The buzzword that might have saved Socceroos’ World Cup qualifying campaign

There was one word that permeated the Socceroos camp over the last week in Sydney.

Regardless of whether the player was a rookie or more experienced, each spoke of “mentality” being key to Australia’s hopes of automatically qualifying for the World Cup in North America next year.

When a similar theme or word pops up it can often sound rehearsed and therefore lose its meaning, but the steely look in the eye of each man who uttered it made you believe the intent behind the phrase was felt to their core.

It was mentality to meet the weight of expectation, to progress stylistically as a side and at a base level to win.

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Mentality proved to be anything but a buzzword and instead a safety net that caught the Socceroos as they threatened to fall into a hole that potentially would’ve plunged their qualifying campaign into crisis.

Indonesia started their World Cup qualifier against Australia on Thursday night at Allianz Stadium with a ruthless passion for pressing.

Midfielder Jackson Irvine, the captain of St. Pauli in the Bundesliga and a man accustomed to the pace of the game at the very top level, spoke of the immense pressure he and his teammates were under in the first 15-minutes.

“There was absolutely no time on the ball in the middle of the park,” he said.

The game might’ve ultimately finished 5-1 in favour of the Socceroos, but if it wasn’t for an incredible Mat Ryan save off a Jay Idzes header in the fifth minute and a missed penalty from Kevin Diks moments later, Australia could’ve been 2-0 down in the blink of an eye. The way other results panned out the Socceroos would’ve woken up on Friday morning in fourth spot in group C.

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Mentality rescued them from that fate. The pressure of that first quarter of an hour, instead of breaking the side, could’ve laid the building blocks on which progress under coach Tony Popovic is built.

The thing about the right mentality though is that it’s not satisfied when imperfection is present. 5-1 seems like a scoreline where everything went to plan, but it didn’t.

Ryan, as captain of the side, has been raw and honest in recent post-game interviews. The skipper was asked if he was satisfied with the performance of the team, and his response was telling.

“I think the scoreline sort of flatters us to be honest,” he said.

“With the start of the game they had two big chances and if they put one of them away it could’ve been a different game.

“I think we can be much better. Our standards, I think we fell short of that tonight, even though we got the result that we did.

“It’s important we learn and get better.”

There are signs those learnings happened in game instead of in a painful debrief on the day after the contest.

The Socceroos have created plenty of chances during this third round but converted relatively few before conceding either a luckless equaliser, or worse, one in unfortunate circumstances that handed victory to their opponents. When you don’t take control of your own destiny in football the margin for misfortune to impose itself gets larger. Australian football history is littered with such painful moments.

It’s what made the ease with which the Socceroos went from scrambling to cruising so unexpected. It was a turnaround built on mental resolve.

The side now heads to Hangzhou in China on a charter flight amid an atmosphere of calm and confidence instead of chaos and crisis. They know they’re far from the finished article under Popovic – he made as much clear immediately after full time – but escaping the cauldron like pressure Indonesia and their fans heaped on them in Sydney has made them stronger.

Three more points on Tuesday night will only strengthen that resolve and bring them one step closer to a spot at next year’s FIFA World Cup in the process.