Bren's Blog - Cabin Fever
17/06/2010 8:49 PM
Bren O'Brien in Johannesburg
Sportal

The tension is rising among the Australian contingent in Johannesburg, as the walls start to close in on Australia's World Cup campaign.

Cabin fever is starting to set in as the cold weather, logistical headaches, homesickness and the prospect of Australian failure start to create an environment of tension among colleagues and between the team and the media.

Don't fear. The Sportal partnership is a strong as ever despite the big man threatening to go Colonel Kurtz on me on a couple of occasions. But elsewhere there are murmurings of discontent and the prospect of another harrowing trip to Rustenburg looms over us.

Harry Kewell arrived at training on Wednesday ready to pick a fight. The journalist who he wanted to pick that fight with wasn't there and that made Harry even angrier. He ranted at journalists that they were supposed to be on the Socceroos' side and that they should be behind the team.

Wrong Harry. We're journos, we're not on anyone's side, not even on our own. There were reports of two members of an Australian TV crew's security detail using a taser to settle a dispute, while the clamour to get to the front of the queue to ask questions is getting a little physical.

The more frenzied atmosphere is partially attributable to the fact that after the 4-0 loss to Germany, there is blood in the water. The feeding frenzy, which has been sparked by rumour, innuendo and a general dislike for the manner in which coach Pim Verbeek has conducted himself, is starting to get a little scary.

Those who haven’t sharpened the studs for a two-footed lunge on the credibility of Australian football are getting them ready for the aftermath of the Ghana match. Having been to Rustenburg once already, it seems the perfect setting for a funeral for the Verbeek era. Few will mourn his departure, and plenty will report that the past four years have been a step backwards for the sport.

That's simply not true and an unfair reflection of the steps taken at the local level by the A-League. There are those who will criticise the A-League, but the FFA has built a sustainable future for the sport at club level.

At the national level, it isn’t a massive surprise for those of us which have watched Australia play over the past two and half years. The Socceroos have been consistent without being spectacular and have lost an element of dynamism which they took into Germany 2006.

Harry, lauded as a magician four years ago, has lost his magic wand and went close to losing the plot on Wednesday with his stupid and ill-advised rant at journalists. This current Socceroos team has very little goodwill with the Australian media and they can’t trade on the nationalistic pride in an attempt to win over the fatigued media.

Joburg is a city of concentric rings of security. Around every house are high walls which while they stop the unwanted getting in, also stop those inside from looking out. It starts to wear you down after a while and that is one of the reasons while the goodwill of the media has evaporated.

Perhaps even in the luxury surrounds of the Socceroos camp in exclusive Kloofzicht Lodge, the massive security fences are starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

http://sportal.com.au/football-news-display/brens-blogcabin-fever-93325