It is an inner strength that often sets them apart.

Introspection and insecurity do not appear to exist in the German vocabulary.

German footballers know they are mentally strong and do not usually have a reason to doubt themselves.

Which brings us to the clash between two of the biggest Bundesliga clubs going around - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund - in the first all-German final of the UEFA Champions League.

It is Bayern's third final in four seasons, making the giant from Bavaria one of the most consistent clubs in European club football, up there with Barcelona, in the last few years.

Yet the suspicion remains that Bayern, for all its financial and playing clout, might have a mental block when it comes to the big occasion.

Hence the million-dollar question: does Bayern have the nerve and the bottle to win major international honours?

This notion concerning one of the pillars of the European game would appear to be baseless and even outrageous to most observers.

Take a look at Bayern's recent history in the competition and you will find that the club lost several big matches it should have won mainly because it faltered at the finish line.

The dramatic 2-1 loss to Manchester United in 1999 is still fresh in many fans' memory.

Bayern played an exemplary match and outplayed the English champion.

It was leading comfortably and threatening to score more goals before it lost its nerve and concentration for a few minutes and conceded two goals at the death.

Much was said of Bayern's overall superiority on the night and United's recuperative powers that had become its trademark, but Otmar Hitzfeld's men were not mentally strong enough to see the game through when it was there for the taking.

The same thing happened in a quarter-final against AC Milan in 2007.

Bayern did extremely well to twice come back from a goal down and hold the Rossoneri to a 2-2 draw in Milan and was hotly tipped to reach the semi-finals.

However Bayern froze in the return leg and lost 2-0 to first-half goals from Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi.

Bayern also failed to make home advantage count in last season's final against Chelsea, two years after it lost 2-0 to Inter Milan in the final in Madrid.

Bayern was favourite and did enough to win the match against a defensive Blues side but after taking a deserved lead it was pegged back and it even missed a penalty in extra-time to lose the match in a penalty shootout.

Again, it was a game Bayern should have won but it lost the plot when it mattered most and let it slip through its fingers.

Jupp Heynckes's side is again expected to prevail in this season's final against Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on Sunday (AEST).

Bayern has been the strongest and most formidable side in the competition, in which it already has eliminated Arsenal, Juventus and Barcelona.

It has yet to lose to Dortmund this season so pundits have every right to expect it to win its fifth continental title.

Will Bayern handle the massive expectations placed upon it by its management, fans and media?

Will Philipp Lahm, Thomas Muller, Bastian Schweinsteiger and company buckle under the pressure of having to win, same as they did last season against Chelsea?

Will the nightmare of 1999 come back to haunt the club?

Dortmund's players, the semi-final conquerors of Real Madrid, are no slouches and will be waiting to pounce on any moment of indecision or weakness from Bayern.

In Poland's Robert Lewandowski, manager Jurgen Klopp has one of Europe's deadliest strikers.

With German attacking midfielders Mario Gotze, if fit, and Marco Reus providing assistance right behind him, Dortmund has legitimate claims to be treated with as much respect as Bayern.

The feeling remains, however, that the outcome of the final will depend largely on Bayern's frame of mind.

The club once known as 'Hollywood FC' has shed its image of a bunch of bitching prima donnas and has made a name for itself as a super efficient and effective team that can play top-class football consistently.

There is no doubt that the clinical way Bayern dismissed Barcelona's challenge in the semi-final would suggest that it is poised for a period of continental supremacy.

First it must exorcise its demons of the past, however.

Locking horns with Asia's finest is the best way to test yourself, Postecoglou said, and adopting a cautious approach as soon as the challenges get tougher would defeat the whole purpose of the exercise.

Brisbane failed to survive the group phase of the competition yet it earned respect across Asia for the quality of its attacking football that belied Australia's image of a nation whose football was more about graft than craft.

Graham Arnold is likely to resist the temptation of using cautious tactics and is expected to apply the same cavalier attitude when Central Coast Mariners faces China's Guangzhou Evergrande in the first leg of the ACL's round of 16 in Gosford on Wednesday.

The Chinese champion that operates on a rich budget comes to Australia with a high reputation.

It is vying for a third straight Super League title and its squad contains several Chinese and other internationals including Paraguay's striker Lucas Barrios.

It is led by none other than Italian World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi.

The Mariners, the A-League's smallest club, snared its first championship last month with a game based on a watertight defence, a well organised midfield and an attack that featured the league's highest scorer Daniel McBreen.

Arnold, in his third season with the club, has done a great job in steering the Mariners to the last 16 of the competition.

However he knows that his master Mariners will have to raise the bar even further if they are to prevail against Evergrande.

Arnold will treat the tie as yet another challenge to be overcome. It would be a feather in the team's cap if it beats Lippi's men by being proactive rather than reactive.

It is not in the Mariners' nature to be circumspect, anyway.

The rewards for eliminating Evergrande and reaching the quarter-finals would be immense from a sporting and economic side.

But they would pale into insignificance if the Mariners manage to overcome their high-profile rival by playing an offensive game on their own terms.

Australian football in general and the Mariners in particular need to know that they can take on the finest sides of Asia by playing football as it should be played.

The next week will provide the Mariners with a perfect opportunity to see how far they have come in terms of their development as a football club that aspires to foreign conquests.

Winning certainly is everything especially at the highest levels of the game. Chelsea showed in stealing last season's UEFA Champions League that it had absolutely no regard for the game's aesthetics when it beat Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Europe's top clubs are big and strong enough to chose how they play because they can adapt to different circumstances but Australians do not have that luxury.

At this stage of the Australian game's learning curve, playing positive football even at the cost of losing - sometimes heavily - is far more crucial and beneficial because that is the only way our fledgling game will improve.

If our football keeps getting better, the rewards will come for sure because Australians are usually pretty good at what they do if they put their minds to it.

This is the first time that the Mariners have reached this stage of the competition after coming close last season.

It is hoped that a sizeable crowd attends the match at Bluetongue Stadium because Arnold's men will need all the help they can get against a strong side.

The tie might signal the end of the Mariners as we know them.

With several players on the verge of moving abroad, the Mariners could have a distinct new look by the time they start the defence of the championship next season.

Goalkeeper Mat Ryan, defender Trent Sainsbury and striker Bernie Ibini could be gone to foreign clubs while the future of Arnold is uncertain.

Defender Patrick Zwaanswijk, one of the finest and most consistent footballers to grace the A-League, also has announced his retirement.

The Mariners' clash versus Evergrande will be the popular Dutchman's last game on Australian soil before he hangs up his boots after the return leg in Guangzhou next week.

All this gives the Mariners an extra incentive to finish a memorable season with a flourish.

Great teams and star players have a tendency to make fools of those who write them off too early.

Yet watching the Blaugrana being mauled and torn apart by the finest and most spectacular Bayern Munich side since the days of Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness and Gerd Muller in the 1970s, one could not fail to notice that this once majestic team that took the modern game to new heights in the last five or six years is in decline.

While the Bundesliga giant strutted its stuff with aplomb in two memorable semi-finals to record a staggering 7-0 aggregate win, Barcelona was left chasing shadows because it just could not cope with the German juggernaut that owned all parts of the field in both legs.

Barca was outmuscled, outmanoeuvred and outclassed to such an extent that in the second leg it was forced to abandon its famed tiki-taka game and resort to long balls from the back in order to bypass the immense Javi Martinez and Bastian Schweinsteiger, who were ably and constantly assisted by 'forwards' Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben and 'defenders' Philipp Lahm and David Alaba in what looked like a six-man midfield fortress.

Barcelona was expected to react decisively to the 4-0 debacle in Munich but you can only do so much against a better and more confident team that is peaking at the right time of the season.

The fact that Lionel Messi was declared unfit to play on the day of the return leg only heightened Barca's anxiety and made its job that much harder.

Barca will learn form this painful and humbling defeat and will come back with a vengeance if not stronger in next season's UEFA Champions League.

It is clear that coach Tito Vilanova has to reinforce his squad and tweak its playing tiki-taka style because it is becoming obvious that Barcelona does not have an answer to an ultra-defensive game plan or one that deprives its midfield of time and space on the ball.

Vilanova however suggested at the weekend that he is determined to retain the team's playing style and he will seek new players to fit the system.

The warning signs came early in the season when modest Celtic nearly got a draw at the Nou Camp and then scored a famous victory over Barca at Parkhead in the group stage.

Barcelona was two goals down to AC Milan after the first leg of the round of 16 and a scintillating cameo from barely fit Messi saved the team from elimination in the quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Its suspect defence that has conceded an average of more than a goal a game in La Liga has been a major problem.

Bayern's second and third goals highlighted Barcelona's malaise.

