It is exactly a month to the day when Australia will take on the USA in their second group game at the World Cup. That leaves just enough time for nations to generate rivalries and extra buzz ahead of the festival of football. And it seems that former USA soccer star Tony Meola is keen to get things started with the Socceroos.
Meola's Comments on Australia's Golden Generation
Despite expectations varying for every country at the World Cup, it is fair to say that every nation has had their own version of a 'golden generation.' Australia's boasted a team including the likes of Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill. All three are remembered fondly for their time in the Premier League, but that wasn't enough for Meola, who remains unimpressed with the squad, stopping just short of labelling them 'journeymen.'
On CBS' preview of the World Cup, he said, 'Like the Tim Cahill days, it was an older group. I don't want to say journeyman, guys that have been around the world and played but maybe not at the highest level like Tim Cahill. And it was all about organisation and battle, and I feel like this team and [Tony] Popovic, they kind of want to play a little more.'
Response from Australian Fans
It certainly feels like Meola may have missed the mark when considering the talent during that 2006 World Cup campaign. Mark Viduka may have been in the twilight of his career but he had scored 72 Premier League goals by that time. Harry Kewell meanwhile was already a Champions League runner-up with Liverpool and would win the Champions League the following season. And Tim Cahill was in the second year of his stint with Everton and had scored six goals while still playing as a midfielder at the time.
Given the iconic status of these players, Aussie soccer fans didn't take too kindly to Meola's analysis. One user on social media platform X took particular exception to his comments, writing, 'Watched CBS’s preview of Australia and Tony Meola labelled our '06 Golden Generation “filled with journeymen & guys who weren’t at the highest level.” A reminder the team had players playing for Liverpool, Everton, Blackburn, Newcastle and Middlesbrough, Parma and PSV at the time.'
'Harry Kewell alone is more talented than any player the US has ever produced, what is this rubbish? Viduka would also be their greatest striker of all time,' another user wrote on X. Another responded, 'Ridiculous. That team was full of Premier League and Serie A regulars. Even Chipperfield was playing European football year in and year out with Basel.' One even took aim at Meola's career suggesting it was laughable that he had managed to achieve 100 caps for the United States, given his club career.
Looking Ahead
Australia actually made it out of the group in 2006 after a 3-1 win over Japan and a 2-2 draw with Croatia, either side of a 2-0 loss against Brazil. They suffered World Cup heartbreak when Francesco Totti converted a 95th-minute penalty to eliminate the Socceroos in the round of 16. In any event, in a month's time this Australian side will have a chance to show the United States that the golden generation may be gone, but this current side will stand up and be counted.
