Australia loves an underdog. Think Lionel Rose, Kieren Perkins and Samantha Stosur. Steven Bradbury in 2002. Paul Keating in 1993 (yes, politics is sport). In football, the underdog is frequently described as “spirited” or “plucky”, or some other mildly patronising term of encouragement. These are often reserved for a losing team, the “minnows” who could not defy their minnow status.
Similar lexicon surrounded the Socceroos at the start of the 2022 World Cup, before they had even played a match. This was just as much the case within Australia. According to former goalkeeping great, Mark Bosnich, they were not just underdogs but “complete underdogs”. He thus proclaimed their underdog-iness absolute.