Barca was caught too square and Ribery was played in before he sent a firm cross to the unmarked Mario Mandzukic that was turned into the net by a mis-hit clearance from Gerard Pique.

A few minutes later Ribery gave Alex Song a metre's start but simply flew past him and from the same position lofted a tantalising cross to the far post for the towering Thomas Muller to head home with goalkeeper Victor Valdes and two defenders all over the place.

The disconsolate look of Messi, who was watching the team's slow death from the bench, said it all.

Barcelona's magnificent football that made it the best and most entertaining team in the world looked a million miles away.

By contrast Bayern, at times, looked like the best of Barca, stroking the ball around with precision, composure and even arrogance. As if it was intent on taking the mickey out of its frustrated and spent opponent.

The tie effectively was a no-contest but Bayern's all-round display over the two legs will be remembered for a very long time.

So is Bayern the new Barcelona?

Only time will tell but during some fleeting moments in the tie it appeared to be the case.

Bayern did not need someone like Messi to do it either.

Hardly ever had La Liga suffered such a double humiliation on two consecutive nights.

Bayern Munich's 4-0 demolition of Barcelona was followed by Borussia Dortmund's equally impressive 4-1 rout of Real Madrid.

The prospect of a Hispanic clasico at Wembley is now up in smoke and most likely to be replaced by a Teutonic showdown for the European crown.

Or will it? Are the two semi-final outcomes a fait accompli?

Madrid takes on Dortmund on Wednesday (AEST) while Barca faces Bayern a day later.

History teaches us that there is nothing that gets the Bernabeu or Nou Camp going than the scent of a great European comeback.

Bayern and Dortmund are white hot favourites to get through to the final on 26 May (AEST) but both clubs will know that their bruised and battered opponents are more than capable of lifting themselves off the canvas and turning the tables on their conquerors in familiar surroundings.

Barcelona engineered a remarkable turnaround in its Champions League quarter-final tie with Chelsea in 1999-2000.

Gianluca Vialli's London side was 3-1 up after the first leg at Stamford Bridge but Barca would not be beaten.

With Rivaldo and Luis Figo in mesmeric form and the crowd baying for blood, Barca took the game by the scruff of its neck and took it into extra-time before running out a 5-1 winner on the night.

Barca achieved a similar feat this season when it came back from a 2-0 deficit to AC Milan in the round of 16 to beat the Italian club 4-0 with an awesome display of attacking football emanating from the cultured feet of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.

A four-goal deficit would appear to be too high a hurdle to overcome even for Barca but the Blaugrana feel that a couple of crucial refereeing decisions went against them in Munich.

Who knows what might happen if the home side gets a few early lucky breaks and goes in at half-time leading, say, by two goals?

A comeback is highly improbable but impossible it definitely is not.

Madrid was outclassed – make that Pole-axed – by Dortmund after failing to handle striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored four goals in a performance reminiscent of Milan legend Marco van Basten's foursome against Gothenburg in a 4-0 group win in 1992.

Jose Mourinho's side has a slightly less arduous task than Barcelona's essentially because of the away goal it scored so a 3-0 victory would see it through.

Easier said than done but stranger things have happened in football.

Derby County thought it had done enough after beating Madrid 4-1 at Baseball Ground in the last 16 of the 1975-1976 European Cup thanks to a dazzling display from striker Charlie George, who scored a famous hat-trick.

But Madrid had other ideas in the return. Roberto Martinez and Carlos Santillana scored twice each as the home team grabbed a 5-1 win after extra-time.

Nine years later, Madrid suffered a 3-0 defeat to Anderlecht in the UEFA Cup.

In the return at the Bernabeu, Madrid amazingly scored four goals before the interval and in the end it won 6-1.

Emilio Butragueno, three, and Jorge Valdano, two, were in an unstoppable mood and their goals helped Madrid into the quarter-finals.

These epic comebacks took place a long time ago but they are still relevant because the culture and temperament of the two clubs have not changed.

The sensational turnarounds showed how much the home factor, particularly in Spain, can lift a side when the chips are down.

Yet you have to be realistic and acknowledge that if either Barca or Madrid get out of the hole they have dug themselves into we would have a mother of all comebacks to talk about.

I expect Barca will come close but will not make it and be forced to accept the fact that its technical domination of the world game might be over.

Let's not forget that Barcelona has been without doubt the finest team on the planet in the last five or six years.

I've just got a feeling that Madrid and that old fox Mourinho might pull a white rabbit out of the hat.

The German matador is well in control but there is life left in the wounded Spanish bull.

The heartbreaking grand final losses Central Coast Mariners endured in the eight-year history of the A-League seemed a million years away on Sunday after the team was crowned champion for the first time.

The league's most consistent team in the last three seasons has finally laid its hands on the “toilet seat” after a convincing 2-0 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers.

The Mariners could claim with a degree of justification that they were desperately unlucky to lose all three grand finals.

In 2006 they played as well as Sydney FC but came up short after a rare moment of genius from Dwight Yorke set up Steve Corica for a 1-0 win.

Two years later the Mariners again gave a good account of themselves against Newcastle Jets but fell behind to a goal from Mark Bridge after a mistake from, of all people, Tony Vidmar and had legitimate claims for a late penalty when James Holland handled the ball.

And we all know - how can we forget! - the Mariners also lost the 2011 grand final, which John Hutchinson described last week as “unloseable”, after being two goals up against Brisbane Roar with only five minutes to go.

This time there was to be no cruel fate to deprive the league's smallest club that was in serious financial strife as recently as two months ago of its moment of glory.

The Wanderers' maiden season has been an extraordinary fairytale the like of which has rarely been seen in professional sport.

But the Mariners' story is one of real resilience, a spirit of camaraderie and a stoic refusal to be beaten by adversity on several fronts.

The Mariners took little time to impose their wider range of footballing expertise on the grand final stage and Patrick Zwaanswijk's firm header on the stroke of half-time rewarded the team's general superiority.

The Wanderers pushed forward with more purpose in the second half but Zwaanswijk and Trent Sainsbury were impeccable in the centre of the Mariners' defence, leaving goalkeeper Mat Ryan with very little to do throughout.

The Mariners were always more purposeful in their breaks and when man-of-the-match Daniel McBreen slotted home a penalty to make it 2-0 in the 68th minute, it was clear that there was not going to be a way back for the Wanderers.

The eighth A-League decider was a fitting finale to an absorbing season and a credit to the rising game in Australia.

More than 42,000 boisterous spectators who seemingly were either Mariners or Wanderers fans with only a few neutrals created a sea of passion, colour and noise that has never been seen in an Australian league game.

It was a privilege to be just there taking in the atmosphere, even though it is just not the same watching football in a closed press box.

What struck me most on a memorable night that will add substance to the general belief that football is seriously on its way in this country was the sight and sound of thousands of Wanderers fans singing and cheering their team right till the final whistle and even after they had lost.

The Wanderers fans have been credited with bringing a “European” or “South American” flavour to Australian football.

I tell you, most European or South American clubs would not get such a warm reception from so many people after they lose a major final.

Half the stadium would be empty by the time the players get to receive their loser's medal.

This shows that the special bond that exists between club and fans is real, heartfelt and strong enough to take the Wanderers club forward.

On a slightly distasteful note, I just thought the Red and Black Bloc showed disrespect and a lack of class by singing for the Wanderers during the national anthem and by doing a Poznan during the medal presentation to the victorious Mariners.

Tony Popovic showed no lack of class as usual after the match and he conceded that the better team on the day had won and he expressed his pleasure that his old guru Graham Arnold had finally got what he deserved as a coach even though he wished "he had not done it against us".

The Wanderers club however should not be dismayed too much by the defeat.

It is a very pleasant reality of Australian club football and it played a major role in making this the best A-League in history.

It will come as little consolation to such a perfectionist as Popovic, but the club should pat itself on the back for creating a football team that an entire region with its thousands of fans coming from all walks of life can be proud of.

All A-League clubs, bar Melbourne Victory, would give an arm and a leg for that kind of loyal support.

Popovic said he was hurting badly from the painful defeat but "when I wake up tomorrow morning I will be a very proud man."

He did not have to wait that long.

Messi was deemed unfit to start in Barcelona's UEFA Champions League quarter-final return against Paris Saint-Germain at the Nou Camp.

PSG and Barca drew 2-2 in the first leg at the Parc des Princes but Carlo Ancelotti's side turned the tie on its head by taking the lead through Javier Pastore early in the second half.

Barcelona was being overrun and outplayed and Messi could do nothing to stem the tide from the bench. It just was not the same without the little fella.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and after 62 minutes had gone the call came for Messi to come on.

