Australia national football team

I can't remember, but it was all about we and us and are we going to do this and how do we go at the World Cup, blah, blah, blah.

And then the next paragraph was about the Socceroos and the pejorative switched from we and us and our to them and they.

which I found particularly interesting.

So I actually emailed Peter and I said, why are the Wallabies us and we, and why are the Socceroos them and they? And he came back and he said, you know, that's actually a really good point.

I hadn't thought about it that way, but I just don't feel any connection to the Socceroos.

I remember, I won't tell you the guy's name, but I sat on a plane once after doing a Fox Sports function in Canberra, and I was sat next to a former quite high-profile rugby league player, and he almost said verbatim the same thing.

He said, you know, my kids play soccer.

It's always soccer, of course, with these types.

They had all their reviews.

There was a detailed review done into the Socceroos World Cup outcomes and performances.

I'm not sure if that review has been made public, but...

You touched on it yesterday, Tony Povich.

a fair bit to it over the hour.

Yeah, so we played the one about the penalty shootout a little earlier in the show and had comments about this, but this was one of the revelations out of the press conference was that Tony had turned down a four-year deal to sign a shorter-term contract just till the end of the Asian Cup.

So we don't have a Socceroos coach locked in after that for the start of World Cup qualifying, and Tony explained why that is the case.

Um...

So, yeah, I feel they'll have enough.

Let's turn our attention to matters at home because the Socceroos boss, Tony Popovich, sat down with the media for the first time since Australia's exit from the World Cup, or at least the day of their exit since he spoke in the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Egypt.

But it's safe to say the defeat to Egypt was still very much on his mind.

He went through an extensive re-litigation of the penalty shootout and the decisions, both in terms of selection, penalty takers, and who even played in that game.

But perhaps the biggest headline item to emerge out of his hour-long press conference was that he turned down a four-year deal that would have taken him through to the 2030 World Cup.

and will continue to coach on his contract, which takes him through until the Asian Cup in January, a tournament which he is setting the expectations high for the Socceroos to win.

Firstly, Tommy, what do you make of the media strategy of Tony Popovich telling people, well, actually, I could have been here for another four years, but I turned it down? Is this something that just slipped out, or do you think this was a deliberate conditioning of the Australian fans to tell them, well, hey...

You may be protesting the way we went out of the World Cup, but you could have had me for four more years.

Uh, well, Socceroo legend Craig Foster, welcome.

Foz.

Hello, guys.

Now, a, a lot of our listeners, and that final is on Sat- Saturday, October 10th, will remember your dad be- 'cause South Melbourne has a massive following in this town.

Played 150 games for South and as well as 51 Socceroos caps.

So, um, has Dad already, you know, drawn the line, uh, when you, you head around to hi- his place or you, you get on the phone that, "Look, I, I love you, Son, but, uh, it, it's all South for me"?

No, he's [laughs]...

I think any sport you play, you know, I've still got my friends from all my soccer years of playing New South Wales and Sydney and all that kind of stuff.

I still talk to those guys who, you know, travelled the world and played for Australia and played the Socceroos and you still talk to them like it was yesterday still.

So, you know, your sporting memories are always the ones that stay close to you.

Yeah.

We're down to the business end of the US Open, so we'll keep an eye on that for you.

And Socceroos star Christian Volpato could miss the series against Brazil as Football Australia investigates his post-World Cup incident where he was caught speeding twice in one night and allegedly returning two positive drug tests.

So there's plenty for us to talk about this morning.

If you've got an opinion to share, story to tell, something to report, the number to call 131873.

Now, this is concerning.

As you may remember, I spoke to our wonderful former Socceroos captain, Paul Wade, who's been told he probably has CTE.

And because of hitting a soccer ball, in his words, a violent way for all of those years.

And Wade, very concerned about that.