Michael Cockerill is Football Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald
The word is Tony Popovic didn't sign Jumpei Kusukami because he was Japanese. He signed him because he was a good player. But as Western Sydney Wanderers prepare to salvage some pride in the Asian Champions League, the passport definitely helps.
FIFA's landmark decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams finally gives Oceania - the game's orphan child - direct entry. That one spot has taken 51 years.
What's happened to the African revolution? Two decades after the first tide of African migration lapped our shores, we were expecting, and hoping, to see the fruits by now.
The Roar have proved how an ethnic DNA can successfully evolve into a broad-based, multicultural one – inclusive rather than exclusive.
It's generally a good time of year to be taking a holiday on the Surf Coast if you're a Melbourne Victory supporter. A day at the beach, and a balmy evening at Simonds Stadium. Monday night will be the fifth time Geelong will have hosted a Victory match, and the expectations are of a 15,000-plus crowd. Everyone wins. Or do they?
My New Year's wish for football? I'll make it personal. Football needs to reboot its relationship with professional media, a fourth estate which, believe it or not, still has a vital role to play in shaping the destiny of the game.
Graham Arnold might get to write his own headline after all. So far Sydney FC are living up to the 'Invincibles' tag given to them by their coach, and while it still remains a herculean challenge to go through the season unbeaten, the Sky Blues are looking more unbeatable by the day. Maybe, just maybe, they'll pull it off.
Gimmee! I'll have some of that, the new TV money. I don't mean me, per se. I mean me as a park footballer, one who pays for the privilege of playing.
Less than 6,000 people at Mt Smart Stadium last Saturday afternoon for the match between Wellington Phoenix and Western Sydney Wanderers doesn't bode well for Auckland's case to join the A-League. Truth is, of all the 'bidders' who have signalled their interest, this one is at best luke-warm. Pity, that. New Zealand's biggest city is also the biggest market the competition has left to conquer, but it needs much more than simple metrics. It needs imagination.
When is someone who counts going to ask the only question which really counts when it comes to building stadiums in Australia. Why do they cost so much?
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