COULD you imagine Alastair Clarkson or John Longmire coaching their AFL club teams to the finals and then quitting?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is something so far-fetched you would not believe it, yet Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has effectively done the same thing in his pursuit of the World Cup.
He has guided Australia’s national team to the World Cup finals to be held in Russia next year after playing across Asia and in Syria and Honduras.
But after that exhaustive process, which began in June 2015 in Kyrgyzstan and ended in Sydney last week, Postecoglou has quit.
The father of three announced on Wednesday he was going after 49 matches in charge.
“It's something I've mulled over for a while, it's just the nature of me as a person,” Postecoglou said.
“But overall, sometimes it's just an instinct, it's the right time for me, it's the right time for the team, the organisation ... for me it feels like the right time.”
It is a curious decision to say the least, but Postecoglou deserves to be applauded for his record which is unrivalled among Socceroo coaches.
He is the only mentor to have taken Australia to two World Cups and guided the Socceroos to their most significant piece of silverware – the Asian Cup in 2015.
The other major aspect to Postecoglou is the national psyche he brought to the job.
In contrast to his recent predecessors who took the Socceroos to the World Cup, Postecoglou hails from Australia.
He grew up in Melbourne barracking for Carlton and playing Australian rules before switching to soccer.
Postecoglou played for South Melbourne Hellas in the old National Soccer League, rather than in Europe like many Socceroos.
That has seen him tag himself an outsider compared to others in Australia’s round ball world, with just four national caps.
But for the bulk of sporting fans in Australia, who don’t care for the politics of soccer, Postecoglou was a straight shooter who did not resort readily to cliches.
He deserves his place at the top of the pantheon of Socceroo coaches.
Administrators now have the task of finding his replacement for what would be a dream job – coaching a country at a World Cup.
Let’s hope they find somebody with the dedication, ambition and fair dinkum understanding of the sport’s role in Australia that Postecoglou had.