Farina issues rallying call before Ireland game

Socceroos boss Frank Farina has charged his players with proving Australia deserve to be taken seriously as an international force when they meet the Republic of Ireland next week.

Farina was left livid by FIFA’s decision to cut Oceania’s automatic World Cup spot only months after opening up the direct qualification route for the first time.

The South American contingent who appealed the original decision quoted the poor quality of Oceania football – using New Zealand as an example – and the upheaval at Soccer Australia for their move.

The saga took some of the sheen off February’s victory over England, but Farina insisted those disappointments have been buried.

And he stressed the chance to mix it with Ireland now represents the ideal opportunity to once again promote the image of Australian football.

“It’s very important,” he said just before leaving Sydney for Finland, where he will cast an eye over the ’Joeys’, Australia’s U17s, before hopping on to Dublin.

“With wins over teams like Uruguay, France, Brazil, Scotland, Hungary and England we have proven we can match anyone at the highest level.

“The Socceroo brand took a wonderful hit after the England game.

“We just need the opportunity to do that more consistently. That’s been our biggest problem. It has come down to two (qualification play-off) games every four years for us.

“But if you put us in good company, we are not out of place. We have shown that by the teams we have beaten.”

The clash at Lansdowne Road pitches two of the world’s most exciting left-sided players against each other in Ireland’s Damien Duff and Australia’s Harry Kewell.

Farina rejected claims Kewell was ever in danger of missing the game, despite reports the Liverpool star had threatened to quit international football after a falling out with Soccer Australia.

With any problems – real or otherwise – now seemingly buried, Farina is just looking forward to Kewell catching up on the kind of international experience Duff has been enjoying for the last few years.

“Duff is a very good player and he gets the opportunity virtually every month to play international football at a very high level,” Farina said.

“With our structure, players like Harry, Mark Viduka, Josep Skoko don’t have that regular international competition.

“It’s a good prospect and I’m looking forward to the clash of those two.”

If Farina gets his way, Kewell and his team-mates will get six internationals a year, four in Europe, to gain the kind of international experience the Socceroos have lacked over previous seasons.

The aim is to establish a ’base’ in Europe and build up a concerted programme of international football that will help those Joeys become Socceroos and give the likes of Kewell, already a world star, the chance to shine on the biggest stage.

Though direct qualification has been scuppered, a four-team World Cup play-off tournament is set to be introduced in place of the traditional two-legged cup tie system – a proposal backed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

“This is just the beginning of the campaign towards the World Cup,” said Farina.

“If we can get those six games per year with our best team on the park, it will stand us in good stead when the business end comes around, which is the 2005 qualifying series.”