It has been two decades since the last men’s World Cup without an Australian side.
Back in 2001, the image of Tony Vidmar’s tears as he left the field following a 3-0 loss to Uruguay in an intercontinental playoff threatened to become one of Australian football’s defining images. That is, until it was mercifully replaced by the jubilant scenes of qualification four years later. These days Vidmar is an assistant to Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, charged with ensuring this generation does not experience the heartbreak he felt on that November afternoon in Montevideo.
