Soccer or more commonly referred to as football is said to be the most popular sport in the world. It is played almost everywhere and it is easy to play a game. First, anyone interested in playing a game of soccer only needs a flat piece of land and a ball. Then, the objective of the game is to manoeuvre the ball into a cage to score. This is normally called a goal and the team with the most goals in the end of regulation time wins the game. The ball is manoeuvred primarily by using one’s feet or any other part of his or her body including the head; the only part of the body a player cannot use is his or her arms. The game of soccer offers the spectators continuous pace and fast action; these are most probably the reason for the game’s popularity.
The Australian soccer team was first created for a tour in New Zealand back in 1922. On that time famous yellow and green Socceroos Jerseys won by the team. During this tournament they suffered two losses and a draw. The sport of soccer never became as popular as it is in other countries like Brazil and Spain. They also weren’t a regular team on international events because of their geographical location and the prices of travel. With that, they only regularly played China, South Africa and New Zealand on friendly games. However, with the coming of cheaper air travel they were able to compete with more teams internationally. But this didn’t make the Australian Socceroos more popular in the sport in their own country thus the game was designed only for a selected few.
The Australian Socceroos are governed by the Football Federation Australia or FFA. It is the governing body in Australia for the sport of soccer so that the game is played with the highest standards possible and develops both their national team and promotes the game. With that, the Soccerroos was given a major overhaul in preparation for the World Cup 2006. Thus, the Australian national team were on a mission; a mission to the World Cup.
The overhaul and makeover of the Australian national team included new, promising players and new management. This also included the use of technology in order to analyze the team and their opponent’s game in order to formulate better playing strategies and improve their overall performance. This proved to be useful and effective as the Australian Socceroos were able to qualify for the 2006 World Cup tournament and they were able to enter the round of 16. After that, the Australian national team were able to reignite the passion for the game in their home country and they became overnight success stories and today they are household names in their country. After all was said and done, they can proudly say, “Mission Accomplished”.