The rest is history … or rather history rewritten.

Messi's introduction instantly changed the mood of the match.

Never have I seen such a dramatic transformation in the moods of two sets of players.

You could see it by just looking at the facial expressions and the body language.

Barca suddenly found a spring in its step.

Whereas the first hour of the match was characterised by an inability to impose its authority on the game, Messi's introduction encouraged Barca's tentative players to become brave and adventurous and turned PSG's confident players into nervous wrecks.

Messi was here, there and everywhere and his sumptuous flicked pass to David Villa deep into PSG's penalty box led to Pedro's stunning equaliser that ultimately gave Barca a passage to its sixth straight Champions League semi-final.

Messi's performance was not the best of his amazing career but he rarely exerted so much influence on a game in such a short time.

It was breath-taking to the extreme.

Messi's game-changing heroics were reminiscent of other such individual displays at the highest level.

Here are five other examples of star players who changed the course of a match with their ability to deliver against all the odds.

Eusebio (Portugal v North Korea in 1966)

The “diddy men” from Korea had caused a major shock by knocking out Italy from the World Cup.

They were on their way to causing yet another sensation when they took a three-goal lead against Portugal after 24 minutes in the quarter-finals.

As the news started filtering through the world's news agencies Benfica talisman Eusebio took matters into his own hands and started his team's comeback.

By half-time he had scored twice and he helped himself to two more goals in the second to help the Portuguese won 5-3. It was an amazing match dominated by a very special player.

Paul Gascoigne (Rangers v Aberdeen in 1996)

Rangers needed to beat Aberdeen on the final day of the championship to clinch its eighth straight Scottish league title.

Gascoigne had joined Rangers from Lazio in the previous northern summer and he would play a key role in the championship.

The Dons took the lead at Ibrox but Gascoigne took the game by the scruff of the neck and changed the match. He scored two absolute gems before converting a penalty for a glorious hat-trick.

Rangers won 3-1 to take the title from Celtic by four points. “Gazza was a genius and had a heart of gold ... I was lucky to have played alongside him,” Australia international Craig Moore recalled.

Roy Keane (Juventus v Manchester United in 1999)

Juventus built on an away 1-1 draw in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals by taking a two-goal lead in the return in Turin.

United was down and out but Keane had other ideas. Leading by example, the captain ran himself to a standstill and inspired his teammates to a remarkable comeback.

Juve could not handle the marauding Irishman who even found time to score a goal before helping United to a 3-2 victory against all the odds.

Manager Alex Ferguson said later “it was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field”.

David Beckham (England v Greece in 2001)

England was being taken to the cleaners by an enterprising Greek side in a decisive World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford.

The Greeks led twice and could have scored more goals yet Beckham simply refused to accept defeat in a second-half master class.

He singlehandedly drove his team forward, seemingly taking on the superior opposition on his own.

Becks crowned one of his finest outings for England by hitting home a last-gasp equaliser with a trademark free kick.

A 2-2 draw gave England its ticket to the finals. No prizes for guessing who was on the front, back and inside pages in the English papers the next day.

Tim Cahill (Australia v Japan 2006)

Australia's first match in a World Cup finals in 32 years in Kaiserslautern was not going well.

A sloppy goal down and with time running out fast, the Australians were struggling to get back into the game but they were saved by Cahill who came on as a substitute for Mark Bresciano after 53 minutes.

Cahill's drive and energy gave the Socceroos an instant lift and he scored two late goals in the space of five minutes to break Japan's hearts and help Australia to its first ever World Cup win. Australia had a new sporting hero to cherish.

In every established football country the team that finishes first past the post is declared the champion, they tell us.

So since that's how they do it around the world we should follow suit.

Essentially, because the finals are nothing more than an end-of-season, after-thought.

A prominent journalist even described the finals as a “Mickey Mouse” event.

What these people - some of whom should know better - would not tell us is that in all the countries they talk about all teams play each other at home and away and their domestic championship is not as lopsided as that of the A-League, where some teams play 14 games at home and others only 13.

How can we proclaim the premiership winner as the champion if Western Sydney Wanderers, for example, has met its closest challenger Central Coast Mariners twice at home and once away?

If these fixtures were inverted, who knows, the Mariners might not have finished the regular season three points behind the Wanderers.

It is like asking Barcelona and Real Madrid to play three times in La Liga, but two times at the Nou Camp and once at the Bernabeu.

That idea would go down really well in Spain.

Let's forget for a moment that most Aussie fans love the finals and that we don't really care too much about what happens abroad, there are rules and there is really no point in claiming ad nauseam that the Wanderers are the true champions because quite simply they are not.

They will only be champions if they win the grand final.

Of course, there is plenty of merit in a first-past-the-post system and some time down the track it might well come into effect in Australia.

But until such time as all A-League teams play an equal number of home and away games against all other teams the system cannot possibly be seen as fair, equitable and credible.

Of far more importance to the welfare of our game than this old, futile and boring issue that will take us nowhere is the parlous state of refereeing in the A-League.

The refereeing sector has come up with a few howlers this season and with the finals on their way, the men in black have lost no time in leaving their indelible mark on proceedings.

Every neutral fan would have felt sorry for Perth Glory which was deprived – make that robbed – of a spot in the major semi-final they so richly deserved.

Jarred Gillett, who was at the centre of last season's last-minute controversy over the penalty that gave Brisbane the championship, this time failed to spot a clear hand ball from Victory's Andrew Nabbout just before the substitute was impeded by defender Steve Pantelidis and he gave a penalty, which Mark Milligan converted to make the score 1-1 with seconds to go.

To compound Glory's misery the referee also sent off Pantelidis for the foul that should not have been given and Perth subsequently lost 2-1 in extra-time.

Glory captain Jacob Burns, who distinguished himself with his dignified restraint after his side had lost last season's dramatic grand final to Brisbane, expressed deep disappointment after the match on Friday.

”I don’t want to sound like sour grapes, but the referee's got to hold up his hand and be accountable for some very, very poor decisions out there today for both teams,” he said.

“I don’t understand how a referee like Jarred Gillett gets our game again and how he can make such poor judgment once again.”

Officiating this season has reached such a low level that players and coaches are losing faith and have no confidence in referees.

A current A-League coach told me that “the biggest opponents in finals football are the referees” because “many refs have decided finals matches”.

Such comments would suggest that the A-League, for all its spectacular advances across the board, has a major problem on its hands.

It is an achilles heel that threatens to undermine the credibility of the game and it needs to be fixed or alleviated as quickly as possible.

A solution is not easy to find.

How do you train a referee to spot things he might otherwise miss? How do you train a referee's assistant to get the offside calls right?

The game would be better served if the noisy minority that keeps ramming the “premiers are champions” theme down our throats and damaging the finals in the process devote as much time and energy in trying to pinpoint why referees in Australia are not up to standard.

Holger Osieck's Australians are in trouble and facing the prospect of having to survive a double playoff against a very difficult opponent as their 2014 FIFA World Cup dream is becoming a nightmare.

Last week's round of matches saw the 'Sloppyroos' relegated to third spot in their campaign to reach the finals.

With the top two teams in each of Asia's two round-robin groups to qualify automatically for the finals, the two third-placed teams will have to play off for the right to face the fifth-placed South American side to win a ticket for Brazil.

Australia's precarious situation could be even worse. If it wasn't for two late strikes from Archie Thompson against Iraq in Doha and from Brett Holman against Oman last week Australia would be bottom of the group with little or no hope of qualifying at all.

It now has been too long since Osieck's Socceroos played a satisfactory match in a meaningful contest and unless they put together a set of positive performances in a triple assignment in June they might have to beat their nemesis Iran in September to realise their hope of a third successive participation in the World Cup.

Iran is sitting in third spot in Group A behind Uzbekistan and Korea Republic and with three rounds to go it is widely tipped to finish in that position.

A double confrontation with Iran would provide the Socceroos with a stern test of their temperament other than a technical and logistical one.

Australia's epic qualifying playoff with the Iranians in 1997 will go down as one of the darkest moments in the country's football history.

After snaring a 1-1 draw at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, the Socceroos were on their way to the finals in France when they were leading 2-0 with 17 minutes to go.

It is not really necessary to recall what happened next however we all know that the Aussies went out on away goals.

None of the players who took part in that game are still playing competitively but it left an indelible mark on our football history, culture and character.

Many said that the effects of that shock result would take decades to evaporate while others maintained that our football mentality got stronger after that traumatic experience.

Also it was perhaps the one event that brought the Socceroos closer to the hearts of people who had no particular interest in the game but who felt sorry for the cruel way Australia was bundled out.

