Respect is a two-way street

After what was ultimately a failed Asian Cup campaign, the one thing you hoped would come out of the tournament was a learning process for the Socceroos.

The realisation that perhaps the World Cup 'success' of last year may have been a false dawn is not an easy one for Australian supporters. As a nation used to performing at the top end in all manner of sports, being humbled by Iraq and Japan and getting a point against Oman is hard to stomach, and thankfully FFA supremo Frank Lowy has promised to look long and hard at what went wrong.

But while behind the scenes tinkering will produce the structure for long-term success, the destiny of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign ultimately lies in the hands of the current crop of players, and if their reaction to their failed Asian Cup 2007 campaign is any guide, then we may face an uphill battle to be among the 32 teams in South Africa in three years time.

Vinnie Grella's sterling efforts in the World Cup earned him almost untouchable status prior to the Aussies' inaugural Asian Cup campaign. The definitive 'little Aussie battler', he stood up to the best players in the world and succeeded. But even the most fervent of Vinnie fans would have turned their pockets out looking for excuses for his substandard performance over the four games in Asian Cup 2007, capped off by a sending off in the quarter final against Japan.

That sending off, while perhaps a touch harsh, effectively meant Australia would need to rely on the lottery of a penalty shootout to remain in the tournament. That didn't happen, and Vinnie, right or wrong, shouldered the blame.

It would have been enough to leave it at that, and let Grella stew on that disappointment and use it to focus himself in upcoming Socceroo matches. But unfortunately, in a vitriolic outburst in a Sunday paper, he has stirred up the pot in a way which may have far reaching ramifications for Australia's comfort as an AFC nation.

We can only assume Grella's comments were faithfully reported in the Fairfax newspapers. The tone was certainly unmistakable, and if Grella's reputation had any currency left after his poor showing in the Asian Cup, is should be well spent after his brattish rant.

"They all had a bad attitude towards us. I've written the names of Oman, Iraq, Thailand and Japan down and I'll be tying that note to my little finger, so it will be payback time when we meet again," he told The Age. "I don't know what they all had against Australia but it was a joke."

The accusation of 'a lack of respect' is an interesting point considering the Australians, including Grella himself, were asked about their prospective opponents ahead of the first three matches and repeatedly gave the answer that they knew nothing of them, and would rely on a video summary on the day before the match.

It made it even harder to take when some of the Socceroos then pointed the finger at the media after the Oman and Iraq matches and said that it had not done its research on the lesser-known Asian sides.

No doubt Lowy and the other FFA powerbrokers will take a good, hard, long, look at the campaign, the poor preparation of the Australian players, and their inability to adapt to the conditions early in the tournament. Considering one of the reasons the Australians were invited into the Asian Football Confederation in the first place was our professional approach to the game, these issues are a cause for potential embarrassment.

But what will be even more of an embarrassment are the ill-considered rants of the likes of Grella. Grella's major concern is a lack of respect, but respect needs to be given before it is earned, and for all the giant leaps Australian football has taken over the past five years, we actually haven't won anything.

Like it or not, we must play the new kid in town in Asian football for a little while yet before we start throwing our weight around. We will get respect when we have earned it, when we approach the Asian Cup and Asian opponents with the respect they deserve. Sniping from the safety of your European base is not the way to get that respect.

The message from FFA to the players when they make comments like Grella's should be unequivocal. Disrespect is unacceptable, and just as we must be humble in our success (when we have it), we must always be honourable in defeat.