China and Vietnam, respectively.

Yet October promised to be an even harder task for Australia. The Roos have to take against Oman and Japan, both are far more difficult. Oman has demonstrated it is not easy to be bullied, with a shock away win over Japan and a brave form in defeat against Saudi Arabia, while Japan is in a desperate bid to restore its pride.

Perhaps the Japanese shock home defeat to Oman rekindled the near-death experience of the Aussies back in the 2014 qualifiers. The home game in Sydney, March 2013, saw the Aussies letting Oman score twice, but lucky for Australia, a late goal from Brett Holman denied Oman from making a surprise in Down Under. It was in this game that Australia finally awakened and captured the needed spot to qualify for Brazil. It's no secret that the experience of this match against Oman will play a key influence on how will Australia gamble against the Omani rival.

Yet losing home advantage in a game like this once again triggered questions about optic or scientific facts that should be taken. Australian football officials have accused the government of employing optic opinions. It was understandable given that the country is facing the most severe pandemic wave by the Delta variant, although it is, by far, able to avoid the catastrophe Southeast Asia and South Asia are facing. Still, failure to guarantee bubble travel has deepened the rifts between the footballing body and the central government.

Not so surprising when Oman's coach Branko Ivanković himself confidently claimed that Oman will claim six points from the Roos and Vietnam, Oman's upcoming opponents in October. Oman wants to strike on Australia's miserable situation with no home game to stage and cements its credits on the run for Qatar 2022. Graham Arnold, by contrast, remains low-key with a lot of questions to answer.

Issam Al-Sabhi was the sole scorer in Oman's stunning away victory over Japan.

The memories about Oman for Australia is mostly sweet, yet many are also very bitter ones. The Australians need to be careful about their options if they face such a highly flexible and unpredictable opponent like Oman. The fragile first-place position of Australia can be toppled anytime.

Even when the Roos won against Oman, it would have another perilous trip to Japan, an opponent that Australia has not won since 2009. The Japanese have just temporarily gained three points with a win over soulless China in Doha, but 1-0 was somewhat unimpressive after plenty of chances created by the Japanese.

Australia has not beaten Japan since 2009, still to remember. In the two's most recent meeting, happened in the 2018 qualifiers, Australia drew Japan 1-1 in Melbourne before losing 0-2 to the same opponent in Saitama, again the same place will host the two's 2022 campaign. It was this 0-2 defeat that Australia had to finish third, entering four perilous playoffs to finally book a place in Russia. The Socceroos knew its upcoming trip to Japan will be far less joyful.

Despite this, Japan is under turmoil at the disbelief of so many pundits. The shock home loss to Oman and its hard-fought win over China claimed so much of Japan's merits in the qualification. October's fixtures for Japan have proven to be less merciful, when Japan will have to visit Jeddah for the battle against Saudi Arabia, also six points and inferior only to Australia by a goal conceded. This encounter against Saudi Arabia is a do-or-die business for Japan, because if they can't win, their chance to progress will be severely hampered. Call for sacking the current manager, Hajime Moriyasu, has been rising after Japan's struggling forms. The JFA's President Kozo Tashima has already given Moriyasu a deadline: either gain six points, or lose the job. If Japan fails to win all of them, Moriyasu will no longer be in charge of Japan. Hence while the current history is backing Japan, Australia holds the edge of spirits, just in case if they beat Oman.

The Japanese have failed to deliver the expectation after the two first matchdays.

Leave alone these things, Australian team can't be even more concerning than being abandoned by its own government. The Qataris were very welcoming to the Australians, but the patience of the Australian football leadership has been draining due to the failure to break the deadlock. Graham Arnold himself can't always rely on the foreign-based footballers, he needs experience of the others now in service of the smaller A-League, like Mathew Leckie or Jamie Maclaren to bolster the team's strength.

Bundesliga-based Mathew Leckie is the current Socceroos captain.

Mathew Leckie has played in a number of German clubs, making him the veteran of the Roos. No surprise that Arnold valued an expert like Leckie. Succeeded in chasing for contracts in Europe established the respect for Leckie among the Australian teammates. Jamie Maclaren is also a notable name, as he used to play in Europe before returning to the motherland, for Darmstadt and Hibernian.

One side, there is another good new. The Roos' players are going to take part in the season's Europa League and Conference League, golden opportunities to search out the best players for Socceroos. Australia is in a dire need of hurrying mode for more flash jewels undiscovered, outside their current outfield men. Current state of Australian soccer has no longer provided the same group that once reckoned Europe, so it is necessary for them to find out where to go and can these players get the chance to move forward.

So to summarise shortly, Australia's route to Qatar 2022 is not really rosy, like previous ones. Still, without experienced veterans in domestic league and the government's refusal to apply bubble travel, the task will be even harder. Once again, staying in Qatar with hunger, a lot of Australian players will feel itself in the dire need to prove that they can achieve something when they play away from home. Graham Arnold will have to figure out how to handle that either, because the lack of home experience will bring the Socceroos the lone wanderer in a world that is already in chaos due to the pandemic. If Australia can't book a place to Qatar 2022, the FFA staff knows who shall be blamed the most. Again, the Down Under's mission is, to defy the odds.