A clash with Iran would have so many sub-plots that I dare say it would not be something any Australian player or fan would welcome with open arms.

If that is not enough: guess which team is more than likely to finish fifth in South America?

Uruguay.

The Uruguayans are struggling to replicate the blistering form shown at the 2010 World Cup where they finished fourth and at the 2011 Copa America, which they impressively won.

The Uruguayans, who can count on two of the world's finest forwards in Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, are unlikely to snare one of the top four spots that would ensure direct qualification.

With six rounds to go, they are currently sixth, two points behind Chile and Venezuela.

If Australia's stunning elimination at the hands of Iran in 1997 caused us so much angst and pain, the Socceroos' exhilarating victory over Uruguay in 2005 will go down as a red letter day in our history.

The scenes of unbridled joy that greeted John Aloisi's decisive penalty kick will never be forgotten.

Yet having to face the classy Uruguayans again in November for a spot in Brazil would be something Australia should do its best to avoid.

Essentially because the Australian team has gone backwards since that epic night in Sydney and Uruguay has improved out of sight.

Australia's stock reached its nadir in the midweek match with Oman when a curiously selected team with a poor game plan was behind the eight ball virtually all night and struggled to earn a 2-2 draw against a side ranked 105 in the world.

The Socceroos have lost their swagger and simply cannot risk being cast into a situation where they have to roll the dice in two playoff lotteries.

Which is why it is imperative that Osieck's men roll up their sleeves and do their best to finish at least second in the group and avoid the pitfalls of a deadly double date with danger.

The two legends were commenting on England's 8-0 romp against San Marino in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Owen, who will retire from professional football at the end of the season, said he regretted “not playing against San Marino in my career! Seems to do wonders for your goals tally!”

Lineker, who is now a successful television pundit, said with his tongue firmly in cheek that he “can't see anyone living with us in the World Cup now”.

The pair's sarcastic tweets that followed the mismatch in San Marino brought home the futility of such occasions that serve very little purpose other than to give players and teams a false sense of security.

When Australia takes on Oman in a crucial qualifier at Stadium Australia on Tuesday, the expected 40,000 crowd would do well to appreciate how far we have come as a football nation since we used to swat Oceania's minnows into submission then get duly swatted ourselves when we met stronger teams.

The Socceroos will have to be at their best to beat Paul Le Guen's plucky Oman, which still entertains hopes of pipping Holger Osieck's men for a spot in the Brazil finals behind Japan, the runaway leader of the group.

I remember the late Johnny Warren saying he was not at all impressed by FIFA's decision in 2003 to give Oceania direct entry to the World Cup when Australia used to be part of the region's confederation.

While the football family got excited, Warren argued that meeting the likes of Fiji, New Caledonia or Tahiti instead of facing proper challenges would rob the Australian game of a chance to raise its standards.

Thankfully, FIFA bowed to pressure from South America and went back on its word, ordering the Oceania winner to play off against a team from another confederation for the right to play in the big event.

It is history now how Australia managed to sell itself to the Asian Football Confederation and become a full member of the AFC on 1 January 2006.

It was Australian football's most significant victory on the international stage.

The game in Australia at all levels has benefited greatly from the move.

We may have lesser access to major events because the qualifying path at all levels is now far more competitive.

The very same stiff opposition provided by the cream of Asia and the logistical difficulty of traipsing around a vast continent on a regular basis have already raised the playing standard of Australia's football.

Some might point out that the senior national side has gone backwards since the heydays of 2005 and 2006, but this has nothing to do with Australia being part of Asia.

The team is in a transitional phase and each member of the current squad would much rather play teams in Asia in some of the world's most remote and inhospitable places than a team from Oceania on some idyllic holiday island, anyway.

Our top clubs have also gained substantially from their liaisons with their Asian counterparts in the AFC Champions League.

Results have been generally disappointing but our clubs would have learned a lot from their clashes with Asia's finest.

The connection with Asia may be one of the contributing factors towards the overall rise in playing standards in the A-League, which is now making news across Asia.

Socceroos representatives Matty McKay and Alex Brosque, who both chose to play abroad after winning a championship in Australia, have told me how much they miss the A-League.

The whole squad also wanted to watch the compelling Western Sydney Wanderers versus Sydney FC derby at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night to sample the atmosphere of a top A-League game and see for themselves how much the game in Australia has grown, before Osieck vetoed the move.

All this goes to show how far we have improved as a football nation.

We may complain about a few things here and there and we do not get everything right but, my word, it feels so good to be a football follower these last few years.

The must-win game against Oman obviously carries a degree of uncertainty and risk.

Yet it provides an adrenalin rush and beats the hell out of a 'mickey mouse' match against some Pacific minnow.

We would not have it any other way.

Watch the UCL quarter-finals LIVE on SBS in April

The EPL is still travelling very well and judging the merits of a competition on the basis of a handful of results is equally erroneous.

For the first time in 17 years England has no representatives in the quarter-finals of the most important and glamorous club competition in the world.

Manchester United and Arsenal fell in the round of 16 after Chelsea and Manchester City did not even survive the group phase, prompting the Gunners manager to imply that England's leading role in the competition is under threat.

"For a number of years we've not had that and I think it's a massive wake-up call for us,” Wenger said.

"It means the rest of Europe has caught up on us and we have to take that into consideration when we think about the future of the Premier League."

Wake-up call ... hello!

It is not the first time that one of Europe's major football countries is hit by a set of circumstances that might throw a misleading light on the quality of its domestic competition.

In 2003, when Italian football was struggling to recapture its glory days, Serie A had three teams in the semi-finals of the Champions League and AC Milan won the tournament by beating Juventus in Manchester.

Does this mean that Serie A was the best league in Europe in 2003? I don't think so.

In 2008 the Premier League had four teams in the quarter-finals while the Bundesliga and La Liga had one team each before Manchester United ultimately prevailed over Chelsea in Moscow.

Does this mean that England's top league was that much stronger than Germany's or Spain's? I don't think so.

Did Ajax's win in 1995 and Porto's triumph in 2004 make the Eredivisie and Primeira Liga the best in Europe? I don't think so.

Don't even get me started on how cynical Chelsea snared last year's competition.

Wenger's “catching up” point is not too convincing, either.

Since the European Cup became the Champions League in 1992-1993, there have been 20 winners and the country breakdown is the following:

Spain had six wins, Italy five, England four, Germany two, France, Portugal and the Netherlands one each.

The figures for the beaten finalists are:

Italy had six finalists, England five, Germany four, Spain three, France and the Netherlands one each.

These figures are pretty inconclusive so it is not very clear what Wenger means by Europe catching up on the Premier League.

European domination at club level has always come in cycles ever since the elite competition started in the mid-1950s.

First we had the Iberian pensinsula dominating from 1956 to 1962, then came the two Milan clubs.

The Dutch and Germans owned the tournament for seven years before the English took a stranglehold on it when they won seven in eight titles from 1977.

The Italians came back in the late 1980s and first half of the 1990s after which the trophy was somewhat equally distributed as shown above.

That's the nature of knockout football, really.

The Premier League could have two or three teams in next season's semi-finals just as easily as La Liga, Serie A or the Bundesliga could have none.

At the moment Spain seems to be ruling the roost because its strongest teams are playing the finest football.

Malaga, like Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid last season, has shown that, contrary to what some knockers keep telling us, there is much more to Spanish football than Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Spain was at risk of losing all four teams in this season's competition after a round of poor results.

But it is unwise to write off the 'Spanish armada' and it showed its true worth when Barca, Madrid and Malaga overturned negative first-leg results to prevail with a degree of class.

Barca and Madrid were kept apart in the quarter-final draw and will face Paris Saint-Germain and Galatasaray respectively in early April.

What this means, of course, is that a dream final at Wembley on 26 May (AEST) between football's greatest and most bitter rivals who have in their ranks the world's finest two footballers in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is still possible.

These two giants of the world game who have played such a massive role in making the competition what it is today have never clashed in a Euro final.

It would be the mother of all El Clasicos.

Quarter-final draw: Malaga v Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid v Galatasaray, Paris Saint-Germain v Barcelona, Bayern Munich v Juventus.

Beckham, who signed a five-month contract with the French league leader on transfer deadline day, is expected to play a part in the Ligue 1 club's push for domestic and international honours.

When he arrives at the venue as a starter or a bench player he will no doubt recall the last time he played at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium.

In a tumultuous FIFA World Cup round of 16 clash between England and Argentina on 30 June, 1998, the game was evenly poised at 2-2 when Beckham, then 23 years old, was sent off by Danish referee Kim Nielsen early in the second half for aiming a soft, petulant kick at Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone.

It was nothing more than a harmless nudge but it was a reaction to a foul nonetheless and it forced the referee's hand.

