The World Cup - A View From Down Under

Guest blog writer: Con Stavros, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

In France a little while back, doing some teaching, I attempted to stir up a little passion surrounding a Rugby international match between my team, Australia, and the French. The students weren’t taking the bait however, telling me their real enemy was England. I suspect had I been in New Zealand or South Africa, the answer would have been the same.

You don’t grow up in Australia, as I have, without a fierce desire to beat England in any sport. Whether it is a colonial, convict of conflict driven desire, that sentiment is strong in many other parts of the world too. Not such a bad thing for sport marketers, particularly given that the notion of true rivalries, rather than media driven hype, are getting harder and harder to sustain.

This fierce competitiveness was borne out in recent days as Australian eyes turned to the FIFA World Cup draw. The lead-up angle was inevitably on whether the “Socceroos” would draw the same group as England. When we didn’t, getting a fearsome trio of Germany, Serbia and Ghana instead, some of the media made an important note of the fact that should we finish second in the group (behind the Germans) we would face England (who would surely win their group) in the first knockout round. I joked at the time that a few of the optimists leaping to this unlikely scenario (Australia finishing second, not England finishing first) probably couldn’t correctly place Ghana or Serbia on a map. But that was beside the point. In a land where football is taken automatically to mean an oval shaped ball, the connection was all about potentially challenging the mother country. Given the choice between victory over Brazil in the final or England in the round of 16, some would, I suspect, take the latter.

To be fair, or at least find an excuse to mention it, the last time we did play in 2003, the score line was Australia 3 England 1. It was only a friendly at Upton Park, but the appetite was stimulated for a meaningful contest that the World Cup could perhaps one day bring. Which makes me wonder why, given the passion and history surrounding the Ashes test series’, that the English and Australian football associations have never translated the contest to their sport? Is it, as I cheekily suspect, that England have too much to lose and nothing to gain by such a venture? Or is that just the patriotic Aussie in me speaking out? Can you make chicken squawking noises on a blog?

I will let you in on a little secret though that no Aussie will admit to. Promise not to tell, but Australian sport fans have a very soft spot for the English football team. Too many of us have spent too many late nights watching those “Match of the Day” highlights from the 1970’s onwards that we have become classically conditioned to believe that the elite of English football is the world’s best and therefore this should translate to the National team. Should Australia make an early exit from South Africa in June, we will rally behind Capello and the boys… even though we might not admit it. Rest assured that no such sympathy extends to the English cricket team however.

Finally a potential match on the pitch aside, there is also a football battle involving the Australians and English going on off the pitch that will have enormous ramifications for the business of sport. As you are probably aware, Australia is bidding for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. Technically rivals, Australia is pragmatic enough to know that 2018 will almost certainly be a European event, thus leaving the door open for Australia to nab 2022.

I know the English have had a tough time with their bid in recent months, but hopefully all should come together by December 2010 when the winners are announced. I’d, along with many Aussies, love to see the 2018 competition return to England at stadiums and cities, through the magic of television, we feel connected to. Some of those clips being uploaded to the official England 2018 (http://www.youtube.com/user/officialengland2018) youtube site however are not exactly filling me with total excitement. I almost dozed off watching one.

If you want to see how we do it down under, check out Nicole Kidman in Australia’s bid reel (http://media.businessday.com.au/sport/sports-hq/kidman-helps-world-cup-bid-943850.html). Yes, we even like to beat England at making promotional videos!