As the distraught Beckham strode off the pitch, television cameras caught a glimpse of England manager Glenn Hoddle who was clearly angered by his player's costly petulance. If looks could kill.

England plodded along with 10 men but succumbed to a penalty shootout and was out of the tournament.

No prizes for guessing who took the brunt of the blame for yet another England failure on the international front.

The exasperated English media took its vitriolic fury to new levels in a vicious attack on the Manchester United man, who made vastly different headlines when he scored from halfway in a Premier League match against Wimbledon in 1996.

"Ten heroic lions, one stupid boy," proclaimed the Mirror, while the Daily Star screamed "Beck off".

Hoddle himself did not have any qualms about declaring that “Beckham's sending-off cost us the game and he must learn from this” although by the next day he somewhat changed his tune and said “it would be wrong to put the blame on David's shoulders”.

Beckham suddenly had become a persona non grata as far as the media was concerned even though many thought that his red card was harsh.

Such a nasty and over-the-top reaction to a fleeting moment of weakness would have broken many a footballer and Manchester United and England hero Sir Bobby Charlton urged the country “not to throw Beckham to the wolves”.

Charlton should not have worried too much because he would have known that Beckham was not merely a good looking bloke who was engaged to a pop star and who happened to be a very fine footballer.

Beckham is made of sterner stuff and his fierce determination to succeed at what he does has become legendary.

After his night of infamy, Beckham retreated quietly to the sympathetic surroundings of Old Trafford and went about rebuilding his shattered image under the watchful eye of his club manager and father figure Sir Alex Ferguson.

Less than a year later Beckham was back in favour after he played a key role in Manchester United's famous Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League treble.

However the match that finally and truly endeared him to the English fans at large and made him a much admired superstar came in late 2001 in a crucial FIFA World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford.

England was being taken to the cleaners by a vibrant Greece side that would become European champion in 2004. With time running out the home team was trailing 2-1.

Cometh the hour cometh the man.

Beckham capped an exemplary second-half performance by hitting a superb free kick that found the top corner of the Greek net and gave England the draw it needed to book a ticket to the finals in Japan and Korea Republic.

"Golden Balls" was front and back page material for the right reasons this time and England knew that it had a match-winner in its midst who could make the country dream of foreign conquests.

It is history now that Beckham went on to become one of the biggest names in world sport, taking his brand from Manchester United to Real Madrid and from Los Angeles Galaxy and to Paris Saint-Germain, with a loan interlude with AC Milan thrown in.

He may be overrated as a footballer but he is without doubt a crowd-puller extraordinaire.

He is believed to be worth an estimated $260 million.

Beckham's career that was punctuated by desperate lows and incredible highs will come full circle at the weekend.

It has been some rollercoaster ride.

The Spanish armada comprising four top clubs has been cut down to size and it is struggling to retain a direct interest in the world's most glamorous club competition beyond the next 10 days.

Barcelona, which was widely regarded as the finest team on the planet up to a few weeks ago, is in serious trouble.

The Blaugrana crashed to a 2-0 defeat to AC Milan at the Meazza while its fierce rival Real Madrid could not go past a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the Bernabeu.

Valencia crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at the Mestalla while Malaga lost 1-0 to Porto at the Dragao.

It is quite possible for Spain's awesome foursome to make up the leeway and reach the quarter-finals but there is no doubt that the odds are stacked against each one of them.

None is on more strife than Barcelona.

Milan's recent resurgence has coincided with Barca's sudden, spectacular drop in form and even Lionel Messi is struggling to exert his influence on each game he plays.

He was virtually non-existent in the first leg in Milan and was overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo in the second leg of the Copa del Rey clash with Madrid.

Barca will need the little Argentine to be on top of his sublime game against Milan, especially since it is likely to be without injured midfielder Xavi Hernandez.

Milan out-manoeuvred Barca in the first leg and won convincingly. It was not the first time that Barca had been beaten but, to the Rossoneri's credit, I cannot recall Barca not creating one serious scoring chance in 90 minutes.

Milan will employ more of the same diligent tactics in the return leg to try to stifle Barca's expected fury.

Real Madrid's tie with Manchester United is poised on a knife edge.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be aware of the considerable threat his former protege Ronaldo and red-hot midfielder Angel Di Maria will pose at Old Trafford on Wednesday (AEDT).

With Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney leading United's attack, we could be in for a goal-fest in this highly anticipated return leg.

Valencia has a mountain to climb to stay in the competition on Thursday after its shock loss at home to PSG.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss the match through suspension after being sent off in the first leg but new signing David Beckham will play in his first UCL match since 2007.

Carlo Ancelotti's men should have too much fire power for Valencia, even though it suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to battling Reims at the weekend.

Unfancied Malaga has Spain's best chance of having a team in the quarter-finals after falling to a well-taken goal from Joao Moutinho in Porto.

Manuel Pellegrini's side was outplayed for most of the match but will get a lift from playing at the compact La Rosaleda next week.

Zenit St Petersburg and Milan both lost in Malaga in the group phase of this season's competition and Porto will have to draw on all its European know-how not to meet with the same fate.

In the other ties Borussia Dortmund is favoured to go through after drawing 2-2 at Shakhtar Dontesk, Juventus is home and hosed after beating Celtic 3-0 in Glasgow, Bayern Munich has one foot in the last eight after beating Arsenal 3-1 in London while Schalke is in the box seat after a 1-1 draw with Galatasaray in Istanbul.

The ties involving the four Spanish teams are the most intriguing and compelling of the eight and by the end of another dose of top class European action, we could have a huge story on our hands if Spain's clubs are sent packing.

Two thought-provoking articles in the Fairfax Media from Michael Lynch and Craig Foster highlighted the fact that interest surrounding the Socceroos is on the wane and that Football Federation Australia needs to revisit and restate the national team's connection with the fans.

It also was suggested in the social media that the much loved and cherished team of the people had become a plastic business commodity, a brand fewer fans were relating to.

There are several circumstances that may have led to this perceived deterioration of the Socceroos' image within Australia.

The “golden generation” stars who played such a key role in the World Cup success are no longer playing.

Mark Viduka, Craig Moore, Vince Grella, Tony Popovic, Tony Vidmar, John Aloisi and Scott Chipperfield have retired.

Clubless Harry Kewell may as well call it a day while Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill, Brett Emerton, Marco Bresciano and Jason Culina do not play in the Premier League, Serie A and Eredivisie anymore.

Others might point out that the game is still recovering from the collateral damage caused by the pragmatic approach of Australia coach Holger Osieck's predecessor Pim Verbeek.

It also must be said that the Socceroos have reached such a high point in their development and have set such high standards that they cannot expect to get widespread attention whenever they play in meaningless trial matches that go by the name of friendly internationals.

These days we have bigger fish to fry in the World Cup and Asian Cup.

Yet the drop in interest in the national team's fortunes should not be sneered at or dismissed as a temporary glitch.

To do this we have to put the matter in a proper perspective.

When Guus Hiddink's Socceroos caught the imagination of the public by storming into the 2006 FIFA World Cup at the expense of two-time winner Uruguay, the game received a much-needed shot in the arm.

After 32 years of hurt, football fans were able to rejoice and enjoy a rare moment in the sun and bask in the glory of their national team pitting its strengths with football's biggest guns on the game's biggest stage.

This was a novelty for many fans who were not even born when Rale Rasic's semi-professionals played in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany.

The A-League was still a few weeks old in late 2005 when the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup and they were the main focus of the country's football lovers.

Football's landscape has changed dramatically since that epic night in Sydney.

Eight years down the track, we have a vibrant and established league competition that gives thousands of fans a football fix on a weekly basis with a standard that more often than not meets their expectations.

So it is little wonder that interest in the Socceroos has somewhat waned when the team has such strong competition from an A-League that is going great guns.

One must remember that if the Socceroos are keeping the game afloat from an economic point of view, the domestic club competition will always be the bread and butter of our sport.

A-League fans will always support the Socceroos, particularly in the matches that matter, so fans who back their clubs with a passion are not 'lost' Socceroos supporters.

On this basis, it would be amiss to suggest that there is something wrong with our game if the Socceroos do not get a substantial media treatment when an experimental side plays Romania in a friendly match in Malaga in the middle of the league season.

The media space and time that could have been allocated to the Socceroos was probably taken up by a set of reports and opinion pieces about the A-League and its plethora of local and foreign personalities.

Interest in the game is still alive and well across Australia but these days it is less Socceroos-centric and more evenly spread.

I reckon this is not necessarily a bad thing at all.

Brisbane earned the admiration of the country's football family by becoming the first club to win consecutive A-League championships in 2011 and 2012.

What endeared the side to the pundits was not so much its impressive results but the way it achieved them.

The side coached by Ange Postecoglou, who is seen in some quarters as the next Australia coach, produced a brand of modern, attacking football based on patience, precision and possession that took the A-League by surprise and the Australian game to a new level.

Brisbane was seen as the benchmark of the A-League and the pride of an emerging football nation.

No adjective was spared as the media became infatuated by this wonderful team that played the game like no one else in Australia had done before.

How the mighty have fallen.

Watching Brisbane stumble from one disaster to another in the A-League and being outplayed by a mediocre team from Thailand called Buriram United brought home the unsavoury truth that the great entertainer had lost its zip and effervescence.

The beautiful manoeuvres that ripped the heart out of every opposition sadly are a thing of the past and instead we now have a tired and error-prone team that is low on confidence and that can hardly string three or four passes together.

Make no mistake: there is no way in the world that Brisbane can make it three titles in a row even if by some stroke of luck it manages to sneak into the finals which is something it does not really deserve.

So where did it all go horribly wrong for Brisbane?

It is difficult to ascertain if Brisbane's problems are of a purely technical nature or the result of a set of off-field circumstances that may have disrupted the club's serenity.

Certainly Postecoglou's departure to Melbourne Victory soon after the 2012 grand final would not have helped matters.

Some players who signed or intended to sign new deals on the understanding that Postecoglou would be their coach in the next season would have been dismayed by his exit, although he would argue that they knew about his intentions and that he did not extend anyone's contract except that of Besart Berisha.

A sense of frustration suddenly engulfed the squad and this state of affairs was highlighted just before the start of this season when a senior player and his agent criticised the club for a salary scheme that remunerated some players more than others.

It is hard to establish if these incidents had a bearing on Brisbane's subsequent performances which suggested that the team had lost its unity.

New coach Rado Vidosic might have hit the nail on the head when he publicly declared after a 2-1 defeat to Central Coast Mariners that his players had lost their hunger and had made costly 'kindergarten' errors.

His candid comments in Gosford and his earlier criticism of some of his players in front of their teammates privately after the 4-1 loss to Melbourne Heart apparently did not go down well, adding fuel to speculation that the Brisbane dressing room had become a forum for disgruntled and dispirited players who felt that the whole world suddenly had turned against them.

Vidosic has since gone and has been replaced by Mike Mulvey, who lost no time in altering the team's style of play in favour of a more direct approach.

Brisbane's fluent passing game was also affected by a spectacular dip in form of its key players.

Marquee man Thomas Broich would be the first to concede that this has not been a good season for him.

Striker Berisha scored many goals but has looked cumbersome and also missed a lot of opportunities while midfielders Mitch Nichols and Erik Paartalu have been a shadow of their influential selves. The latter has since left for Tianjin Teda in China.

The sweeping overlapping movements and so-called triangles involving fullbacks Ivan Franjic and Shane Stefanutto that were such a vital part of Brisbane's game under Postecoglou are a distant memory, although this is not necessarily their fault because Brisbane plays a different game nowadays.

What makes Brisbane's woes somewhat inexplicable is that on rare occasions the team has produced patches of the form that made it so irresistible in its prime.

Which would suggest that not all is lost in terms of rediscovering its mojo.

The bottom line is that Brisbane's fall is a massive loss to the A-League and Australian football in general.

We've all heard about how important it is to the A-League that big clubs Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC are successful.

By the same token, Brisbane's contribution to the well-being of the A-League was telling and should never be underestimated.

There is not much point in allowing two or three clubs to build super teams while the others battle for survival, they say.

Look at the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A or La Liga.

The championship in these countries has been going to the same elite clubs year in year out and we don't want that, do we.

We prefer an even competition where any team can beat any other team on any given day.

Professional football in this country is still in its infancy and all clubs need to be protected because if the big teams do not have any teams to beat then there will be no competition.

A look at the A-League table would suggest that the perceived equality is not as pronounced as it is made out to be.

Essentially because, despite Football Federation Australia's best intentions, the well organised clubs and the best coaches and finest players will always rise above the average.

So the question is why have a salary cap, which this year stands at $2.48 million, when so many factors are working against it?

Why should we strangle the clubs' ambitions by limiting their spending power?

Especially when it comes to competing with the cream of Asia.

While acknowledging that competitive balance needs to be measured over a longer period, this season's trend cannot be ignored.

It is obvious that the A-League this season features two separate and distinct blocks: four strong teams that are vying for the premiership and six battlers fighting for a place in the finals or to avoid the wooden spoon, depending on how you want to look at it.

With eight rounds to go, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Western Sydney Wanderers and Adelaide United are engaged in a fierce tussle for the premiership, which means direct entry to the AFC Champions League.

However there is a massive nine-point gap separating the fourth and fifth teams on the ladder.

The disparity in points is also reflected in the marked difference in the quality of football shown by the two sets of teams.

These discrepancies would suggest that despite the cap that exists with the consent of Professional Footballers Australia, the competition's best teams will always find ways and means of making the most of their limited resources.

This is not a bad thing at all: the idea of a cap is to give all teams an equal platform and then it's up to them.

The A-League is a commercial product that needs to be protected and the welfare of the lesser clubs is paramount in FFA's way of thinking and the governing body should be commended for that.

However if the salary cap is designed to create basic equality which in fact does not exist on the field of play, should the FFA re-consider the merits of the system?

No one would expect FFA to ditch the system altogether.

Yet, who knows, perhaps a two-tiered salary cap carefully designed to give Aussie clubs a sporting chance in Asia while still protecting the lesser clubs and the competition as a whole might be the way to go.

Another way might be to financially reward the teams that end up in the top spots in the premiership.

This could be done by setting up a prize money scheme scaled according to the teams' finish on the table or where they end up in the finals.

Where would the money come from?

Well, for starters, FFA could give up some of the money it makes from the finals and distribute it to its most successful clubs which have expressed frustration at not being able to lay their hands on some of the competition's biggest gates.

A salary cap tweak would not change the way we play, watch and talk about football and would not cure the game's ills but at least it will stop us pretending to have an equal competition when clearly this is not the case.

It would also give our top clubs a better chance of leaving a mark in Asia.

All too often the media is quick to hail a team's performance as brave or courageous when in fact neither quality is on show.

A stoic refusal to get beaten when most people expect you to lose is called determination and should not be confused with bravery.

A classic example of a refusal to be beaten was Chelsea's late run to a surprise UEFA Champions League triumph last season.

The London club chose to turn the clock back to the loathed 1960s and 1970s by adopting a negative and cynical approach that earned it a shock aggregate win over the world's finest and most entertaining side Barcelona in the semi-finals.

In the final against home team Bayern Munich the Blues had a few men suspended or injured and adopted a similar catenaccio in the hope of stifling the German club's threat and in a blatant bid to take the game to a penalties lottery, where their chances of survival at least would be 50-50.

Chelsea prevailed but it was football as it should not be played in this day and age.

Hardly surprisingly, the English media was thrilled by the incredible “courage and bravery” shown by Roberto Di Matteo's “heroes”, who defied the odds to bring home the club's first European champion's title.

Sorry, but am I missing something here? Parking the bus, playing for a draw and hoping for the best is neither courageous nor brave.

Chelsea would have shown far more courage and earned far more friends if it came out of its shell and played openly and without fear against two better teams.

Chelsea may have been pragmatic, gritty, smart or downright lucky but courageous it certainly was not.

Real courage and bravery is what Western Sydney Wanderers showed in abundance in despatching Melbourne Heart 1-0 in the Week 18 match at Parramatta Stadium.

The league's newest team had Jerome Polenz sent off after 13 minutes against a dangerous Heart side eager to build on a solid win last week.

But the Wanderers, to their credit, were not about to die wondering.

Instead of falling back to protect the 0-0 score, the Wanderers fearlessly took the game to the visiting team and sought victory till the end.

The 10-man Wanderers pounded Heart's fort for long periods and at times it was hard to believe that they and not the opposition were a man short.

With amazing support from the terraces, the courage of their convictions was rewarded when striker Youssouf Hersi won a penalty, which Japanese star Shinji Ono expertly converted.

This is what true courage is all about because by going for it and taking the game to Heart, the Wanderers risked being picked off by an experienced side that was lurking with intent after last week's good win over Adelaide United.

It is a credit to rookie coach Tony Popovic's work on the mental side of things that his men were able to retain the belief that they would win even with 10 men because the strong mentality within the side would ensure that no barrier or handicap be seen as insurmountable.

The Wanderers are becoming the success story of the eighth A-League and their ability to beat the odds week in week out after a tentative start has raised many eyebrows throughout the country.

Armed with a passionate supporter base that is getting bigger and louder by the week, the Wanderers are marching on to a top six finish with a home final a distinct possibility.

Popovic, in his first job as head coach, has assembled a set of working-class heroes who have taken the league by storm and the great thing about it is that the club's third spot on the ladder is nothing less than it deserves.

Who knows where or how will this amazing fairytale end.

The Wanderers are not the finished product yet and a few players in the squad might be nervous about their future.

But the Wanderers team has come this far essentially due to its fitness, the organisation of its defence, the consistency of its midfield and the strength of its teamwork.

And the power of its courage - the real courage, that is.

Their coaches and managers do not appear to be hellbent on eradicating the problem, either.

Although the game's law makers keep telling us that they are winning the war against divers thanks mainly to video technology and retroactive punishment, many players seem to be ever so ready to take the risk of falling over to win fouls or penalties or even get opponents sent off.

The prevailing attitude seems to be 'hey, the rewards far outweigh the risks of being caught so, what the heck, let's take a chance'.

The players' cynical attitude is helped in no small measure by their respective bosses' approach to the thorny issue.

Many coaches in Australia and around the world are the first to let everyone know that they have been cheated whenever their team falls victim to a blatant dive that leads to defeat.

Yet you can bet that those same managers who take the moral high ground on the matter become somewhat sheepish when it comes to condemning their own players who are guilty of the same offence.

Which makes you wonder if this diving dilemma has become just a topic for conversation or a complete charade with no hope of being eliminated.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez got into trouble with his manager Brendan Rodgers for admitting he tried to earn a penalty with a dive in a goalless match against Stoke City.

This admission prompted Rodgers to have a word with his human headline because diving is not what the club stands for, he said.

It is unclear, however, if Rodgers was more upset by Suarez's attempted dive or by the fact that he admitted it in public.

If Rodgers's views about diving are that strong, why did he criticise the Uruguayan now and not after the incident occurred in October when he rigorously stood by the striker?

Australia is not immune from diving, although fortunately the problem is not as deep-rooted as it is in some parts of the world.

Some A-League players have yet to be persuaded that diving is unacceptable in Australia and culprits eventually could be punished but they still take the risk, perhaps because they know that it is hard to establish beyond doubt if a player voluntarily fell to the ground to seek an unfair advantage.

Since the A-League is not always in a position to take firm action on divers it is up to coaches or clubs to dissuade their players from the practice.

So what do the A-League's coaches think about the issue? How serious are they about playing their part in kicking diving out of the game?

Seven A-League coaches were asked: "If your player wins a penalty with a clear dive would you publicly/privately berate him or let it go?"

The response was indicative of the game's inability, reluctance or even refusal to get to the bottom of the diving problem.

Only one coach replied to this fair and reasonable question.

"It would only ever be discussed privately," Adelaide United's John Kosmina said.

"If a player wins a penalty from a dive who then is at fault - the player or the referee who awarded it?

"He's got two assistants and a fourth official who are all miked up.

"If he knows what he's doing and understands the physiology of the game then no penalty.

"Having said that, diving has been around since the beginning and will always be there despite efforts to stamp it out.

"Philosophically football is like life and people 'dive' in life, that is, someone is always trying to rort the system, trying to get something for nothing."

Kosmina's candid comments and his colleagues' silence would suggest that the status quo on diving suits most coaches perfectly.

Many coaches around the world might consider the diving question as their 'get out of jail' card.

If their team is the victim of a decisive dive they have a ready-made excuse if they lose while if their team is the perpetrator and wins the game, they would have a result in the bag.

So why rock the boat?

I think diving is going to be around for a long time.

Postecoglou would grow up into a keen student of the game and learn what made the Brazilians tick in that memorable football feast in Mexico.

Jairzinho, Tostao, Pele and Rivelinho helped Brazil win its third world title with a brand of attacking football that ripped the heart out of every opponent and concealed a major flaw in that stellar side: its defence.

The Brazilians were poorly served by erratic goalkeeper Felix and suspect defenders Brito and Everaldo.

The 'auriverde' compensated for this weakness by adopting an offensive 4-2-4 approach designed to score more goals than they conceded.

Brazil let in goals in all but one of its six matches en route to its Aztec triumph over Italy yet it also scored 19 times, most of them absolute gems.

Melbourne Victory is clearly the most exciting side in the eighth season of the A-League.

Postecoglou's team comprising gifted attackers in Archie Thompson and Marco Rojas and attack-minded players like crafty Argentine Marcos Flores and tearaway fullback Adama Traore are a delight to watch when going forward.

Victory was simply irresistible in the first hour of its match against Central Coast Mariners in Launceston at the weekend.

The quality of its passing into space and the running off the ball was breathtaking and it left the usually rigid Mariners defenders chasing shadows.

Graham Arnold's men just could not cope with Victory's pace and invention in the last third of the field.

It was a mystery how Victory led by only one goal at half-time but hardly surprising to see it lose valuable points by allowing the Mariners back in the game with some shabby defending for a 1-1 draw.

Let's be brutally frank about this, Victory's defence generally has not been up to scratch this season, at least for a team aspiring to win the championship.

Emulating Brazil's football would be a wee bit difficult yet Postecoglou could take a leaf out of Brazil's mentality and try to minimise the risks of conceding by maximising the effect of his feared attack.

It's easier said than done, of course, and there is only so much a coach can do when his players are unable to stem the tide that suddenly turns against them in any given match.

Making changes in personnel does not always have the desired effect, especially when the rot sets in.

Yet Postecoglou does have the cattle to play a constant attacking game and defend a lead through possession if the need arises.

Victory was always the A-League's greatest entertainer under Ernie Merrick and nothing has changed under Postecoglou.

What has changed is that Victory is no longer as dependable and uncompromising at the back as it was in the days of controversial captain Kevin Muscat, who not only marshalled his defence with authority and know-how but was the instigator of many of the side's attacks with his perceptive passing.

This is why Victory could be better served if it makes a better effort to play the game in the opposition's half, keep it under pressure by relentless attack and retain the ball as much as possible.

Either by design, through circumstance or due to lack of temperament, Victory sometimes goes into a shell after taking the lead, seemingly quite happy to concede possession and operate on the break.

Victory's speed in transition would appear to make counter-attacking football a mouth-watering proposition and, in fairness, it does this to deadly effect, as many teams can testify.

But most counter-attacking teams in the world have a strong and reliable defence with which to repel the opposition and from which to launch their raids.

I'm afraid Victory is not one of them so it ends up putting itself under unnecessary pressure.

To me whenever Victory chooses to sit back to protect a lead it gives its rivals more than a sniff.

Victory should play to its strengths and not give the opposition an opportunity to exploit its weaknesses.

Otherwise its campaign for a third A-League title will fail.

Australian football's prodigious talent may be devastated his move to the Premier League won't materialise this season.

But every cloud has a silver lining and Rogic and the Mariners should count their blessings.

The news of a possible transfer to Reading had caused a degree of angst and consternation.

Not only because the A-League was close to losing one of its brightest and most entertaining stars or because Rogic was about to find himself immersed in a desperate scrap for survival at Madejski Stadium.

But because, if reports were correct, the Mariners were prepared to let go of their prized asset at the give-away price of $600,000.

The paltry fee belittles the A-League, the Mariners and the player himself, even though he must feel obliged to the Gosford club for not making it hard for him to seek fame and fortune abroad provided the deal went through, personal terms were agreed and, crucially, a work permit was granted.

Rogic's contract will expire at the end of the current season and the Mariners have argued that they would get nothing for him if he chooses to sign for another club after seeing out his term.

So $600,000 is better than nothing (apart from the mandatory training compensation fee of about $160,000, that is).

When one considers Rogic has cost the Mariners very little in the year or so since he has been at the club, such an outcome would seem like a good piece of business for the Mariners. But would it?

I am not privy to the terms of Rogic's contract with the Mariners but it seems to me that if the club thought so highly of the attacking midfielder when it signed him in the middle of last season, it should have tried harder to tie him up for another season.

That way Rogic would have had more time to sharpen his skills and become an even more influential player than he is now.

In fairness, the Mariners had far more important issues surrounding the club's very existence this time last year and the duration of Rogic's contract would not have been uppermost on their list of priorities.

Yet one cannot help suspecting that the club showed a lack of foresight in letting itself be dragged into a situation whereby it could have ended up getting peanuts for a player who clearly has a big future if he stays injury free, keeps improving and picks up a bit of speed.

To put the transfer fee into perspective, the cash-strapped Mariners were about to let go of their asset for roughly the gate takings of three or four A-League matches at Bluetongue Stadium.

The Mariners' approach to the global football economy is not any different to that of any other A-League club.

And here lies the problem: our clubs have got to realise that selling off their finest players to the quickest bidder is not always the way to go and sometimes it pays to wait a bit longer for a better bargain.

The A-League now enjoys a higher profile abroad, especially in Asia, so its best players will always be in the shop window.

From Rogic's perspective, a transfer to a Premier League club was not something to be sneered at.

Some pundits have come up with the outrageous suggestion that moving to Reading from the Mariners was a backward step.

More so because the Royals are expected to be relegated to the Championship.

Where would that leave Rogic, some have asked, forgetting that the A-League would be doing extremely well if it enjoyed the same playing standard of the second tier of English football, thank you very much.

The problem Rogic would have faced in England is that the team's desperate need for points for survival is not the ideal stage for him to display his sublime attacking skills.

He needs to be playing in a serene environment that will enhance rather than curtail his talent, which is what could have happened had he joined the battling Royals.

And, of course, Rogic must recognise that merely signing for Reading would not have guaranteed him of playing at all because the club has some very skilful and experienced campaigners so he could have ended up on the bench for the rest of the season.

Desperate managers do not usually rely too much on fragile 20-year-olds to get them out of relegation trouble.

Rogic, as Australia coach Holger Osieck has told us, is not the finished product yet.

A diamond he might be but he's still rough around the edges and I'm not sure if he's ready to play in any of Europe's top leagues yet.

These are the issues Rogic and his advisors must keep examining before he signs his future away.

It would appear that the best course of action is for Rogic to resist the temptation to go abroad and stay in Australia for another season where he will be well looked after by Graham Arnold and for the Mariners to be patient and invest in him and offer him another year's contract.

Another season in the A-League should make Rogic a better, stronger and more experienced player and consequently one who would be in greater demand.

Rogic and the club would then be able to negotiate with any suitors from a much stronger position.

Putting it simply, the year has proved that dreams actually can come true.

The flourishing game has given hope to those who were beginning to wonder if this great sport of ours would ever remove the shackles that have hindered its progress for decades.

There is enough optimism and goodwill surrounding our game to make its major stakeholders - the fans - believe with a high degree of justification that a prosperous and lasting future is indeed a reality.

Football has ticked many boxes on and off the field this year and it is fair to say that it has just about overtaken rugby union in terms of nationwide popularity.

The game and pay television have struck a new broadcasting deal that has a considerable and overdue free-to-air SBS component.

The quality of play in the A-League has never been so high, crowd and viewership figures are up, the Socceroos are nicely poised to reach their third straight FIFA World Cup and the game's exposure in the print and electronic media is at an all-time high.

There are also strong signs that football is flourishing at women's level and reinventing itself in the youth category.

And then there is the AFC Asian Cup in Australia to look forward to in 2015.

The sleeping giant definitely has woken up and this is being recognised not just by the football family itself but also by those who are not associated with the game, not to mention those who would dearly love it never to prosper.

It is a golden moment that all football fans are relishing with gusto.

The key elements that provided the boom that has taken over from the doom and gloom are three: the influence of the marquee imports, the emergence of young stars and the A-League's rising standard.

The marquees:

There is no doubt that the simultaneous arrival of Alessandro Del Piero, Emile Heskey and Shinji Ono has given the league a much-needed wow factor.

Sydney FC's Italian legend Del Piero has provided some magic moments like his opening goal from a free kick against Newcastle Jets and the two gems he scored against Brisbane Roar.

Del Piero's class, pedigree and experience are such that he has left a mark on every A-League match he has played.

He has given fans something special every time - be it an inspired pass, a swift turn or a mazy dribble - even when he was not in top condition.

Off the field he has been a resounding success although it is very hard to quantify how huge he has been in terms of promoting the game and helping Sydney recoup its yearly outlay of $2 million for his services.

Newcastle Jets' English warhorse Emile Heskey has found the net seven times so far, some of his goals being typical poacher's strikes, and he has laid claim to be the deadliest striker in the six-yard box.

Give him an inch and he'll find the back of the net in a flash, like he did at the weekend against Melbourne Victory when he pounced on a loose ball to slam the ball home in a split second.

Heskey also holds up the ball well too and has the ability to bring other men into play. He is quite a handful for any defence ... not necessarily due to his physical attributes but because he has been doing this against the world's top defenders for years.

Western Sydney Wanderers' Japanese samurai Ono had a tentative start to his Australian adventure but he came good after regaining top fitness a month or so into the competition.

His eye for an opening has become one of the brightest aspects of the whole team. Very much like Del Piero, he has an ability to thread passes into space or crowded areas with surgical precision.

He is the quickest of the three star marquees and around him the Wanderers have built a very solid and creative midfield.

The young stars:

The eighth A-League will be remembered for the consecration of three outstanding young footballers who are destined for big careers.

Victory striker Marco Rojas, Central Coast Mariners midfielder Tomas Rogic and Wanderers play-maker Aaron Mooy have set the league alight with their dazzling displays from day one.

Rojas, 21, came onto the scene two seasons ago in Wellington Phoenix's colours before moving to Victory in 2011.

Graham Arnold gave Rogic, 20, his A-League debut last season and Mooy, 22, left St Mirren in Scotland to become one of Tony Popovic's first signings.

All three have become star attractions in their own right, the kind of performers fans would gladly pay to watch.

Rojas, who is a full New Zealand international, has set many tongues wagging with his speed, dribbling skills and his lethal finishing. The two goals he scored last week against the Jets were absolute masterpieces and would be contenders for goal of the season.

Rogic is equally devastating when in form. The sight of the lanky No 10 going on one of his mesmerising runs towards goal with the ball seemingly tied to his feet is one of the most breath-taking in our game.

He has attracted such interest that Australia coach Holger Osieck was forced to beg the media “not to put him on a pedestal where he does not yet belong”.

Mooy goes about his business in a less spectacular fashion but he plays with the vision and composure of a veteran.

His polished play was rewarded by two Socceroos appearances in the recent qualifiers for the East Asian Cup, where he scored two magnificent goals from free kicks.

The three players are so naturally gifted they are expected to end up in Europe or Asia, which is unfortunate from the fans' point of view because they are genuine crowd-pullers.

The A-League standard:

The general level of football being seen week in week out is the main reason fans are flocking to the games in their thousands.

The attacking nature of all teams whether they are at home or away has been one of the league's greatest attributes since day one.

This year we have seen a considerable jump in pure quality and the good thing about it is that it has come from across the board not essentially from the star imports.

Guys like Patrick Zwaanswijk, Danny McBreen, Dario Vidosic, Marcelo Carrusca, Guilherme Finkler, Marcos Flores, Archie Thompson, Thomas Broich, Jeremy Brockie, Richard Garcia, Bas Van den Brink, Liam Miller, Brett Emerton and Youssouf Hersi have stood out this season.

The 10 teams also have a better structure, the quality of their squads keeps getting better, the younger players' decision-making has improved out of sight and there is little if any gamesmanship that often mars games in other parts of the world.

The competition could do with some better and more consistent refereeing, though.

Brisbane Roar set the benchmark for football excellence when it won two straight titles with a brand of football never seen before in Australia.

But the most telling contribution Brisbane made to the game in Oz was that it forced the other teams to lift their standards and place more emphasis on the tactical and technical aspects of their game.

The upshot is that teams like the Mariners, Wanderers, Jets, Brisbane, Perth Glory, Adelaide United and my favourite for the title Victory are displaying a type of modern football that enhances technique.

The fans have responded with passion and enthusiasm and the crowd average stands at 10,000-plus per game although in some areas attendances should be larger.

We have seen many cracking matches this season and there is still more than half of it left.

Clubs, coaches, players and fans are doing their bit to make an evening at an A-League match an enjoyable family experience so we cannot ask for more.

This does not mean that the A-League with its salary cap has suddenly become one of the world's major leagues. Not at all.

It is at best the fourth strongest league in Asia and it is still inferior to Major League Soccer.

But eight years after its creation, the A-League has not only survived but it has managed to become a popular and respected part of Australia's sporting landscape.

Nobody sneers at 'bloody wogball' any more now, except perhaps those few remaining dinosaurs who just would not appreciate football's effort to lift its game on most fronts, would not recognise that it is no longer the laughing stock of Australian sport and would not stop yearning for it to fail.

Football will hit more turbulence as it continues its flight towards a complete regeneration.

But a fantastic year has given us all the courage and confidence to tackle any problem or clear any hurdle that fate might throw at us because the game is in a position of strength.

This is why 2012 has been a defining moment in our game's evolution.

Bring on 2013.